16 June 2021, Washington, D.C. - Jocelyn Brown Hall joins the FAO Liaison Office for North America based in Washington, D.C. as the new Director. In her role, she will lead FAO’s engagement with Canada and the United States to advance more efficient, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable agri-food systems that can deliver enough affordable, nutritious, and safe food for all. 

“I am looking forward to this new role and advancing FAO’s collaborations with stakeholders in Canada, the U.S., and globally towards transforming agri-food systems,” said Brown Hall.

She succeeds Vimlendra Sharan, as the Director, whose tenure lasted for four and a half years. Sharan is currently FAO’s Regional Representative in Sri Lanka.

Brown Hall comes from her previous position as the Deputy Regional Representative for FAO’s Regional Office for Africa based in Accra, Ghana. In this capacity, Brown Hall oversaw 47 FAO country offices in Africa and guided their strategy and communications around food security, agriculture, climate change, agri-food trade, and animal and plant health, among other topics. She also served as the FAO Representative for Ghana and worked with ministries of agriculture, fisheries, social protection, and trade on advancing issues such as healthy school meals, rehabilitating lands contaminated by illegal mining, sustainable aquaculture and fish smoking, digitalization of agriculture data, and resource mobilization. 

Prior to joining FAO, Brown Hall was with the US Department of Agriculture. During her term at USDA, she was appointed Deputy Administrator in the Foreign Agricultural Service, where she led the USDA’s US $2 Billion food and technical assistance programs in low- and middle-income countries. She joined USDA in 1998 in the Foreign Agricultural Service, where she coordinated USDA’s international development and training programs, where she was the lead expert on USDA’s technical relationship with international organizations, such as the FAO, the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation in Agriculture, and various international research centers.

Brown Hall began her career teaching English at an agricultural university in Peshawar, Pakistan while serving in the Peace Corps. She then ran the largest income generation program for Afghan women refugees in Pakistan for Save the Children, until she was evacuated from that country during the first Gulf War. 

Upon returning to the United States, she worked in the private sector, where she served as Special Assistant to the President and CEO of Development Associates and for the government of the District of Columbia, where she addressed procurement, financial, and human resources issues under the Office of the Chief Financial Officer.

Brown Hall holds a master’s degree in Business Administration in International Business and Development from the George Washington University and graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University with a bachelor’s degree in American Literature.