GW Alumna Appointed as UN Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees

Tressa Rae Finerty, B.A..'96, M.B.A.' 99, wasappointed deputy high commissioner of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees by UN Secretary-General António Guterres. Finerty is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service and currently serves as chargé d'affaires for the U.S. Mission to the United Nations and other international organizations in Geneva, Switzerland.

Previously, Finerty served as humanitarian counsel of the U.S. Mission to the UN in Geneva and deputy executive secretary in the Office of the U.S. Secretary of State. She has also held positions at the U.S. Mission to the UN in New York and U.S. embassies in Malaysia, Iraq, Armenia and Thailand.

Finerty brings experience in multilateral diplomacy and humanitarian affairs, including leading humanitarian operations supporting the relocation of tens of thousands of refugees and coordinating emergency responses in complex environments.