Robert C. Perry

Ambassador Robert C. Perry "is vice president for international programs at the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA), where he manages CCA’s conferences and programs.  He was instrumental in planning CCA’s biennial Summits in 2003, 2005 and 2007.  Under his supervision, CCA’s Program Division plans conferences on agribusiness, health, infrastructure and finance. He joined CCA in 2003 after a career in the U.S. Foreign Service at the Department of State, where he served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of African Affairs (July 2001-December 2002) responsible for Economic Policy, West Africa and Public Diplomacy.    As U.S. Ambassador to the Central African Republic (January 1999-June 2001) he coordinated the U.S. contribution to the UN’s peace building effort in the Central African Republic.   His previous assignments included managing a US$100 million counternarcotics program for Latin America at the State Department, and postings to Bolivia, Mauritius, Mexico, Ethiopia, Chile and Vietnam. Ambassador Perry speaks Spanish and French. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the American Foreign Service Association, the Association of Black American Ambassadors and serves as a Trustee of the Phelps Stokes Fund, an educational NGO. He earned a B.A. in Political Science from Wittenberg University and a M.A. in International Relations from American University."