Julissa Reynoso Pantaleón is an experienced diplomat, policy maker and lawyer. Before being nominated and confirmed as U.S. Ambassador to Spain and Andorra, Reynoso served in the Biden-Harris Administration as an Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff to Dr. Jill Biden. While at the White House, Reynoso managed a range of matters for President Biden and Dr. Biden. Reynoso was also Co-Chair of the Gender Policy Council, the first policy council focused on gender equity and equality within the Executive Office of the President.
Prior to joining the Biden Administration, Ambassador Reynoso was a partner at the international law firm of Winston and Strawn in New York. She also served on the faculty of Columbia University School of Law and the School of International and Public Affairs. During the Administration of President Barack Obama, she served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs and then as U.S. Ambassador to Uruguay.
Reynoso was born in the Dominican Republic and grew up in New York City. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Government from Harvard University, a Masters in Philosophy from the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, and her law degree from Columbia University School of Law. She is widely published in English and Spanish on an array of issues for both popular press and academic journals. Reynoso is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the American Law Institute.