US envoy to Haiti a proud Fil-Am

The United States’ top diplomat in Haiti is a FilipinaAmerican who has always been interested in communicating across cultures and cites diverse backgrounds help produce Foreign Service leaders who value inclusion.

Ambassador Michele Sison is a member of the Senior Foreign Service. In September, she was promoted to the US government’s highest diplomatic rank: Career Ambassador.

”I’m a proud Filipina-American, and I’ve always been interested in communicating across cultures and telling the story of the United States in all its amazing diversity,” Sison said.

Sison recalled one of her favorite questions over the past 36 years as an Foreign Service Officer (FSO) “Where are you from? You don’t look like an American!”

“This opening has allowed me to share my family’s unique story and our country’s unique history with people all over the world. Our diverse backgrounds help produce Foreign Service leaders who value inclusion and who encourage creative solutions to the complex challenges we face every day,” Sison said, adding “I continue to believe that this diversity is one of our key Foreign Service strengths.”

Her presentation of her credentials as the new US Ambassador to Haiti to President Jovenel Moise at the National Palace last February represented her coming full circle, as Sison began her career in 1982 as a young junior officer in Port au Prince.

One major change in the Foreign Service, she said, has been the number of posts that are now unaccompanied due to dangerous conditions. The challenges of unaccompanied or “limited accompanied” posts weigh heavily on employees as well as their families, and many in the Foreign Service have served in more than one assignment.

Previously, Sison served as US Deputy Representative to the United Nations (2014-2018), US Ambassador to Sri Lanka and Maldives (2012-2014), US Ambassador to Lebanon (20082010), and US Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates (2004-2008). Other overseas assignments include assistant chief of mission in Baghdad, Iraq; deputy chief of mission in Islamabad, Pakistan; consul general in Chennai, India; and tours in Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon, Benin, Togo, and Haiti.

In Washington, Sison served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs and the State Department’s Director of Career Development and Assignments.