Ambassador Sarah-Ann Lynch assumed duties as Civilian Deputy to the Commander and Foreign Policy Advisor, U.S. Southern Command, Miami, FL, in December 2023. As Civilian Deputy to the Commander, she is responsible for overseeing the Command’s Human Rights and Women, Peace, and Security programs, and building trust and strengthening relations with foreign and interagency partners. She also plays a proactive role in message development and strategic communication, driving integration, alignment, and collaboration across the USSOUTHCOM enterprise and with interagency partners. As Foreign Policy Advisor, Ambassador Lynch provides the Commander and other senior command staff with geo-political, political-military, and economic counsel. She also leads the Command's relationship with the Department of State and U.S. Embassies abroad.
Prior to her arrival at SOUTHCOM, Ambassador Lynch served as Ambassador to the Co-operative Republic of Guyana from 2019 to 2023. She previously served as Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator and Acting Assistant Administrator in USAID's Latin America and Caribbean Bureau.
A career member of the Senior Foreign Service with the rank of Career Minister, Ambassador Lynch served with USAID from 1993 to 2018, and was posted overseas in Bangladesh, Peru, Afghanistan, and Iraq where she was the USAID Mission Director in Baghdad. In Washington, she served in the regional bureaus of the Middle East, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as the Bureaus of Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance, and the Office of Afghanistan and Pakistan Affairs. She has received numerous awards during her career, including USAID's Distinguished Honor Award and the Presidential Rank Award.
Before joining USAID, Ambassador Lynch worked in both international business and for a non-governmental organization. She also served as a U.S. Peace Corp volunteer in Morocco where she taught English at the secondary level.
Ambassador Lynch is a graduate of Mount Holyoke College and holds Masters' Degrees from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and the National War College. Ambassador Lynch and her husband, Dr. Kevin Healy, have three children.
Uploaded Jan. 11, 2024