James, Makila Z., 1957-

Makila Z. James (born July 1957) is an American diplomat who has been a career Foreign Service Officer within the U.S. State Department. Beginning in 1988, she has had a series of postings and roles related to the Caribbean and Africa, leading to her being the Director of the Office of Caribbean Affairs from 2009 to 2012. She then served as the United States Ambassador to Swaziland from 2012 to 2016.

James was born in July 1957 in New York City. She attended Cornell University, where she graduated with a bachelor's degree with a double major Africana Studies and American History in 1979. There she was one of a relatively few African-American members of the Quill and Dagger society. She has said that her dual study program and her involvement at the Cornell Africana Studies and Research Center had a strong impact on the direction her career took, that from the beginning of her time at Cornell she wanted to be "a woman in front of the train," and that she finds it encouraging that the Africana program was still going strong. She then attended Columbia University Law School, where she gained a J.D. in 1982.

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