Louis Mazel

Senior Advisor

Bureau of Africa Affairs, U.S. Department of State

Louis Mazel currently serves as a Senior Advisor in the Bureau of Africa Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.  He joined the Department in this capacity in August 2018.

Prior to that he was a United States diplomat for almost 33 years, rising to the rank of the Senior Foreign Service.  He served as Chief of Mission in Asmara, Eritrea and Deputy Chief of Mission (Deputy Ambassador) in Singapore and Liberia.  He was on the initial planning team for President Obama’s first-ever African Leaders Summit held in Washington, DC, in August 2014 and was the Director of the Africa Bureau’s Office of Regional and Security Affairs, where he oversaw over $200 million in security assistance programs and training of African peacekeepers as well as democratization programs on the continent.  Mr. Mazel worked on numerous Presidential, Vice Presidential, and Secretary of State visits to Africa and Asia, coordinating logistics, messaging, press advance, and one-on-one exchanges with foreign leaders.

Mr. Mazel spent the bulk of his Foreign Service career in the field with seven postings in Africa, two in Southeast Asia and one in the Caribbean.  

An accomplished public speaker, Mr. Mazel addressed diverse audiences in South Africa, Singapore and across the United States on a wide variety of topics including U.S. Foreign Policy and Security Priorities in Africa, China in Africa, Piracy off the Coast of Somalia, and the U.S. Presidential Elections of 2004 and 2012.  In Liberia, Mr. Mazel spoke to youth and civil society groups as well as on the UN Peacekeeping Mission’s nationwide radio, on the importance of free and fair elections and respecting the results of that country’s first-ever democratic election.  He delivered remarks at the Foreign Service Institute on “Promoting U.S. Exports in Developing Countries” that became part of the regular course material on commercial promotion of U.S. exports and spoke in Togo on the importance of that country’s first duty-free export zone.  In Singapore, he led more than 100 country briefings for senior U.S. military and civilian leaders.

Mr. Mazel observed elections in remote areas of South Sudan, Ethiopia, and Liberia and has overseen democratization and community small business development projects in Ethiopia, Namibia, Mali, Liberia, and Togo.

He was the recipient of the State Department’s first-ever Worldwide Democracy and Human Rights Award for his work on curbing sexual and domestic violence in Namibia.  He has also received numerous State Department Superior, Meritorious and Senior Performance Pay Awards.

Prior to joining the Foreign Service, Mr. Mazel was a consultant on 43 campaigns for federal, state, and local office. Prior to that he served as a staff aide and press secretary to Congressman Michael J. Harrington of Massachusetts.

Mr. Mazel attended the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and hold a Master’s Degree in Communication from Boston University’s School of Public Communication and a B.A. in Political Science from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.

He is an avid follower of Olympic sports and attended seven Olympic Games.  He was a color commentator on Namibian television for the 1996 Atlanta Games and for the World Athletics Championships.   He is married to DeeDee Smith.