Lee Satterfield

Lee Satterfield

Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA)

Lee Satterfield serves as the Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), leading the United States’ global efforts to engage individuals through academic, cultural, professional, sports, film, music and youth exchanges. As Assistant Secretary, she works to strengthen U.S. government public diplomacy exchanges and programs by building on the foundational premise of fostering mutual understanding to more directly connect to U.S. foreign policy goals, including access to education, economic equity, and societal opportunity and inclusion. The Assistant Secretary aims to bolster strategic U.S efforts to engage through cultural diplomacy, cultural heritage, and youth exchanges using a 360-degree approach to engage with the U.S. private sector, nongovernmental organizations, and like-minded nations and territories.

Assistant Secretary Satterfield has led a diverse professional career, which has included serving as: the President and Chief Operating Officer of Meridian International Center; Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and Deputy Chief of Protocol of the United States during the Obama Administration; and, Chief of Staff to the U.S. Secretary of Labor, and Special Assistant to the President and Staff Director for The White House Office of Public Liaison in the Clinton Administration.

A native South Carolinian, Ms. Satterfield graduated from the University of South Carolina with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism.

Scott Weinhold

Scott Weinhold

Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA)

Scott Weinhold joined ECA 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 HKIA airfield.

Mr. Weinhold joined the Foreign Service in 1992 and is a career member of the U.S. Senior Foreign Service with the rank of Minister Counselor. He served as Acting Deputy Chief of Mission in Ankara, Turkey 2017-2019, serving concurrently as Minister Counselor for Public Affairs. Prior to that he was Consul General at the U.S. Consulate General in Shenyang, China.

His previous positions include Public Diplomacy postings in Beijing, Tokyo, Canberra, Ulaanbaatar, Ho Chi Minh City, Taipei and Chengdu. He is the recipient of the Department of State’s Distinguished Honor Award for his service in Kabul as well as multiple Superior Honor Awards. His languages are Mandarin Chinese, Turkish, Vietnamese, Mongolian and basic Japanese.

Mr. Weinhold is originally from Wisconsin and graduated from the University of Virginia in 1989 with a double major in African Studies and Asian History.

Nicole Elkon

Nicole Elkon

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Professional and Cultural Exchanges

Nicole Elkon joined the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) as the Deputy Assistant Secretary (“DAS”) for Private Sector Exchange in September 2021. In February 2023, she became the DAS for Professional and Cultural Exchanges. She is responsible for overseeing a broad array of professional, youth, cultural, and sports exchange programs for U.S. and international participants.

Until July 2021, Ms. Elkon was the Chief Operating Officer of Human Rights First (HRF), an independent advocacy organization focused on human rights and the rule of law. Prior to her work at HRF, Ms. Elkon was a Senior Advisor at Results for America, a non-profit organization focused on advancing data-driven, evidence-based public policy. She also served as Chief of Staff to the Assistant Secretary and Director of the Office of Public-Private Partnerships at ECA, working to leverage strategic partnerships to enhance Administration foreign policy priorities, from May 2015 until January 2017.

From October 2003 until March 2006, Ms. Elkon was the Director of External Affairs at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford, CT.

From December 2001 through January 2003, Ms. Elkon was the Chief of Staff and Director of Communications of the 9/11 United Services Group (USG). Prior to joining the USG, Ms. Elkon was Vice President, International Communications and Strategic Planning at Merrill Lynch. She also worked in the White House as the Director for Planning for the National Security Council and Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Scheduling from 1995 to 1999. And from 1993 to 1995 Ms. Elkon was the Press Secretary at the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Ms. Elkon is a native New Yorker. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from McGill University in Montreal, Canada.

Ethan Rosenzweig

Ethan Rosenzweig

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Academic Programs

Ethan joins the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) from Atlanta, GA, where he worked at Emory University's School of Law as Associate Dean overseeing enrollment management and student services including international recruiting and engagement activities. A graduate of Emory Law, Ethan clerked for the Honorable G. Ernest Tidwell of the U.S. District Court of Northern Georgia and then practiced law in Charleston, South Carolina. Before Emory, he completed a Presidential Management Fellowship at the U.S. Department of Education, and received his undergraduate and master’s degrees in public policy from American University. Originally from Louisiana where his family still resides, he says he doesn't return often enough and misses the crawfish and jambalaya.

Rafik Mansour

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy

A career member of the Senior Foreign Service, Class of Minister-Counselor, Rafik Mansour is currently the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy at the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. From 2019 to 2021, he served as the U.S. Chargé d’Affaires/Chief of Mission in Singapore, leading an embassy of 24 U.S. government agencies which strategically strengthened bilateral and regional ties ranging from security cooperation to economic prosperity in Singapore and Southeast Asia. Prior to his assignment to Singapore, he served as Deputy Chief of Mission and Chargé d’Affaires ad interim of the U.S. Embassy in Yerevan, Armenia (2016-2019).

Earlier in his career, he was the Senior Deputy Director of Public Diplomacy (PD) in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, helping lead PD efforts, policy, and resources in 50 countries. Other assignments include Public Affairs Officer in Libya and Algeria, Cultural Counselor in Iraq and France, Political Officer in Italy, and Political/Economic Officer in Russia. He started his Foreign Service career as Vice Consul in Haiti.

Mr. Mansour is the recipient of numerous Superior and Meritorious Honor awards from the State Department. The Italian President awarded him the Italian Order of Merit in 2019. In 2009, he was the runner-up for the Edward Murrow Award for Excellence in Public Diplomacy for exemplary use of soft power in combating violent extremism in Algeria.

Mr. Mansour obtained a B.S. in Biology and a B.A. in French Literature from the University of California, Irvine. He later received a master’s degree in National Security Strategy from the National War College. He speaks Arabic, Russian, French, Italian, and Creole.

Rebecca Pasini

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

Yolanda Robinson

Executive Director for the Executive Office

Yolanda Robinson is the Executive Director for the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), Office of Policy, Planning, and Resources (R/PPR) and the Global Engagement Center (GEC). 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.