Julissa Reynoso Pantaleón

Julissa Reynoso Pantaleón (born January 2, 1975) is a Dominican-American attorney and diplomat who is the United States Ambassador to Spain and Andorra. Most recently, she was the chief of staff to First Lady Jill Biden. She formerly served as a litigation and international arbitration partner with the international law firm Winston & Strawn LLP.[1] She was previously a partner with Chadbourne & Parke LLP, practicing in the firm's International Arbitration and Latin America groups.[2][3] Reynoso is also affiliated with the faculty at Columbia University School of Law and the School of International and Public Affairs.[4][5] From March 2012 until December 2014, she served as United States Ambassador to Uruguay. She is a former deputy assistant secretary for the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs at the United States Department of State. President Biden nominated her to be the next United States Ambassador to Spain on July 27, 2021, being confirmed on December 18, 2021.[6]

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Reynoso and the second or maternal family name is Pantaleón.
Julissa Reynoso Pantaleón
United States Ambassador to Spain and Andorra
Assumed office
February 2, 2022
PresidentJoe Biden
Preceded byDuke Buchan
Chief of Staff to the First Lady
In office
January 20, 2021 – January 7, 2022
PresidentJoe Biden
First LadyJill Biden
Preceded byStephanie Grisham
Succeeded byVacant
Co-Chair of the White House Gender Policy Council
In office
January 20, 2021 – January 7, 2022
Serving with Jennifer Klein
PresidentJoe Biden
Preceded byPosition Established
United States Ambassador to Uruguay
In office
May 9, 2012 – December 10, 2014
PresidentBarack Obama
Preceded byDavid D. Nelson
Succeeded byKelly Keiderling
Personal details
Born (1975-01-02) January 2, 1975
Salcedo, Dominican Republic
NationalityAmerican
Political partyDemocratic
EducationHarvard University (BA)
Emmanuel College, Cambridge (MPhil)
Columbia University (JD)

Early life and education

A native of the Dominican Republic, Reynoso immigrated to the United States in 1982.[7] She graduated valedictorian of her class at Aquinas High School in the Bronx. She was admitted to Harvard University, where she helped found several student groups and was active with the Institute of Politics at the John F. Kennedy School of Government.[8]

After earning an A.B. in government from Harvard University in 1997,[9] Reynoso was named the John Harvard Scholar and earned a Master of Philosophy in development studies in 1998 from Emmanuel College, Cambridge. Reynoso also earned a Juris Doctor from Columbia Law School in 2001. At Columbia, she was the editor for the Columbia Journal of Transnational Law. Her graduate studies were supported by The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans.[10][11] After law school, she clerked for Judge Laura Taylor Swain.[12]

Career

In 2008, Reynoso was active in the Hillary Clinton 2008 presidential campaign before joining the Barack Obama 2008 presidential campaign.[13]

Prior to joining the Obama administration, Reynoso was an attorney in private practice at the international law firm of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP in New York. Reynoso resided in the Washington Heights neighborhood in Manhattan and served on the boards of several non-profit groups. She also served as a legal fellow at Columbia Law School and the Institute for Policy Integrity at New York University School of Law.

In 2006, Reynoso served as deputy director of the Office of Accountability in the New York City Department of Education. Reynoso has published widely in both Spanish and English on a range of issues, including regulatory reform, community organizing, housing reform, immigration policy and Latin American politics for both the popular press and academic journals.

Reynoso is a member of the Council of Foreign Relations and a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader.[14] Reynoso is the recipient of various public interest awards, including recognitions from Columbia University, New York University, the NorthStar Foundation, the Legal Aid Society, and the Hispanic National Bar Foundation. She serves on the boards of several nonprofit and advocacy organizations. She is also a member of a Washington, D.C.–based Western Hemisphere think tank, the Inter-American Dialogue.[15]

Department of State

In 2009, Reynoso joined former secretary of state Hillary Clinton to serve as Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs. During her tenure, Reynoso was charged with developing and implementing a comprehensive security and rule of Law strategy for Central America and the Caribbean.[16]

Ambassador to Uruguay

In October 2011, President Barack Obama expressed his intention to nominate Reynoso as United States Ambassador to Uruguay.[17][18] On March 30, 2012, the U.S. Senate confirmed Reynoso as United States ambassador to Uruguay. As an ambassador, Reynoso focused on trade and commerce, with particular interest in agricultural trade, and on science, technology and education cooperation.

Tenure

In 2014, during her time as Ambassador to Uruguay, Reynoso was allegedly denied entry into a restaurant in Montevideo because of racial discrimination, though they initially claimed it was due to lack of reservation and dress code despite others entering without a reservation. Uruguayan media called it a "diplomatic mess" and the restaurant apologized, claiming the host incorrectly discerned who could enter. Reynoso escalated this incident with the State Department.[19][20][21]

Biden administration
Ambassador Reynoso with Secretary of State Antony Blinken in 2022

Chief of Staff to the First Lady

In November 2020, Reynoso was named chief of staff to the then-incoming First Lady of the United States, Jill Biden.[22]

Ambassador to Spain

On July 27, 2021, President Joe Biden announced the nomination of Reynoso to be the United States ambassador to Spain and Andorra.[23][24] Her nomination was sent to the Senate the following day.[25] Hearings on her nomination were held before the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee on October 5, 2021. Her nomination was reported favorably by the committee on November 3, 2021. On December 18, 2021, her nomination was confirmed in the Senate by voice vote.[26] Reynoso arrived in Spain on January 17, 2022.[27] On February 2, 2022, she presented her credentials to King Felipe VI.[28]

Recognition

Reynoso was recognized in Crain's New York's 2017 "List of Leading Women Lawyers in NYC".[29][30]

