The Intersectionality of Ethnicity, Race, and Gender: Missing and Murdered Women and Girls
Michael Orona (Chihene/Mimbreno band of the Apache Nation, Yaqui) has worked for the U.S. Department of State for more than twenty years, where he has held an array of senior foreign policy advisory positions in Washington, D.C., and various countries around the world. In his years of government service, Michael served at the White House as National Security Council Director for Africa Affairs, where he oversaw the establishment of Prosper Africa. While serving at the U.S. Embassy in Vietnam from 2009–13, Michael negotiated the release of three prisoners of conscience. In 2004, he established and led the State Department’s Sudan Atrocities Documentation team, which was dispatched by former Secretary of State Colin Powell to investigate the violence in Darfur.
In 2020, Michael was selected to serve as Senior Advisor for Strategic Global Policy in the State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor where he oversaw implementation of the President’s Executive Orders on Advancing Racial Equity and Promoting Gender Equity. In 2022, he was selected to serve concurrently as the State Department’s Senior Advisor for International Indigenous Issues. In this current capacity, he serves as advisor to the Department’s Special Representative for Racial Equity and Justice. He also co-leads the White House Sub-Committee on International Indigenous Human Rights, serves as the State Department representative on the White House Council on Native American Activities, and oversees U.S. foreign policy regarding Indigenous peoples across the world.
Aside from a juris doctorate degree in international law, Michael holds a master's degree in Military and Strategic Policy Studies from the U.S. Marine Corp University–Command and Staff College in Quantico, Virginia, where he was awarded the Foreign Area Officer Association award for Exceptional Research in International Affairs. He is the recipient of five U.S. Department of State Superior Honor awards and three Meritorious Honor awards. He is a life member of The Council on Foreign Relations.
Michael currently lives in the Washington, D.C. area.