Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley

Abercrombie-Winstanley was born Gina Kay Abercrombie in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, where her mother was a secretary and her father an attorney. She graduated from Cleveland Heights High School and participated in an international exchange program in Israel. She then attended George Washington University, where she earned a bachelor's degree.[2] She also earned a master's degree in international relations from Johns Hopkins University.

After completing her studies, Abercrombie-Winstanley joined the U.S. Peace Corps as a volunteer in Oman.

Abercrombie-Winstanley joined the U.S. Foreign Service in 1985 and was posted to Baghdad, Iraq. She then went on to serve at the U.S. embassies in Jakarta, Indonesia and Cairo, Egypt. She returned stateside to become a Special Assistant for Middle Eastern and African Affairs to Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger (1991-1993). After a year of intensive Arabic language training in Tunisia, Abercrombie-Winstanley then became a political officer at the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, Israel (1994–97), focusing on Palestinian-Israeli relations.[2] from 1997 to 1998 she was assigned to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

From 1998 to 2000, she served in roles with the U.S. National Security Council, serving as Director for the Arabian Peninsula with the Near East South Asia Center, and at The White House as Director for Legislative Affairs.

Abercrombie-Winstanley served as Consul General in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia [3] from 2002 to 2005. She was the first female consul general in that location.[4] While there, she survived an al-Qaeda attack on the consulate on December 6, 2004, and was cited "for acts of courage" during the attack.[5] from 2005 to 2006 she served as Director of Middle East Area Studies in the Foreign Service Institute, and then spent two years as Director for Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan at the Near Eastern Affairs Bureau. From 2008 to 2012 she was Deputy Coordinator for Counterterrorism.

President Barack Obama then nominated her to become U.S. Ambassador to Malta.[5] She served in that role from May 2, 2012, to January 13, 2016. She also serves as the keynote speaker.

In September 2020, the Atlantic Council started the Counterterrorism Study Group (CTSG), a bipartisan network of former U.S. Government professionals with extensive experience in counterterrorism policymaking and operations The CTSG's stated purpose was to understand emerging trends and future predictions in CT and to explore creative new proposals for improving the effectiveness of current CT policies and operations. [6] Abercrombie-Winstanley was one of these experts as well as Mark Mitchell, Mick Mulroy, Mike Nagata, Matt Olsen, Nick Rasmussen, Russ Travers, and Owen West and others. [6]

Abercrombie-Winstanley married Gerard A. Winstanley in 1982, and they have two adult children. She has maintained strong personal ties to Cleveland, Ohio.[3][7]

Recipient of Senior Performance Pay, Meritorious and Superior Honor Awards, including "For acts of courage during an attack on the U.S. Consulate General, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on December 6, 2004 by al-Qa'ida terrorists."[8]

• Opening address, International Institute for Justice and the Rule of Law, October 2014[9]
• Keynoter, Remembering Rosa Parks, Cleveland, Ohio, December 2005, The Cleveland City Club[10]

• "Making It Work: Conversations with Female Ambassadors". The Foreign Service Journal, July/August 2017. Retrieved February 12, 2018.
• Ching, Nike. "Top US Women Diplomats Speak Out on Sexual Harassment". VOA. Retrieved February 12, 2018.
• "An American in Malta - Gina Abercrombie-Winstanley". MaltaToday. Retrieved February 12, 2018.