Are you interested in a career in the Foreign Service or learning more about the work of Foreign Service Officers? Please join USJETAA for a keynote address from Karen Kelley, the former Consul General in Osaka, and panel discussion along with Michael Turner, Culture & Sports Attache at the US Embassy Tokyo, and Katherine Tarr, former Coordinator for Japan and Korea in the Office of Public Diplomacy, East Asian Pacific. They will share their journey through multiple tours and answer questions.

SPEAKERS
Karen Kelley is a Senior Foreign Service officer with overseas experience in the Asia Pacific and Africa regions. Prior to her service as Consul General in Osaka, Ms. Kelley was the Counselor for Public Affairs in the U.S. Embassy, Harare, Zimbabwe, where she also served as the Acting Deputy Chief of Mission. Previously, she served as the Deputy Office Director and as the Acting Office Director in the Office of Japanese Affairs in Washington, D.C. She was the State Department Public Diplomacy Advisor to the U.S. Pacific Commander, USPACOM in Camp Smith, Hawaii. Earlier in her career, she served as Spokesperson at U.S. embassies in Yaoundé, Cameroon, in Manila, Republic of the Philippines and in Tokyo, Japan, and held previous positions in the Japan Mission as the Public Affairs Officer in the U.S. Consulates General in Osaka and Naha.

Michael Turner is the Culture and Sports Attaché at the U.S. Embassy, Tokyo. He oversees educational exchange programs, cultural activities, and grass-roots outreach. Michael’s previous assignments include Bangkok, Rangoon, Tbilisi, Nagoya, and Washington, DC. He was an Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) on the JET Program in Iwate from 1995-1997.

Katherine “Kat” Tarr recently ended her tenure as Coordinator for Japan and Korea for the Office of Public Diplomacy in the East Asia Pacific. She is currently a Korean language student at the Foreign Service Institute preparing to join the press team at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, South Korea in 2022. Her previous tours were in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, and Shanghai, China. She was a Coordinator of International Relations (CIR) on the JET Program in Sendai City from 2004-2007.