John Degory is the Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Suva, which manages the United States’ bilateral relationships with the Pacific Island nations of Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, and Tuvalu. He was most recently the Counselor for Public Affairs at the U.S. Consulate General in Shanghai, People’s Republic of China, where he directed U.S. government public engagement activities in East China, a consular district of over 230 million people.
Previously, John was the spokesperson and Counselor for Public Affairs at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in New York, where he managed press relations and public outreach for the mission’s Cabinet-level ambassador and promoted U.S. efforts at the UN Security Council, UN General Assembly, and elsewhere in the UN system. In Washington, John served on the Secretariat Staff for Secretaries of State Hillary Clinton and John Kerry.
John’s other diplomatic assignments include: Deputy Spokesperson in New Delhi, India; Management Officer and Special Assistant to the U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See in Rome, Italy; and Consular Officer in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.
Originally from Pittsburgh, John has an undergraduate degree in anthropology from Boston University and a master’s degree from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. He speaks French, Italian, and Mandarin Chinese, and is the recipient of multiple State Department performance awards. He is married to Alex Pearlman, a strategy consultant and executive coach.