Joey Hood was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on December 22.  He served in leadership positions in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs from 2019 to 2022, including as Acting Assistant Secretary from January to September 2021. He has served as Deputy Chief of Mission in Iraq and in Kuwait, as well as Consul General and Principal Officer in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. Prior to these assignments, Mr. Hood was Acting Director of the Office of Iranian Affairs.

He is proud to have played a role in fostering professional development. He has served as the Senior Leadership Liaison to several employee organizations at the Department of State, including the Pickering and Rangel Fellowship Association, American Muslims and Friends at State, and First Gens at State, a group seeking to support first-generation professionals.

Mr. Hood has also served in Riyadh, where he coordinated U.S.-Saudi military cooperation, and in Asmara, where he was a liaison to Sudanese political movements. He has also been assigned to U.S. embassies in Yemen and Qatar.

Prior to the Foreign Service, Mr. Hood was a Fulbright scholar in Burkina Faso and worked at a bank in Vermont. He earned a Master’s degree from the Fletcher School at Tufts University and a Bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College.