The UCLA Burkle Center for International Relations will host California Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis for a webinar on California’s International Engagement. Kal Raustiala, director of the center, will moderate the discussion with Kounalakis, which will be livestreamed at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 29 on YouTube. You can also register for the webinar here, which will allow you to ask questions during the event.
Kounalakis, the 50th lieutenant governor of California and a former Ambassador to the Republic of Hungary, was sworn in to her current role by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Jan. 7, 2019. She is the first woman elected Lt. Governor of California. A native Californian, she visited each of the state’s 58 counties during her campaign.
From 2010 to 2013, Kounalakis served as President Barack Obama’s Ambassador to the Republic of Hungary. Kounalakis was the first Greek-American woman — and at age 43 one of America’s youngest — to serve as U.S. ambassador. Her memoir, “Madam Ambassador, Three Years of Diplomacy, Dinner Parties and Democracy in Budapest,” chronicles the onset of Hungary’s democratic backsliding.
Then-Gov. Jerry Brown appointed Kounalakis to chair the California Advisory Council for International Trade and Investment in 2014. Kounalakis was a virtual fellow at the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Intelligence and Research between 2014 and 2017, specializing in international trade and immigration. She is currently a director of the Association of American Ambassadors and a National Democratic Institute “Ambassadors Circle” adviser.