She and her colleague Nicole Silver were recognized in Latinvex's 2017 ranking of "Latin America's Top 100 Female Lawyers."[31][32]

In 2017, Winston & Strawn was ranked as an international firm for its Latin America practice, of which Reynoso is a member, in the international arbitration category.[33][34]

References
  1. "Julissa Reynoso". Winston & Strawn LLP. Archived from the original on February 6, 2018. Retrieved February 5, 2018.
  2. Londoño, Ernesto (January 22, 2015). "Meet the Diplomats Leading the U.S.-Cuba Talks". Taking Note. The New York Times. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
  3. Chadbourne & Parke (December 3, 2014). "US Ambassador to Uruguay to Join Chadbourne's International Arbitration & Latin America Practice Groups" (Press release). Cision PR Newswire. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
  4. "Julissa Reynoso". Columbia Law School. Archived from the original on January 29, 2015. Retrieved January 26, 2015.
  5. "Q&A: Julissa Reynoso, U.S. Ambassador to Uruguay". Columbia SIPA. December 3, 2014. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
  6. "PN938 – Julissa Reynoso Pantaleon – Department of State 117th Congress (2021-2022)". Congress.gov. December 18, 2021. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
  7. "La dominicana Julissa Reynoso será la jefa del gabinete de la primera dama de Estados Unidos". Listín Diario (in Spanish). November 17, 2020. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
  8. "Former Scholars (1996-2018)". The Harvard-Cambridge Scholarships. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  9. Reynoso, Julissa (May 21, 2000). "Being Latina at Harvard... and Beyond". ReVista. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
  10. Julissa Reynoso in The Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowships For New Americans. August 14, 2012 – via Vimeo.
  11. "Julissa Reynoso Pantaleón, 1999". Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
  12. "Julissa Reynoso Pantaleon". Biden-Harris Transition. Archived from the original on November 19, 2020. Retrieved November 19, 2020.
  13. Katz, Celeste (June 14, 2008). "Hillary Clinton Backers Not Quick to Join Barack Obama Campaign". NY Daily News. Archived from the original on July 2, 2008. Retrieved February 23, 2012.
  14. "Julissa Reynoso, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Central America and the Caribbean" (Press release). Embassy of the United States, Dominican Republic. February 9, 2010. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
  15. "Julissa Reynoso". The Dialogue. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
  16. Gamboa, Suzanne (November 18, 2020). "3 Latinos Among First Chosen for Biden White House Senior Staff". NBC News. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
  17. "President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts" (Press release). The White House. October 17, 2011. Retrieved February 23, 2012.
  18. "Obama propone a la subsecretaria Julissa Reynoso como embajadora en Uruguay". Google Noticias (in Spanish). EFE. October 17, 2011. Archived from the original on October 20, 2011. Retrieved February 23, 2012.
  19. "Posh Uruguay Restaurant Allegedly Denies Entry to Black U.S. Diplomat". NBC News. December 10, 2014. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
  20. "Bar en Pocitos: no dejaron entrar a una mujer negra y se armó lío diplomático". El Observador (in Spanish). December 8, 2014. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
  21. "Circus se disculpa con funcionaria de la Embajada". Montevideo Portal (in Spanish). December 9, 2014. Retrieved May 14, 2021.
  22. Wilkie, Christina (November 17, 2020). "Biden Picks for Senior White House Staff Include Loyalists, Rising Democratic Stars". CNBC. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  23. "President Biden Announces Nine Key Nominations" (Press release). The White House. July 27, 2021. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  24. Sheehey, Maeve (July 27, 2021). "Jill Biden's Chief of Staff Is the President's Pick to Be Ambassador to Spain". Politico. Retrieved May 5, 2022.
  25. "Nominations Sent to the Senate" (Press release). The White House. July 28, 2021. Retrieved July 29, 2021.
  26. "PN938 - Nomination of Julissa Reynoso Pantaleon for Department of State, 117th Congress (2021-2022)". Congress.gov. December 18, 2021. Retrieved January 8, 2022.
  27. "Ambassador Reynoso's Remarks Upon Arrival at the Airport in Madrid" (Press release). Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport: U.S. Embassy and Consulate in Spain. January 17, 2022. Retrieved January 18, 2022.
  28. @USembassyMadrid (February 2, 2022). "Emb. Reynoso: Ha sido un honor y un privilegio presentar hoy las cartas credenciales a S.M. el Rey Felipe VI, al que he manifestado personalmente mi compromiso como Embajadora de fortalecer en todos los ámbitos las excelentes relaciones entre Estados Unidos y España" (Tweet). Retrieved February 8, 2022 – via Twitter.
  29. "Julissa Reynoso Recognized on Crain's 2017 List of Leading Women Lawyers in NYC". Winston & Strawn LLP. December 18, 2017. Archived from the original on February 6, 2018. Retrieved February 5, 2018.
  30. Meet Some of the New York Bar's Most Talented Lawyers, Who Just Happen to Be Women (PDF) (An Advertising Supplement to Crain's New York Business). 2018.
  31. "Julissa Reynoso and Nicole Silver Recognized as Top 100 Female Lawyers in Latin America". Winston & Strawn LLP. May 24, 2017. Archived from the original on February 8, 2018. Retrieved February 7, 2018.
  32. "Latin America: Top 100 Female Lawyers". Latinvex. May 24, 2017. Archived from the original on February 8, 2018. Retrieved February 7, 2018.
  33. "Winston & Strawn LLP". The Legal 500. Archived from the original on February 8, 2018. Retrieved February 7, 2018.
  34. "Winston & Strawn Recognized in The Legal 500 Latin America 2017". Winston & Strawn LLP. September 6, 2017. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
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