Nisha Desai Biswal

Nisha Desai Biswal (born 1969) is an American businesswoman and former official in the United States Department of State. Biswal is the president of the U.S.-India Business Council (USIBC) at the United States Chamber of Commerce, and served as Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs in the United States Department of State.

Nisha Biswal
Biswal greets Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval
Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs
In office January 24, 2014 – January 20, 2017
President	Barack Obama
Deputy	William E. Todd
Preceded by	Robert Blake
Succeeded by	William E. Todd (Acting)
Personal details
Born	1969 (age 50–51) Gujarat, India
Alma mater	University of Virginia (BA)

Early life and education

Biswal immigrated to the United States from India with her parents.[1][2] She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in international relations from the University of Virginia.[3]

Career

After briefly working in public relations, Biswal became an overseas delegate for the American Red Cross. She later served as chief of staff of the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance Management and Budget division and in the Office of Transition Initiatives.

She was previously Assistant Administrator for Asia at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). She was nominated for the post of Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia by President Barack Obama on July 19, 2013.[1] Most recently, Biswal was senior advisor for Albright Stonebridge Group, a global business strategy firm. At ASG, she worked with the India & South Asia practice.[4] Since 2011, Biswal has served as a member of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China.

Personal life

She is an Indian American of Gujarati descent.[5]

Awards

Year	Country	Award Name	Given by	Field of Merit
2017	United States	Pravasi Bharatiya Samman	President of India	Public Service

References

1. "Indian-American nominated for key post in Obama Admin". CNBC-TV18. 20 July 2013. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
2. "Freshman Congressman Mistakes Senior Government Officials for Foreigners". Foreign Policy Blogs. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
3. "Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs: Who Is Nisha Desai Biswal?". AllGov. Retrieved 2020-06-04.
4. "Nisha Biswal". Albright Stonebridge Group. Retrieved 10 April 2017.
5. Abeywardena, Hemantha (December 8, 2013). "Appointment of Nisha Desai Biswal – the Gujarati Connection". London: Asian Tribune.

External links

• Nisha Desai Biswal Profile on DC 40 Under 40 International Development Leaders
• Nisha Desai Biswal on Twitter

Political offices
Preceded by Robert Blake	Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs 2014–present	Incumbent