Last week, senior U.S. diplomat Ted Allegra retired after 27 years in the State Department’s Foreign Service.  USCIB has worked closely with Ted Allegra over the past five years, through his service first as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs at the State Department and since 2015 as Deputy Chief of Mission and Chargé d’Affaires at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in Geneva.  As the representative of U.S. business to the broad network of UN agencies and international organizations headquartered in Geneva, USCIB works closely with senior officials at the Department of State and in U.S. Missions to international organizations.

“Allegra has consistently been a tower of strength and a good friend of USCIB and U.S. business,” noted USCIB Vice President for Investment and Financial Services Shaun Donnelly, who is also a former diplomat. In his final 18 months in Geneva, in the absence of a U.S. Ambassador, Allegra, as Chargé d’Affaires (effectively Acting U.S. Ambassador), carried the full responsibility of leading that important Mission, representing the U.S. Government to nearly two dozen Geneva-based international organizations.

Allegra is capping a very distinguished Foreign Service career.  In addition to his final five years focusing on the United Nations and international organization issues, Allegra served with distinction earlier as Deputy Executive Secretary of the State Department, as Deputy Chief of Mission (#2 U.S. diplomat) in the U.S. Embassy in Cambodia, and as the Department’s  Deputy Coordinator for Counter-terrorism.  Earlier in his career, Allegra served in U.S. Embassies and Consulates in Pakistan, Philippines and Cambodia.

USCIB President and CEO Peter Robinson was effusive in his praise of Allegra. “Ted has been a fantastic partner for USCIB and for American business,” said Robinson. “Since Ambassador Pamela Hamamoto’s departure in January 2017, Ted has done a great job leading the U.S. Mission in Geneva.  We’ve worked with him on a range of challenging issues arising in the International Labor Organization, the World Health Organization, the World Intellectual Property Organization, the International Telecommunications Union and several other UN bodies and agencies.  Ted has always been available to meet with USCIB and our member companies, has listened to and understood our concerns and proposals, and has helped us find solutions.  When we took our first-ever official senior delegation of USCIB member companies to Geneva earlier this  year, Ted was incredibly generous with his time and wise in his advice.  I’ve worked with a lot of very senior U.S. Government diplomats in my career at USCIB and Ted Allegra is one of the very best.  We are sorry to see him leave the U.S. Mission in Geneva and the Foreign Service but we wish him well in future endeavors.  He leaves behind in Geneva both an impressive legacy and some big shoes to fill.”