When she was two years old, Herro Mustafa and her family fled Iraqi Kurdistan and the regime of Saddam Hussein. The next two years were spent living in refugee camps in Iran, until the family was sponsored to come to the United States.
“Being an immigrant refugee, you start with nothing,” Mustafa once told a group of students. “But it has taught me to set your aims high, achieve them and then aim even higher.”
Mustafa, who speaks nine languages, definitely aimed high — and she would go on to become the first American of Kurdish descent to be nominated to an ambassadorship. A career member of the Senior Foreign Service, she was appointed U.S. ambassador to Bulgaria in 2019 by President Donald J. Trump. Before that, she served in a number of diplomatic roles around the world, including in India, Iraq, Lebanon, Portugal, Greece, and Bosnia. She worked for Vice President Joe Biden from 2009 to 2011, providing counsel on issues related to the Middle East and South and Central Asia.
Her family’s story is the subject of the documentary film American Herro, and she has received notable awards from the State Department, including the Matilda W. Sinclaire Language Award for superior achievement in a foreign language.
“My family story is an example of the American dream,” she said in an interview with the America for Bulgaria Foundation. “I strove to make the most of opportunities available to me, and the United States is a country that rewards hard work. I truly love America, I believe that other countries benefit from partnership with the United States, and that belief underpins all the work I do as a diplomat.”
