Lisa D. Kenna


Lisa S. Dougherty Kenna is the current Executive Secretary of the United States Department of State, succeeding Joseph E. Macmanus. She has served in that role since June 2017 under President Donald Trump.

Early life and education

Kenna is the daughter of Air Force Colonel Andrew Joseph Dougherty and Marjorie Marie Dougherty. She has one sister, Julie. Kenna studied at Middlebury College and the University of Connecticut School of Law before joining the Foreign Service.

Ukraine scandal involvement

On October 1, 2019, a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit was issued by American Oversight, an American activist group group, against the United States Department of State. Kenna was named, along with other officials, in connection to the Trump–Ukraine scandal. The lawsuit requested communications of various sorts between the named officials and lawyers Rudy Giuliani, Victoria Toensing, and Joseph diGenova, along with communications regarding Ukraine officials and communications regarding Marie Yovanovitch, who was the Ambassador to Ukraine until she was recalled early in May. In the same week, text messages from former Special Representative for Ukraine, Kurt Volker, were released in a joint statement by the Intelligence, Foreign Affairs, and Oversight and Reform Committees. In the statement was a conversation by acting Ambassador to Ukraine, Bill Taylor, and Ambassador to the European Union, Gordon Sondland, over withholding aid to Ukraine. Sondland redirected Taylor to Kenna over concerns that Taylor held regarding the withholding.

Ambassadorship nomination

On May 1, 2020, President Trump announced his intent to nominate Kenna to be the next United States Ambassador to the Republic of Peru. On May 6, 2020, her nomination was sent to the Senate. Her nomination is currently pending before the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. On July 23, 2020, Kenna appeared before the committee for a Nomination hearing.

Personal

Lisa Kenna was married to Roger T. Kenna. She has two daughters, Amelia and Isabel.