Janette Yarwood is Director for Africa and The Middle East in the Office of International Affairs and Washington D.C Academic Liaison at Yale University.  She is a Fulbright Scholar and holds a PhD in Anthropology from The Graduate Center, City University of New York. Prior to joining Yale, Dr. Yarwood was based in Washington D.C. and held several roles working on U.S. policy toward Africa. Most recently, she served with the Biden Harris Administration as Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary of African Affairs at the Department of State where she worked on strategic initiatives and U.S. policy priorities toward the region. In this role, she also deployed to Doha, Qatar to assist with the Afghanistan evacuation effort. Previously, she was Staff Director of the House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights, and International Organizations where she led a comprehensive foreign policy agenda, planned congressional hearings and delegations to conduct oversight, was key interlocutor with the White House, State Department, international diplomats, and academic institutions. Dr. Yarwood was also Chair of Sub-Saharan Africa Area Studies at the Foreign Service Institute with the Department of State responsible for developing the curriculum and training U.S. diplomats and other U.S. government personnel preparing for an overseas assignment across Africa or covering Africa from the United States. She also teaches international relations and anthropology courses. Dr. Yarwood has been a member of Truman since 2016 and served as co-lead for TruAfrica and TruDiversity.