Helen LaFave began her assignment as Deputy Chief of Mission at U.S. Embassy in Dhaka, Bangladesh in September 2021.

Previous assignments include: Acting Executive Assistant/Chief of Staff to the Undersecretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs; Minister Counselor for Public Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, Egypt: Deputy Chief of Mission of the U.S. Embassy to Libya; Consul General in Kolkata, India; Deputy Director for Arabian Peninsula Affairs in the Near Eastern Affairs Bureau; Pearson Legislative Fellow in the Office of Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA);

Cultural Affairs Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq; Public Affairs Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Manama, Bahrain and at the U.S. Consulate General in Chennai (Madras), India; and Vice Consul and Assistant Public Affairs Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Luanda, Angola. Ms. LaFave holds a bachelor’s degree from Smith College in Massachusetts and a master’s degree from the College of William and Mary in Virginia; both degrees are in American Studies. In 2011 she earned a master’s degree in National Security Strategy from the National War College, National Defense University. She was promoted into the Senior Foreign Service in 2016 and holds the rank of Minister Counselor.

Ms. LaFave is from New Hampshire and joined the Foreign Service in 1998.