Raji, Azita, 1961-

Azita Raji is an American diplomat, banker, and philanthropist.

She was nominated by President Barack Obama in 2014 to serve as the United States ambassador to Sweden. In 2016, Ambassador Raji was nominated for State Department’s highest award for a non-career ambassador, the Sue M. Cobb Prize for Exemplary Diplomatic Service. Raji has published articles on diplomacy and foreign policy in Newsweek, the Wall Street Journal and Foreign Policy, and is a senior fellow at the Institute of European Studies at the University of California, Berkeley.

Prior to her role as ambassador, Ms. Raji served in national leadership positions in the Obama campaign, and was later appointed by President Obama as a Commissioner on The President’s Commission on White House Fellows, one of America’s most prestigious programs for leadership and public service.

As a former investment banker, Ms. Raji held senior executive positions on Wall Street. She has since leveraged her expertise in finance and investments, business model innovation, scaling, and strategy to drive social impact, by serving in leadership roles on boards of national non-for-profit organizations. She currently chairs the North American panel for the Global Challenges Foundation 2017 prize competition.

Ambassador Raji has received numerous awards and recognitions for her public service, including the Ellis Island Medal of Honor. She received a B.A. from Barnard College, and an MBA from Columbia Business School, and is fluent in several languages.