Mahlet Mesfin
Mahlet N. Mesfin serves on the Advisory Board of the African Tech Futures Lab. She is a leading expert on issues at the intersection of science, technology, foreign policy, and international affairs. From 2023-2025, she served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Ocean, Fisheries, and Polar Affairs in the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs. She also served as a senior advisor on the Secretary of State’s Policy Planning Staff during the Biden-Harris Administration, covering a wide range of science and technology issues. She previously held government roles at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy as the Assistant Director for International Science & Technology, and at the U.S. Department of Defense as a policy fellow.
In roles outside of government, Mahlet has led the Center for Science Diplomacy at the American Association for the Advancement of Science, served as a visiting scholar at the Penn Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement, and worked as a consultant and policy fellow at the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and Engineering.
Mahlet is currently the Principal & Founder of Adera Advisors and a Nonresident Fellow in the Environmental Security Program at the Stimson Center. She holds a Ph.D. in Bioengineering from the University of Pennsylvania, as well as degrees in Biomedical Engineering and Chemical Engineering from the University of Michigan.
