Washington, DC - Today, President Donald J. Trump announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to key positions in his Administration:

Mary Beth Leonard of Massachusetts, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Nigeria.

Ms. Leonard, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, currently serves as the U.S. Ambassador to the African Union.  She previously served as U.S. Ambassador to Mali and was a U.S. Department of State Faculty Advisor at the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island and a Diplomat in Residence for New England at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts.  She also served as the Director of the Office of West African Affairs in the Bureau of African Affairs at the Department of State, as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Mali and the U.S. Embassy in Suriname, and as Deputy Principal Officer at the U.S. Consulate General in Cape Town, South Africa.  Ms. Leonard earned a B.A. from Boston University, an M.A. with a concentration in African studies from Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, and an M.A. from the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island.   She speaks French, Spanish, Afrikaans, and Dutch.

Herro Mustafa of California, to be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Bulgaria.

Ms. Mustafa, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, class of Counselor, is currently the Deputy Chief of Mission of the U.S. Embassy in Lisbon, Portugal.  Previously, she served as Political Minister Counselor at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi, India.  In Washington, D.C., she was an Advisor in the Officer of the Vice President at the White House, Deputy Director of the Office of Afghanistan in the Department of State, and the Chief of Staff/Special Assistant to the Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs.  She also served as a Director at the National Security Council.  Ms. Mustafa received a B.S.F.S degree from Georgetown University and an M.P.A. from Princeton University.  She is the recipient of the Matilda W. Sinclaire Award for Excellence in Foreign Language.  She speaks nine languages, including Arabic, Russian, Hindi, and Farsi.

Chad Rupe of Wyoming, to be the Administrator of the Rural Utilities Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Mr. Chad A. Rupe has served as Acting Administrator for Rural Utilities Service since April 30, 2019.  Previously, he served as USDA Rural Development State Director of Wyoming from 2017 to 2019.  He was a leader for rural broadband, serving on the Rural Development State Directors Broadband Working Group and assisting State government with efforts to deploy broadband in rural Wyoming.  Mr. Rupe has also championed rural water utilities projects and financing for sustainable electric infrastructure investments.  Before joining USDA, Rupe spent more than 13 years in the banking industry specializing in commercial lending in Wyoming.  He began his service to our country in the United States Army.  Mr. Rupe is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and earned his MBA from the University of Phoenix.  He is married with three children.