POSTPONED - DC Afternoon Tea - BPIA Women's Leadership Network

Speaker Bios 

Ambassador (ret.) Eunice Reddick 

Reddick graduated from Hunter College High School in New York City in 1969 and received a BA in history and literature from New York University (1973) and a master's degree in International Affairs from Columbia University’s School of International Affairs (1975). After completing her graduate studies, Reddick worked for several years at the Africa-America Institute in New York and Washington.

Reddick began her Foreign Service career in 1980 and was assigned in 1981 as consular officer to the Harare Embassy, Zimbabwe. In 1983 she returned to the United States State Department and was assigned to the Bureau of Population, Refugee and Migration Affairs to monitor USG assistance to African refugees. From 1986 to 1988, Reddick served as Country officer for Tanzania and the India Ocean countries in the Bureau of African Affairs. After that assignment, she was a Senior Watch Officer in the Secretary's 24-hour Operations Center. From 1989 to 1990, she studied Mandarin Chinese at the AIT/Taipei Language School, followed by an assignment to the political section at the Beijing Embassy.

In 1993 she was the recipient of the Dean and Virginia Rusk Fellowship award. Reddick spent a year as an Associate at Georgetown University’s Institute for the Study of Diplomacy. She then followed two Deputy Director assignments in the State Department – the first in the Office of Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam Affairs, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, and the second in the Office of International Development Assistance of the Bureau of International Organization Affairs. From 1997 to 2000, she was the chief of the political section at the Taipei Main Office of American Institute in Taiwan (AIT). From 2002 to 2004, she was Director of the Office of Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore Affairs after a stint as Deputy Director of that office when it also covered Indonesia. She served from 2005 to 2007 as Director of the Office of East African Affairs in the State Department Bureau of African Affairs. Following those posts, she was appointed by President George W. Bush and sworn in as United States Ambassador to Gabon and São Tomé and Príncipe.[1] She was succeeded by Eric D. Benjaminson in December 2010.

She was nominated on January 6, 2014 to be the next United States Ambassador to Niger. She was confirmed on June 30, 2014 and presented her credentials on July 21, 2014.

Dr. Kimberly A. McClain

Assistant Secretary Congressional And Intergovernmental Relations

US Department of Housing and Urban Development 

The Honorable Dr. Kimberly A. McClain was confirmed by the U.S. Senate and sworn in as the Assistant Secretary for Congressional and Intergovernmental Relations at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on January 3, 2023. In this role, she serves as the principal advisor to the Secretary, Deputy Secretary, and senior staff with respect to legislative affairs, congressional relations and policy matters affecting federal, state, and local governments, and public and private interest groups. This includes the development of the Department’s legislative priorities and collaborating with the Chief Financial Officer on the development of the Department’s $73.3 billion budget.

From 2021 to 2023, Dr. McClain served in the Biden–Harris Administration as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Congressional and Legislative Affairs at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. In that role, she advised the Secretary and Deputy Secretary on congressional matters and provided management and oversight of the Department’s congressional activities. across the defense, intelligence, interagency, and private sectors. Immediately prior to joining the Administration, Dr. McClain served as Director for Congressional Strategy for the Department of the Air Force where she led teams charged with planning, execution, and management of the Department’s congressional engagement strategy in addition to leading and managing five functional offices: research, metrics, analysis, strategy, and strategic communications in support of the Department’s $169 billion dollar budget.

A retired U.S. Air Force Reserve Lieutenant Colonel, Dr. McClain has more than 30 years of experience in cybersecurity, defense acquisition, financial services, international security cooperation, and national security across academia, government, military, non-profit, and private industry. In the private sector, Dr. McClain has held a variety of positions to include Senior Executive Communications Advisor to the Chief Executive Officer for Accenture Federal Services, Risk Operations Manager at Capital One Financial Services, Investment Banker with Stewart James Financial Services, and as an Adjunct Professor at Northcentral University teaching international business.

Over the last three decades, Dr. McClain has held numerous positions in the defense sector to include Director of Congressional Strategy, Senior Country Director for Latin America, Director for Defense Senior Leadership Development Program, Senior International Cooperation Advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Senior Country Director for Africa and Brazil, Legislative Advisor to the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Policy Advisor, and E-3 AWACS Instructor Senior Air Battle Manager.

A native of Rockford, Illinois, Dr. McClain holds a Doctor of Philosophy in International Business from Northcentral University, a Master of Science in Human Relations and International Business from Amberton University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Texas.

She is an active and proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, the Links, Incorporated, and Jack and Jill of America, Incorporated.

Dr. McClain and her husband have four children and three dogs.