Sharon Hudson-Dean is a career American diplomat currently serving as Chargé d’Affaires, a.i. at the U.S. Embassy in Riga, Latvia. From 2010-2013, Ms. Hudson-Dean was the Counselor for Public Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Harare, Zimbabwe, where she led the U.S. government’s media, education and culture programs promoting democracy, rule of law, and stable economic growth. Prior to that, she worked as the Press Attaché at the U.S. Mission to South Africa during a critical election period and the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Ms. Hudson-Dean has also worked for the State Department in Kathmandu, Tbilisi, Moscow, Canberra, and Washington, DC. In 2005, she spent one year as an American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow in the U.S. Senate.
Ms. Hudson-Dean has studied international relations and communications at Georgetown University, Johns Hopkins University, and the Monterey Institute of International Studies. She is the recipient of the Public Diplomacy Alumni Association Achievement Award and speaks Latvian, Russian, and Georgian. Her husband, Leon Hartwell, is a South African political analyst. They have three children and share interests in cycling, reading, and new media.