Kala Carruthers Azar is a Foreign Service Officer currently serving as the Special Assistant to Assistant Secretary David Schenker in the Bureau of Near East Affairs in Washington, DC.  She previously served as Assistant Cultural Affairs Officer (ACAO) at the U.S. Embassy in Amman, Jordan focused on youth outreach, primarily using cultural programs (performing arts, film, comedy, sports, entrepreneurship) and grants to civil society organizations. Kala has also served in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and Melbourne, Australia, in addition to temporary assignments in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei and Abuja, Nigeria.  Prior to joining the Foreign Service in 2011, she worked for a DC-based study abroad company and established a program for American students to study Arabic in Aleppo, Syria.  She has a BA (political science and theology) from Point Loma Nazarene University, a MA (contemporary Arab studies) from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, and was a Student Fulbright Fellow in Syria and Center for Arabic Study Abroad (CASA) Fellow in Egypt and Syria.