Nina Hachigian, the U.S. ambassador to ASEAN from 2014 to 2017 during the Obama administration, was appointed in August to lead the newly created Los Angeles Mayor’s Office of International Affairs. As the new deputy mayor of international affairs, she will work with the mayor’s office to broaden the city’s global engagement on matters ranging from trade, investment, culture, and tourism to preparations for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

“Los Angeles is a leader on the world stage—we’re bringing the Olympics back to America and Angelenos deserve the wealth of jobs and other new opportunities that come with increased international trade, more foreign investment, and heightened cultural exchange,” said Mayor Garcetti in a press release. “Nina will be an outstanding leader for my Office of International Affairs—as an Angeleno with the right experience and who understands how deeper engagement with the world can lift up all of our communities.”.

Under her leadership as ambassador to ASEAN, the U.S. established a strategic partnership with ASEAN, held the first leaders’ summit in the United States, launched a presidential initiative on economic cooperation, established the U.S.-ASEAN Women’s Leadership Academy, and grew the youth program to more than 100,000 members. She had previously served as director of the RAND Center for Asia Pacific Policy for four years, was senior vice president at the Center for American Progress, and was on the staff of the National Security Council in the Clinton White House from 1998 to 1999.

A founder of Women Ambassadors Serving America, she is the editor of Debating China: The U.S.-China Relationship in Ten Conversations (Oxford University Press, 2014) and co-author of The Next American Century: How the U.S. Can Thrive as Other Powers Rise (Simon & Schuster, 2008).