Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. Representative to the United Nations, will visit Costa Rica to lead the U.S. delegation for the 2023 Summit for Democracy. 

On March 29-30, Costa Rica will co-host the second Summit for Democracy with the governments of the U.S., the Netherlands, the Republic of Korea and the Republic of Zambia.

The countries are "building on the first Summit for Democracy held in December 2021, this gathering will highlight how democracies deliver for their citizens and are best equipped to address the world’s most pressing challenges," said the United States Mission Office in its statement.

The second Summit for Democracy will assemble world leaders in a virtual, plenary format, followed by hybrid gatherings in each of the co-host countries with representatives from government, civil society, and the private sector.  

Ambassador Thomas will co-hosted the event with President Rodrigo Chaves-Robles, authorities added. 

She was nominated by President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. to be the Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations as well as the Representative of the United States of America in the Security Council of the United Nations on January 20, 2021.  She was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on February 23, 2021, and sworn in on February 24, 2021 by the Vice President of the United States of America.

Thomas, a career diplomat, returned to public service after retiring from a 35-year career with the U.S. Foreign Service in 2017.  From 2013 to 2017 she served as the Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, where she led the bureau focused on the development and management of U.S. policy toward sub-Saharan Africa.  Prior to this appointment, she served as Director General of the Foreign Service and Director of Human Resources (2012-2013), leading a team in charge of the State Department’s 70,000-strong workforce.

She’s distinguished Foreign Service career includes an ambassadorship to Liberia (2008-2012), and postings in Switzerland (at the United States Mission to the United Nations, Geneva), Pakistan, Kenya, The Gambia, Nigeria, and Jamaica.  In Washington, she served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of African Affairs (2006-2008), and as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (2004-2006).

After retiring from the U.S. State Department in 2017, Ambassador Thomas led the Africa Practice at Albright Stonebridge Group, a strategic commercial diplomacy firm chaired by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.  She was also the inaugural Distinguished Resident Fellow in African Studies at the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University from fall 2017 to spring 2019.

She was the 2017 recipient of University of Minnesota Hubert Humphrey Public Leadership Award, the 2015 recipient of the Bishop John T. Walker Distinguished Humanitarian Service Award and the 2000 recipient of the Warren Christopher Award for Outstanding Achievement in Global Affairs. 

She holds a bachelor’s degree from Louisiana State University and a master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin, where she also did work towards a doctorate.  She received an honorary Doctor of Law degree from the University of Wisconsin in May 2018 and an honorary Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Liberia in May 2012.

Ambassador Thomas is one of many top key U.S. executives visiting Costa Rica this year. Recently, U.S. Army Gen. Laura Richardson, commander of U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) visited the country to host the Central American Security Conference (CENTSEC).

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