Amanda J. Van Dort

Amanda Van Dort currently serves as the Division Chief for Policy, Planning, and Public Diplomacy in the Secretary’s Office of Global Women’s Issues (S/GWI) at the U.S. Department of State. The Office has a mandate to promote the rights and empowerment of women and girls through U.S. foreign policy. In this role, she oversees implementation of the Department’s Action Plan for the U.S. National Strategy on Gender Equity and Equality; S/GWI’s strategic planning and policy alignment; and public affairs and external relations.

Prior to this, Amanda served on Operation Allies Welcome – where she supported the opening of the Dulles Expo Center as the first domestic intake facility, and the opening of Marine Corps Base Quantico as a domestic safe haven. From 2018 to 2021, Amanda was the Senior Advisor on Women, Peace, and Security and Policy Team Lead in the Department of State’s Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations (CSO), where she also covered Atrocity Prevention. 

As a Presidential Management Fellow from 2016 to 2018, Amanda covered Population Policy and Gender-based Violence in the Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM). During her fellowship, she also served as an Advisor in the Office of the Secretary of Defense on International Humanitarian Policy, including U.S. military and partner nation adherence to International Humanitarian Law and Women, Peace, and Security.

Amanda completed a graduate degree in Public Policy at the University of Michigan Gerald R. Ford School, where she received the Harold W. Rosenthal Fellowship in International Relations to complete an internship as a Policy Analyst for the International Organization for Migration in Geneva, Switzerland. Prior to graduate school, Amanda served as the Country Director for Emerge Global, a non-profit based in Sri Lanka that supports teenage girls who are survivors of sexual assault and abuse.