Renee Almassizadeh is the Center on Public Diplomacy's Training & Programming Facilitator. At CPD, she directs the Center's training programs and manages the Ameri Prize for Innovation in Public Diplomacy. Renee also serves as a liaison with CPD's Advisory Board and cultivates relationships with external partners. She was most recently Assistant Director for Operations and Programming at CPD. In this role she managed program planning and implementation to ensure the Center’s smooth operations and to meet its evolving needs. Renee also provided strategic program management and worked closely with other functions at CPD to build relationships with leaders and organizations in the public diplomacy community. She served as the key resource and point of contact for internal and external partners, administered the Center’s operations and processes, managed CPD's training programs, and provided leadership and guidance to staff and non-staff workers.

Prior to her role at CPD, Renee worked in higher education administration, translational research, social science research, international development, and arts consulting. Her most recent role was with USC Dornsife’s Department of Middle East Studies where she served as the senior administrator of the department. She managed curricular and faculty affairs, day-to-day operations of the department, marketing of the academic programs, departmental alumni outreach efforts, departmental communications, staff supervision, and the department’s budget. Renee was awarded a USC Dornsife Outstanding Staff Achievement award in 2017.

She holds an M.A. in Arab Studies from Georgetown University, where she received a grant to study Arabic in Tangier, Morocco from the U.S. Information Agency, a staunch supporter of public diplomacy through cultural exchange. She also holds a B.A. in Middle Eastern Studies from the University of California at San Diego. While at UCSD, Renee spent a summer working on an archeological dig in Caesarea, Israel and studied abroad at American University of Paris.

Renee is passionate about organizational culture, relationship building, well-being, and DE&I.