Matthew Harrington was a career member of the Senior Foreign Service who spent more than 30 years shaping U.S. foreign policy, particularly in Africa, prior to his retirement in September 2023. As Deputy Assistant Secretary of State (2018-2021), he oversaw bilateral relations with ten countries in southern Africa and the African Union and led the State Department’s efforts to counter China’s engagements in Africa and to expand trade and investment ties with the continent. As Ambassador to Lesotho, (2014-2017), he guided the U.S. Mission through an unstable period in that country’s history, while leading the Embassy team to have a major impact on Lesotho’s anti-AIDS efforts, helping it move from the second-highest infection rate in the world to one of the few countries on the verge of epidemic control. Ambassador Harrington has also worked extensively with Department of Defense counterparts, including as Director of the National Defense University’s International Fellows Program and as Foreign Policy Advisor to the Commander of U.S. Army South in San Antonio, Texas, where he helped guide the U.S. Army’s engagements in Latin America.

Other assignments included two years as Director of Analysis for Africa in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research and tours as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassies in Namibia and Togo. Harrington also served as Political Officer in Zimbabwe, as Sudan Desk Officer in the Bureau of African Affairs, and as a Consular Officer in Ghana.
Prior to joining the Foreign Service in 1991, Harrington served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Zouerate, Mauritania. He earned a B.A. in history from Washington and Lee University. He is married to Stephanie Miller and has a son and a daughter.