Our Mission
The Washington International Diplomatic Academy (WIDA) is an independent organization that provides practical professional training in diplomacy and international affairs to both current and aspiring diplomats, including students, recent graduates and professionals in government, NGOs and the private sector. WIDA teaches practical skills and does not confer academic degrees.
Read more about what inspired WIDA’s mission in Executive Director Nicholas Kralev’s New York Times article “Diplomats Are Made, Not Born.”
LEADERSHIP
Nicholas Kralev
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Kralev is a former Financial Times and Washington Times correspondent. He witnessed firsthand the conduct of American diplomacy while accompanying four U.S. secretaries of state on their travels around the world — Hillary Clinton, Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell and Madeleine Albright. His books include “Diplomatic Tradecraft” and “America’s Other Army.”
INSTRUCTORS
Ambassador Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley
Abercrombie-Winstanley is a former U.S. ambassador to Malta and consul-general in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. During more than three decades as a career diplomat, she also served in Iraq, Egypt, Israel and Indonesia. She was the State Department's first chief diversity officer.
Ambassador William J. Burns
Burns is a former U.S. deputy secretary of state. A retired career ambassador in the Foreign Service, he was also undersecretary for political affairs, assistant secretary for Near Eastern affairs, and ambassador to Russia and Jordan. (Not teaching while serving as director of the CIA in the Biden administration.)
Thomas Countryman
Countryman is a former assistant secretary of state for international security and nonproliferation. During his 34-year Foreign Service career, he served in Serbia, Egypt, Greece, Italy and at the United Nations. He is chairman of the Arms Control Association.
Ambassador Cindy Courville
Courville is a former ambassador to the African Union and senior director for African affairs at the National Security Council. A former civil servant, she also worked in the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the Defense Intelligence Agency.
Ambassador Daniel Fried
Fried is a former assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, and former senior director for European affairs on the National Security Council. During his four decades in the Foreign Service, he was ambassador to Poland and also served in Russia and Serbia.
Ambassador Janice Jacobs
Jacobs is a former assistant secretary of state for consular affairs. She was also ambassador to Senegal and Guinea-Bissau. Other assignments during her 34-year Foreign Service career took her to the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, Mexico, Nigeria and Thailand.
Ambassador Jimmy Kolker
Kolker is a former assistant secretary for global affairs at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. During his 30-year Foreign Service career, he was ambassador to Uganda and Burkina Faso, deputy chief of mission in Denmark and Botswana, and also served in Britain and Sweden.
Ambassador Lisa Kubiske
Kubiske is a former ambassador to Honduras and deputy chief of mission in Brazil and the Dominican Republic. During her 35-year Foreign Service career, she also served in Mexico, China and Hong Kong, and was deputy assistant secretary of state for economic and business affairs.
Ambassador Thomas Miller
Miller is a former ambassador to Greece and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and special coordinator for Cyprus negotiations. During nearly 30 years in the Foreign Service, he was also posted to Thailand. He is a former CEO of the United Nations Association of the United States.
Ambassador Thomas Pickering
Pickering is a former undersecretary of state for political affairs. During more than four decades in the Foreign Service, he was ambassador to Russia, India, Israel, Jordan, Nigeria, El Salvador and the United Nations. He also served as executive secretary of the State Department.
Ambassador Charles Ray
Ray is a former ambassador to Zimbabwe and Cambodia, deputy chief of mission in Sierra Leone, and consul-general in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. A retired U.S. Army officer, he also served as deputy assistant secretary of defense for prisoners of war and missing personnel affairs.
Ambassador Eunice Reddick
Reddick is a former ambassador to Niger, Gabon and São Tomé and Príncipe. During almost four decades in the Foreign Service, she also served in Burundi, Mauritania, Zimbabwe, China and Taiwan, and held several senior positions at the State Department in Washington, focusing on Africa and Asia.
Ambassador Francis Ricciardone
Ricciardone is a former ambassador to Turkey, Egypt and the Philippines, and deputy ambassador to Afghanistan. During his 36 years in the Foreign Service, he was also posted to Britain and Jordan and held several senior positions at the State Department.
Ambassador Douglas Silliman
Silliman is a former ambassador to Iraq and Kuwait, and deputy chief of mission in Turkey and Iraq. During his 35-year Foreign Service career, he also served in Jordan, Pakistan, Tunisia and Haiti. He is currently president of the Arab Gulf States Institute, a Washington think tank.
Ambassador Kris Urs
Urs is a former ambassador to Peru and deputy chief of mission in Spain and Bolivia, as well as deputy assistant secretary of state for economic and business affairs. During his 34-year career in the Foreign Service, he also served in Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and Bangladesh.
Ambassador Earl Anthony Wayne
Wayne is a former assistant secretary of state for economic, energy and business affairs, principal deputy assistant secretary of state for European affairs and ambassador to Mexico and Argentina. His Foreign Service career spanned 40 years.
Ambassador Bruce Wharton
Wharton is a former ambassador to Zimbabwe, acting undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs, and deputy chief of mission in Guatemala. During his 35-year Foreign Service career, he also served in Argentina, Chile, Bolivia and South Africa, among other posts.
Ambassador James Zumwalt
Zumwalt is a former ambassador to Senegal and Guinea-Bissau and deputy chief of mission in Japan. During his 36 years in the Foreign Service, he was also deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, and served in China and the Democratic Republic of Congo.