Yohannes Abraham

Ambassador Yohannes Abraham, former Fall 2017 Resident Fellow, was sworn in as U.S. Ambassador to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on September 19, 2022. 

Prior to assuming this position, Abraham served as Deputy Assistant to the President, Chief of Staff, and Executive Secretary of the National Security Council from 2021-2022, where he served as the NSC’s chief administrative officer. Previously, he served as the Executive Director of the Biden-Harris Transition, which was described by the nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service as “impressive, well-resourced, and organized” and as “one of the best prepared transitions in modern history.” 

Abraham served in several White House roles during the Obama-Biden Administration, including as Deputy Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor to the National Economic Council and as Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett’s chief of staff. He went on to serve as a Senior Advisor at the Obama Foundation. 

Abraham has also worked in the Vanguard Group’s global investment unit and taught at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. He was a Residential Fellow at the Institute of Politics in the Fall of 2017. 

A native of Springfield, Virginia, Abraham holds a BA from Yale College and an MBA with High Distinction from Harvard Business School.