Goli Ameri

In 2004, Ameri handily defeated moderate, small businessman Tim Phillips and conservative, software executive Jason Meshell by a 2-1 margin each to become the Oregon Republican Party's nominee for Oregon's 1st congressional district, in a challenge to three-term incumbent Democrat David Wu.[9]

Ameri's campaign gained a great deal of attention from political insiders in Washington, D.C. because of her fast-paced fundraising skills.[10] She was dubbed one of the National Republican Congressional Committee's "Super Six" candidates.[5] She was also ranked by the Federal Elections Commission as the number-one Congressional challenger candidate in the country in total dollars raised for the 2004 primary and general elections cycles.[11]

The contest received national attention when, late in the campaign, Wu admitted that he had been disciplined for attempted sexual assault of a female classmate while he was a student at Stanford in 1976. Ameri did not focus on the issue initially, but heavily pushed it in the closing days of her campaign. Wu won the election with 58 percent of the vote; Ameri received 38 percent, and Dean Wolf, the Constitution Party candidate, received 4 percent.[12] Wu subsequently resigned from Congress in 2011 amidst allegations that he attempted to sexually assault the daughter of a campaign donor.[13]

Goli Ameri with former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

In 2004, Ameri was appointed by George W. Bush as one of three public members of the United States' delegation to the 61st session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, which meets annually in Geneva, Switzerland.[4]

In the summer of 2005, President Bush appointed Ameri as the head of the United States' delegation to the United Nations General Assembly, which is headquartered in New York City. There, she worked on UN Management Reform, the creation of the UN Human Rights Council and, due to her background in the field of high-technology, on the Internet Governance Portfolio. She was sworn in by then-U.N. Ambassador John R. Bolton in September 2005 and served until the end of the session in December. She was confirmed retroactively by the United States Senate for this position on May 26, 2006.[14]

Ameri has also spoken at events on Middle East issues, democracy promotion and UN reform nationwide, including a testimony before the United States Helsinki Commission's Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe hearing, "The Iran Crisis: A Transatlantic Response," as well as at the Commonwealth Club of California in San Francisco, the World Affairs Council of Oregon, and the Conference on World Affairs at the University of Colorado at Boulder.[15][16]

In cooperation with the World Affairs Council of Oregon, Ameri organized and hosted a visit by eight East Asian United Nations Ambassadors as part of a public diplomacy trip to Portland in the spring of 2007.[16]

On November 15, 2007, Ameri was nominated by President Bush to serve as Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs, succeeding Dina Habib Powell and presiding over the Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The Bureau is largely responsible for the United States government's public diplomacy efforts abroad. After a series of Senate hearings in January and February 2008, she was confirmed by the Senate for the position on March 13, 2008.[17] Ameri was sworn in for the position on March 19, 2008.[4]

Goli Ameri at the Bai Nian Vocational School in Beijing, China.

As part of her duties, Ameri has traveled to different regions of the globe to promote cross-cultural understanding. Her first trip, in May 2008, was to the Persian Gulf, where she visited the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar to promote cultural and educational diplomacy in the region. In Dubai, Ameri met with alumni and officials of the International Visitor Leadership Program, which brings foreign participants to the United States each year to meet and confer with their professional counterparts.[18] In addition, she met with Sheikh Hahyan bin Mubarak Al-Nahyan, UAE Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research and Chancellor of Zayed University in Abu Dhabi. In Qatar, Ameri delivered remarks at Qatar University.[19]

In late May 2008, Ameri traveled to Brazil to review U.S. public diplomacy efforts and meet with local leaders. In the capital city of Brasilia, Ameri met with Brazilian Minister of Education Fernando Haddad and Minister Eliana Zugaib, acting head of the Cultural Section of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. While there, Ameri also announced an additional $1 million investment for the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs' Fulbright Program and signed a new Fulbright Agreement with the Brazilian Foreign Ministry.[20]

In June 2008, she traveled to Azerbaijan. During her trip, she signed an agreement on behalf of the United States with Azerbaijani Minister of Education Misir Mardanov to increase the number of Azerbaijani students studying in the United States.[21] While in the capital city of Baku, Ameri also met with the President of the National Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan, Mahmud Karimov and the leadership of the Academy's Manuscripts Institute, promising American help in preserving the country's ancient manuscripts.[22] She concluded her trip with a meeting with Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev, where the two stressed the importance of American-Azerbaijani relations.[23]

In July 2008, Ameri traveled to Indonesia to meet with educators, cultural experts, and alumni from U.S.-Indonesian exchange programs. While in the capital city of Jakarta, Ameri met with the Director General of Higher Education, Fasli Jalal, from the Ministry of National Education. Ameri also visited the American Indonesian Exchange Foundation (AMINEF) to meet with Fulbright Program alumni, board members, and staff.[24]

Goli Ameri and U.S. Public Diplomacy Envoy Fran Drescher.

Ameri appointed "The Nanny" star Fran Drescher as a United States Public Diplomacy Envoy on September 8, 2008, joining Michelle Kwan and Cal Ripken Jr. as the third celebrity appointed to this role. Drescher supports American public diplomacy efforts, including raising awareness of women's health issues, cancer awareness and patient empowerment. Drescher's first trip was to Romania, Hungary, Kosovo and Poland.[25]

Ameri traveled to China and Vietnam as part of her duties in September 2008. In China, she met officials from the Ministry of Education.[26] While in Vietnam, Ameri opened a new consultancy and information office of the U.S. Institute of International Education in Ho Chi Minh City.[27]

As part of the U.S. government's Iraqi relief efforts, Ameri traveled to Baghdad, Iraq in October 2008, where she announced her bureau's Iraq Cultural Heritage Project efforts to renovate and improve the National Museum of Iraq.[28]

Ameri's term as Assistant Secretary of State ended with the rest of the Bush Administration on January 20, 2009.

On July 1, 2010, Ameri was appointed by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies as Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Values and Diplomacy. In this position, she was tasked with increasing Red Cross and Red Crescent influence with policymakers and governments to better understand the needs of the people the organization serves worldwide.[29] She retired from this position on July 1, 2012.

After her tenure at the Red Cross, Ameri co-founded StartItUp, a mobile technology platform that provides a range of resources including assessment, training, mentorship and a social network to aspiring entrepreneurs.[30] The company has partnered with several cities in Southern California to provide mentorship and other guidance to small business owners and entrepreneurs planning to start their own businesses, including the cities of Long Beach and Bakersfield.[31]