Washington's Relations with Latin America: What’s Next? A Discussion with Jana Nelson

Join us for a lunchtime conversation with Jana Nelson, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Western Hemisphere Affairs and a leading expert on Latin America and U.S. foreign policy. Drawing on her experience advising senior U.S. officials during the Biden administration, Nelson will reflect on her career in public service and offer insights into today’s most pressing political and security dynamics across Latin America and the Western Hemisphere. Students will gain a rare, behind-the-scenes perspective on how U.S. defense and foreign policy are shaped in the region—and what lies ahead.

*Lunch will be served

Please register with a valid Harvard email address to attend in-person.

About Jana Nelson
Former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Western Hemisphere Affairs

Jana Nelson is a visiting lecturer at Cornell and was the highest-ranking Brazilian-American in the U.S. Government. During the Biden administration, she served as the principal advisor to two U.S. cabinet members—USUN Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield and, then, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, where she had a front row seat in designing and implementing security and defense policy for the Western Hemisphere, from Canada down to Chile.

In addition to her government service, Jana has held government relations and geostrategic advisory roles in the private sector, in the technology and consumer goods sectors. She has also served as an advisory board member to various think tanks and non-profits, including the Woodrow Wilson’s Latin America Program, the Brazil Institute, and the U.S.- Mexico Foundation. She was a Council on Foreign Relations Term Member and a David Rockefeller Fellow at the Trilateral Commission. She has been a contributor on Latin America policy to the Americas Quarterly, Vox, and Folha de S. Paulo.

Jana received her M.A. from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and her B.A. in International Relations from the University of Brasília. She speaks Portuguese, Spanish, and French. In Latin America, she has lived and worked in Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Bolivia, and Argentina.