Shefali Razdan Duggal was sworn in as the 72nd U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of the Netherlands on September 20, 2022, and presented her credentials to His Majesty King Willem-Alexander on October 19, 2022. She is the first person of color to serve as U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Shefali is currently a Columbia University Lamont-Doherty Distinguished Fellow teaching the course “Politics, Policy and Diplomacy of Climate.” She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Center for American Progress (International Policy Advisory Council), Council of American Ambassadors, Human Rights Watch Europe & Central Asia (ECA) Advisory Committee, USC Center on Public Diplomacy Advisory Council, Wake Forest Leadership & Character Council and a Board Member of the Netherland-America Foundation.
Prior to serving as Ambassador, she actively engaged in political advocacy, serving on the National Finance Committee for Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign and as a National Co-Chair of Women for Biden. Shefali also held the position of Deputy National Finance Chair at the Democratic National Committee. She was appointed by President Barack Obama to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Council (2014–2018) and later served as a Western Regional Advisor to the Museum. From 2014 to 2020, she served on the National Board of Directors of EMILY’s List. Shefali also served on the National Advisory Board of Inside Washington at Miami University of Ohio. Throughout her career, she has held leadership roles in numerous national political campaigns.
A Kashmiri Pandit born in Haridwar U.P. India, Shefali moved to the United States at the age of two and grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio. Shefali was raised by a single mom, who worked two minimum wage jobs to support them, working hard as a seamstress during the day and cutting vegetables at the local grocery store in the evening. Shefali had nothing handed to her and worked her way up from her humble beginnings, with a heart focused on giving back and mentoring the next generation. Her hope is to continue inspiring people to have faith in themselves, as she fundamentally believes in the possibilities of the American Dream. For love and loyalty to the United States, Shefali became a naturalized U.S. citizen on November 16, 1990.
Ambassador Razdan Duggal holds a B.S. in Mass Communication, with a minor in Political Science, from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and an M.A. in Media Ecology from New York University. She also received an honorary doctorate from Miami University.
On International Women’s Day, March 8, 2024, the Dutch honored her by naming a fuchsia-pink tulip, the “Tulipa Shefali,” making her the first ambassador to the Netherlands, from any country, to receive such a tribute. That same year, she was nominated for the U.S. Department of State’s prestigious Sue M. Cobb Award for Exemplary Diplomatic Service for her work representing the United States in the Netherlands, the first U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands to receive this nomination.