Charlotte M. (Charlie) Ponticelli is an international and governmental affairs expert currently serving as Program Director & Advisor for the American Committees on Foreign Relations.  In recent years she has also been an Adjunct Professor in the Business and Economics School at The Catholic University of America, where she lectured on the Economic and Management Aspects of Global Community Development Policies.

With 23 years of US Government experience, Ms. Ponticelli began her career on Capitol Hill and served most recently as Deputy Under Secretary for International Labor Affairs at the U.S. Department of Labor.

Previously, Ms. Ponticelli was the State Department’s Senior Coordinator for International Women’s Issues; Senior Advisor for State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration; Director of Human Rights in State’s Bureau for International Organization Affairs; Congressional Liaison for Latin America and the Caribbean at the U.S. Agency for International Development; and Director of Congressional Correspondence in the Legislative Affairs Office of the White House. She has also served as Commissioner Assistant at the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.

Ms. Ponticelli is the recipient of several Superior Honor Awards from the Department of State and USAID, the Veritas Award from Albertus Magnus College, and the Outstanding Young Alumna Award from Hood College.  She has also received the “Loyalty Award” from the American Women for International Understanding, the “Inspiration Award” from the Foreign Investment Network and Global Trusted Alliances and the “Afghan-American Sisterhood Award” from Ariana Outreach. She is a member of several boards and organizations, including the Bayat Foundation, the Initiative to Educate Afghan Women, the U.S.-Afghan Women’s Council, the U.S. Pakistan Women’s Council, and Hood College’s Global Studies Advisory Board. 

Ms. Ponticelli received her BA degree in Spanish Literature from Hood College and her MA through New York University’s program in Madrid. She also completed doctoral studies in Spanish Literature at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.