Senior Diplomat Discusses the Importance of Public Service at Alumni Speaker Series Event

On April 26, 2024, members of the Johns Hopkins SAIS community came together—in person and online—to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the United States Foreign Service during an Alumni Speaker Series event featuring SAIS alumna Marta Costanzo Youth, who serves as the principal deputy assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration. The conversation was moderated by Tina Wong, state vice president at the American Foreign Service Association and SAIS alumna ‘10.

The SAIS Office of Development and Alumni Relations, in partnership with the Careers in Diplomacy Student Club, organized the event as part of the Alumni Speaker Series, which features a broad array of distinguished SAIS alumni who are international affairs practitioners, business leaders, government officials, and more, for insightful perspectives and thought-provoking discussions on international relations, leadership, and other relevant topics.

Student leaders from the Careers in Diplomacy Club, many of whom are graduating from SAIS this year, had the opportunity for a small group meet-and-greet before the event, where they asked Ms. Youth targeted questions about her SAIS experience and career options at the State Department.

In her opening remarks, Khadija Hill, associate dean for Development and Alumni Relations, underscored the importance of the SAIS community celebrating the centennial of the United States Foreign Service. She noted that hundreds of SAIS alumni have served in the Foreign Service during the eight decades since the school was founded in 1943—many of them in high-level leadership roles.

In her discussion, Youth spoke about her career path, the opportunities and challenges facing the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, and what she’s working to accomplish in her leadership role. She also offered reflections on the importance of public service, the evolution of the U.S. Foreign Service since 1924, diversity and talent management, leadership under crisis, and critical skills needed to succeed as a diplomat in the changing global order.

Marta Youth has been a Foreign Service officer for more than 30 years and is a member of the Senior Foreign Service. She joined the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration as deputy assistant secretary in November 2020. In April 2022, she took on the role of principal deputy assistant secretary and has responsibility for overseeing the Office of the Executive Director, the Office of International Migration, and the Office of Assistance for Western Hemisphere.

Her prior assignments included serving as deputy chief of mission at the U.S. embassy in Managua, Nicaragua from 2014 to 2017, and as economic counselor at the U.S. embassy in Ottawa, Canada from 2011 to 2014.  She also worked at the U.S. embassy in Quito, Ecuador as press attaché from 2008 to 2011; in Madrid, Spain as a trade officer from 2000 to 2004; and at the U.S. consulate in Chennai, India as a consular officer from 1992 to 1994.

Youth has a B.A. in political science and economics from St. Peter’s University in New Jersey, and pursued her graduate studies at Johns Hopkins SAIS in Bologna, Italy and in Washington, D.C.