Catherine Rodriguez is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service. She arrived in Monrovia, Liberia on August 4, 2023, as Deputy Chief of Mission and assumed the role of Chargé d’ Affaires on August 11, 2023. Prior to her arrival in Monrovia, she was the Deputy Executive Director for the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs (SCA) and served as interim Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs (NEA) and SCA. She previously served as the Consul General in Lahore, Pakistan. Her domestic assignments include: Chief of Staff for the Director General of the U.S. Foreign Service and Acting Under Secretary for Management, a Regional Director at the Office of Foreign Missions, and as a Diplomat in Residence. Additionally, she has done overseas tours in New Delhi, Karachi, and Peshawar. She began her Foreign Service career with the United States Agency for International Development in Washington, DC, with additional tours in Costa Rica and El Salvador before joining the Department of State.
Catherine holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in business from Florida International University and a graduate degree in science and policy from Columbia University. She was selected by the Secretary as a Colin Powell Fellow. She is the daughter of Cuban refugees, hails from Miami, Florida and is a native Spanish speaker. Before joining the Service, she helped manage a successful family business.