Darren Beattie
Senior Bureau Official
Darren Beattie joins the State Department from the private sector, where he worked as a media entrepreneur and political strategist. He has served in government previously as a White House speechwriter and policy aide, and by presidential appointment to the Commission for the Preservation of American Heritage Abroad.
A former academic, Beattie has taught political theory at Duke University and Humboldt University in Berlin. He holds a B.S. in mathematics from the University of Chicago and a Ph.D. in political theory from Duke University, where he wrote his dissertation on mathematics and the structure of modernity.
As the State Department’s Senior Official in Public Diplomacy, Beattie is passionate about affirmatively advancing free speech as a diplomacy tool, and marshalling America’s exceptional cultural achievements in the arts, music, and academia in furtherance of the safety, strength, and prosperity of the American people.
Scott Weinhold
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA)
Scott Weinhold is the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for ECA and previously served as ECA’s Acting Assistant Secretary. Mr. Weinhold joined the bureau in 2022 from the leadership team of the Department of State’s Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts (CARE). He served as Assistant Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan 2020-2021, where he managed the State Department team during the August 2021 civilian evacuation of over 124,000 people from the Kabul Airport.
Mr. Weinhold joined the Foreign Service in 1992 and is a career member of the U.S. Senior Foreign Service. He served as Acting Deputy Chief of Mission in Ankara, Turkey 2017-2019 and prior to that was Consul General at the U.S. Consulate General in Shenyang, China.
His previous postings include Beijing, Tokyo, Canberra, Ulaanbaatar, Ho Chi Minh City, Taipei and Chengdu. He is the recipient of the Department of State’s Distinguished Honor Award as well as multiple Superior Honor Awards. His languages are Mandarin Chinese, Turkish, Vietnamese, Mongolian and basic Japanese.
Mr. Weinhold is from Wisconsin and graduated from the University of Virginia in 1989 with a double major in African Studies and Asian History.
Rebecca Pasini
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Private Sector Exchange
Rebecca A. Pasini joined the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Private Sector Exchanges in July 2023. A career member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister - Counselor, Ms. Pasini has been an American diplomat since 1997.
Ms. Pasini previously served as the Director of Public and Congressional Affairs in the Bureau of Consular Affairs from 2021-2023. Other Washington assignments have included positions in the Bureau of Consular Affairs, the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, the Office of Foreign Missions, and as a liaison to the Department of Homeland Security. She has also completed multiple overseas tours, including as Minister Counselor for Consular Affairs in Islamabad, Pakistan, and as the Consular Chief in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Belfast, Northern Ireland. Other tours included Mexico City and Kuwait.
A Maryland native, Ms. Pasini has a Ph.D. in Political Science from Indiana University, a master’s degree in National Security and Resource Strategy from the Eisenhower School, National Defense University, and an undergraduate degree from Mary Washington College.
Yolanda Robinson
Executive Director for the Executive Office
Yolanda Robinson is the Executive Director for the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) and Office of Policy, Planning, and Resources (R/PPR). In this role, as a share service provider, she provides strategic direction and managerial oversight in developing, coordinating, and executing organization-wide administrative policies and processes in the areas of Budget and Financial Management, Human Resources, Information Technology, Grants Management, Procurement and General Administrative Services. Ms. Robinson joined the U.S. Department of State in March 2007 and served as the Bureau’s Budget Officer, responsible for managing and executing resources of more than $800 million and as the Deputy Executive Director, working alongside the Executive Director with the development and execution of operational policies for the supported organizations.
Yolanda, a native of the Washington, DC Metropolitan area, is a career federal civil servant with more than 25 years of service, working mostly in the areas of budget policy, planning, operations and financial management. She enjoys mentoring and volunteering in her community.