Ambassador Rena Bitter retired from the U.S. Department of State in 2024 following a distinguished 30-year career in the Foreign Service. 

Prior to serving as Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs from 2021 - 2024, she was Dean of the Leadership and Management School at the Foreign Service Institute and, from 2016 to 2020, U.S. Ambassador to the Lao People’s Democratic Republic. 

In Washington, she held several senior leadership positions, including Director of the State Department’s Operations Center, where she oversaw the Department’s 24/7 crisis monitoring and response operations, as well as assignments in the Executive Secretariat and as Special Assistant to Secretary of State Colin Powell. Overseas, she served as Principal Officer in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam as well as tours in Amman, London, Bogota and Mexico City.