{{Short description|American diplomat}} [[File:UN AI for Good Summit 2025 - Jennifer Bachus 01.jpg|thumb|Bachus at the 2025 AI for Good Summit in Geneva]]
'''Jennifer Bachus''' is an American diplomat and career member of the Senior Foreign Service who serves as principal deputy assistant secretary and senior bureau official for the Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy at the United States Department of State. She was the inaugural lead official of the bureau when it was established in 2022 and has acted as head of the bureau pending the appointment of an ambassador-at-large.<ref name="Nextgov">{{Cite web |last=Kelley|first=Alexandra|date=April 4, 2022|title=State Department Announces First Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy|url=https://www.nextgov.com/cybersecurity/2022/04/state-department-announces-first-bureau-cyberspace-and-digital-policy/363982/|website=Nextgov/FCW|access-date=2025-11-28}}</ref><ref name="AFSAFSJ">{{Cite web |title=New Bureau, New Cyber Priorities in Foreign Affairs|url=https://afsa.org/new-bureau-new-cyber-priorities-foreign-affairs|website=The Foreign Service Journal|publisher=American Foreign Service Association|date=November 2022|access-date=2025-11-28}}</ref>
== Career == Bachus joined the United States Foreign Service in 1998 and is a long-time member of the American Foreign Service Association.<ref name="AFSAFSJ" /> She is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service.<ref name="USChamber">{{Cite web |title=Jennifer Bachus|url=https://events.uschamber.com/sicwdinner/2612581|website=U.S. Chamber of Commerce|access-date=2025-11-28}}</ref>
In 2022 the State Department created the Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy (CDP) to lead and coordinate U.S. diplomacy on cyberspace, digital technologies, and related cyber-security issues.<ref name="Nextgov" /> Bachus was named the bureau’s senior bureau official and principal deputy assistant secretary, serving as its inaugural lead while the administration sought Senate confirmation of an ambassador-at-large to head the office.<ref name="Nextgov" /><ref name="AFSAFSJ" /> As principal deputy assistant secretary, she has overseen work on international cyber security, cross-border data policy, and digital rights, including U.S. participation in multilateral discussions on cyber norms and internet governance.<ref name="AFSAFSJ" /><ref name="TechHQ">{{Cite web |last=Kaur|first=Dashveenjit|date=October 8, 2024|title=Unpacking the US global cyberspace & digital policy strategy with Jennifer Bachus|url=https://techhq.com/news/unpacking-the-us-global-cyberspace-digital-policy-strategy-with-jennifer-bachus/|website=TechHQ|access-date=2025-11-28}}</ref>
Bachus has described the bureau’s approach as one of “digital solidarity”, in which the United States works with partners and allies to promote an open, secure, and rights-respecting digital environment rather than pursuing unilateral technological dominance.<ref name="TechHQ" /> She has spoken publicly about the bureau’s role in shaping international responses to ransomware, supply-chain security, and the protection of undersea cables, data centres, and other critical digital infrastructure.<ref name="AFSAFSJ" /><ref name="TechHQ" />
Bachus has appeared frequently in public discussions of cyber diplomacy and digital policy, including events hosted by the American Foreign Service Association, the Technology Policy Institute’s Aspen Forum, the German Marshall Fund, and the International Telecommunication Union’s AI for Good Global Summit, where she has represented the State Department’s perspective on international cyber security and cross-border data flows.<ref name="AFSAInside">{{Cite web |title=Inside Diplomacy: The State of U.S. Cyber Diplomacy|url=https://afsa.org/inside-diplomacy-state-us-cyber-diplomacy|website=American Foreign Service Association|date=July 14, 2022|access-date=2025-11-28}}</ref><ref name="Aspen">{{Cite web |title=Aspen Forum 2024 – Speakers|url=https://techpolicyinstitute.org/aspen-forum/aspen-forum-2024/|website=Technology Policy Institute|access-date=2025-11-28}}</ref><ref name="GMF">{{Cite web |title=A Trusted Framework for Cross-Border Data Flows|url=https://www.gmfus.org/event/trusted-framework-cross-border-data-flows-0|website=German Marshall Fund of the United States|date=October 5, 2023|access-date=2025-11-28}}</ref>
=== Early foreign service career === Before moving into cyber and digital policy, Bachus held a series of overseas and Washington assignments. She served as ''chargé d’affaires ad interim'' and deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Prague, Czech Republic,<ref name="AFSAFSJ" /><ref name="USChamber" /> and earlier as deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Pristina, Kosovo.<ref name="AFSAFSJ" /> Her other overseas postings have included work as political-economic counselor at the U.S. Embassy in Astana, Kazakhstan, and as head of the American Presence Post in Toulouse, France.<ref name="AFSAFSJ" /> In Washington she has served as office director for Central Europe in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs and as special assistant in the Office of the Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment.<ref name="AFSAFSJ" /><ref name="USChamber" />
===Education=== Bachus has a M.A. from the College of Europe in Bruges and her undergraduate degree is from Brown University.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Jenny Backus ’90 {{!}} Pembroke Center {{!}} Brown University|url=https://pembroke.brown.edu/people/jenny-backus-90|website=pembroke.brown.edu|access-date=2025-11-28|language=en}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Authority control}} {{United States Department of State}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bachus, Jennifer}} Category:Women diplomats for the United States Category:Diplomats for the United States Category:Brown University alumni Category:College of Europe alumni Category:Living people Category:Year of birth missing (living people)