President Biden Announces Key Nominees

WASHINGTON – Today, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to serve as key leaders in his Administration:

• Dafna Hochman Rand, Nominee to be Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, Department of State
• Corey Anne Tellez, Nominee to be Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs, Department of the Treasury

Dafna Hochman Rand, Nominee to be Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, Department of State
Dafna Hochman Rand currently serves as a Distinguished Resident Fellow in Strategic Affairs at Georgetown University’s Institute for the Study of Diplomacy and as a Lecturer at Princeton’s School of Public and International Affairs. Rand has spent the past two decades in public service, including most recently as the Director of the Office of Foreign Assistance at the Department of State. Previously, she was the Vice President of Policy and Research at Mercy Corps, a non-governmental humanitarian organization serving communities in over 40 countries. Earlier in her career, Rand served as a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, as well as on the staff of the State Department’s Office of Policy Planning and the National Security Council. Rand is the former Deputy Director of Studies at the Center for a New American Security and a former professional staff member of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

She started her career in government as the foreign policy and defense Legislative Assistant to Senator Frank R. Lautenberg from New Jersey. Her research has focused on international security and governance in the Middle East and North Africa, including two books on the subject. A native of Massachusetts, she earned her undergraduate degree at Harvard University and her PhD in political science at Columbia University.


Corey Anne Tellez, Nominee to be Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs, Department of the Treasury
Corey Anne Tellez has nearly two decades of Congressional experience and currently serves as acting Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs at the Department of the Treasury. Tellez recently served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs responsible for Domestic Finance and International Affairs. Prior to joining Treasury, she served as Deputy Chief of Staff, Legislative Director, and Legislative Assistant to Senate Majority Whip Senator Richard J. Durbin (D-IL). She began her career in the U.S. House of Representatives where she held various positions including Deputy Chief of Staff and Counsel for Congresswoman Debbie Halvorson (D-IL), Legislative Assistant to Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY), and Grants Coordinator for Congressman Henry Cuellar (D-TX).

Tellez grew up in Illinois and earned a B.S. from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a Juris Doctor from the University of Illinois College of Law. She currently resides in Northern Virginia with her family.

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