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Bernadette Meehan
Bernadette M. Meehan (/ˈmiːən/) is an American diplomat who served as the United States Ambassador to Chile from 2022 to 2025. She has been the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Wikimedia Foundation since January 20, 2026.
Meehan was born in the Bronx, raised in Pleasantville, New York, and graduated from Kennedy Catholic High School in Somers, New York in 1993. At 16, she moved to Río Gallegos, Argentina, as a high school exchange student. She graduated from Boston College with a bachelor's degree in political science. After graduation, she worked on Wall Street, first at JPMorgan Chase and then Lehman Brothers. She later joined the United States Foreign Service.
Meehan joined the United States Department of State as a Foreign Service officer in 2004, and began her new career as a consular officer at the U.S. Embassy in Bogotá, Colombia.[better source needed] In 2010, she returned to Washington, D.C. to work as a State Department "line officer", advancing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's overseas travel. She then became special assistant to Clinton. In 2012, Meehan was detailed to the White House National Security Council (NSC) and in 2014 she became the spokeswoman for the National Security Council. Meehan left the NSC in 2015 to become an adjunct professor and State Department resident fellow at Georgetown University's Institute for the Study of Diplomacy in the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service.
Meehan was enlisted[when?] by Ben Rhodes to help plan Barack Obama's visit to Cuba. She worked as a senior advisor at the National Security Council from January 2016 to January 2017. In February 2017, Meehan left the Foreign Service to serve as the chief international officer at the Obama Foundation. She eventually became its executive vice president of global programs.
On July 9, 2021, President Joe Biden nominated Meehan to be the next United States ambassador to Chile. Hearings on her nomination were held before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on March 15, 2022. The committee favorably reported her nomination on May 18, 2022. On July 20, 2022, the United States Senate confirmed her nomination by a 51–44 vote. She was sworn in on August 29, 2022, and presented her credentials to President Gabriel Boric on September 30, 2022. Following the election of President Donald Trump, Meehan submitted her resignation as ambassador effective January 10, 2025, following tradition for political appointees of both parties.
On December 9, 2025, Meehan was appointed CEO of the Wikimedia Foundation. She assumed the role on January 20, 2026, succeeding Maryana Iskander.
Meehan speaks English, Spanish, and Arabic. She is married to Evan S. Medeiros, the Penner Family Chair in Asian Studies at Georgetown University's Walsh School of Foreign Service.
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Bernadette Meehan
Bernadette M. Meehan (/ˈmiːən/) is an American diplomat who served as the United States Ambassador to Chile from 2022 to 2025. She has been the chief executive officer (CEO) of the Wikimedia Foundation since January 20, 2026.
Meehan was born in the Bronx, raised in Pleasantville, New York, and graduated from Kennedy Catholic High School in Somers, New York in 1993. At 16, she moved to Río Gallegos, Argentina, as a high school exchange student. She graduated from Boston College with a bachelor's degree in political science. After graduation, she worked on Wall Street, first at JPMorgan Chase and then Lehman Brothers. She later joined the United States Foreign Service.
Meehan joined the United States Department of State as a Foreign Service officer in 2004, and began her new career as a consular officer at the U.S. Embassy in Bogotá, Colombia.[better source needed] In 2010, she returned to Washington, D.C. to work as a State Department "line officer", advancing Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's overseas travel. She then became special assistant to Clinton. In 2012, Meehan was detailed to the White House National Security Council (NSC) and in 2014 she became the spokeswoman for the National Security Council. Meehan left the NSC in 2015 to become an adjunct professor and State Department resident fellow at Georgetown University's Institute for the Study of Diplomacy in the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service.
Meehan was enlisted[when?] by Ben Rhodes to help plan Barack Obama's visit to Cuba. She worked as a senior advisor at the National Security Council from January 2016 to January 2017. In February 2017, Meehan left the Foreign Service to serve as the chief international officer at the Obama Foundation. She eventually became its executive vice president of global programs.
On July 9, 2021, President Joe Biden nominated Meehan to be the next United States ambassador to Chile. Hearings on her nomination were held before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on March 15, 2022. The committee favorably reported her nomination on May 18, 2022. On July 20, 2022, the United States Senate confirmed her nomination by a 51–44 vote. She was sworn in on August 29, 2022, and presented her credentials to President Gabriel Boric on September 30, 2022. Following the election of President Donald Trump, Meehan submitted her resignation as ambassador effective January 10, 2025, following tradition for political appointees of both parties.
On December 9, 2025, Meehan was appointed CEO of the Wikimedia Foundation. She assumed the role on January 20, 2026, succeeding Maryana Iskander.
Meehan speaks English, Spanish, and Arabic. She is married to Evan S. Medeiros, the Penner Family Chair in Asian Studies at Georgetown University's Walsh School of Foreign Service.