Lisa J. Peterson
Lisa J. Peterson is an American diplomat who has served United States ambassador to Burundi since June 27, 2024. She had served United States ambassador to Eswatini between January 20 and July 14, 2021, she served in the Biden administration as the acting under secretary of state for civilian security, democracy, and human rights in 2021.
Early life and education
Peterson is a 1986 graduate of the University of Rochester, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in political science.Career
After college graduation Peterson accepted a position at the University of Rochester's Carlson Mathematics and Sciences Library. In 1988 she joined the university's Department of Chemistry.In 1989 Peterson joined the Foreign Service. She served in the embassy in the Central African Republic, and after two years accepted a two-year assignment as vice consul at the U.S. Consulate General in South Africa.
Peterson then returned to the U.S. an analyst for Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research. In 1996 she began a series of international assignments to Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo; Lusaka, Zambia, and Nairobi, Kenya.
In 2006 Peterson returned to the U.S. as deputy director of the Office of Central African Affairs in the Bureau of African Affairs.
In 2007 she returned to Africa as the cultural officer in Abuja, Nigeria. Two years later she became deputy chief of mission at the embassy in Yaounde, Cameroon.