Editing Bernadette Meehan (section)

==Career==
Meehan joined the [[United States Department of State]] as a Foreign Service officer in 2004, and began her new career as a consular officer at the U.S. Embassy in [[Bogotá]], Colombia.<ref name="BC Affairs" />{{better source needed|date=December 2025}} In 2010, she returned to [[Washington, D.C.]] to work as a State Department "line officer", advancing Secretary of State [[Hillary Clinton]]'s overseas travel. She then became<ref name="BC Affairs" /> special assistant to Clinton.<ref>{{cite web |title=Meehan, Bernadette M. - Republic of Chile- July 2021 |url=https://2021-2025.state.gov/meehan-bernadette-m-republic-of-chile-july-2021/ |website=United States Department of State |access-date=23 February 2026 |language=en |quote=Ms. Meehan also served as Special Assistant to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.}}</ref> In 2012, Meehan was detailed to the [[United States National Security Council|White House National Security Council]] (NSC) and in 2014 she became the spokeswoman for the National Security Council.<ref name="BC Affairs" /> Meehan left the NSC in 2015 to become an adjunct professor and State Department resident fellow at [[Georgetown University]]'s Institute for the Study of Diplomacy in the [[School of Foreign Service|Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://isd.georgetown.edu/meehan|title=Bernadette Meehan|website=isd.georgetown.edu | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160810145941/https://isd.georgetown.edu/meehan | archive-date=August 10, 2016}}</ref>

Meehan was enlisted{{When|date=December 2025}} by [[Ben Rhodes (White House staffer)|Ben Rhodes]] to help plan Barack Obama's [[Cuban thaw#US presidential visit|visit to Cuba]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hirschfeld Davis |first1=Julie |title=White House and Cuba Maneuver Over Obama's Visit (Published 2016) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/07/world/americas/white-house-and-cuba-maneuver-over-obamas-visit.html |access-date=19 December 2025 |date=7 March 2016 |language=en |quote=Mr. Rhodes enlisted Bernadette Meehan, a former National Security Council spokeswoman and Foreign Service officer, who left the White House in June, to return to the West Wing to help plan the trip, reflecting the complexity of the task and the importance Mr. Obama places on bringing it off smoothly. |archive-date=July 31, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180731062344/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/07/world/americas/white-house-and-cuba-maneuver-over-obamas-visit.html |url-status=live}}</ref> She worked as a senior advisor at the [[United States National Security Council|National Security Council]] from January 2016 to January 2017.<ref>{{cite web |title=Happy Hour with the Obama Foundation's Bernadette Meehan {{!}} AS/COA |url=https://www.as-coa.org/events/happy-hour-obama-foundations-bernadette-meehan |website=www.as-coa.org |access-date=19 December 2025 |language=en |quote=From January 2016 to January 2017, Meehan served as a senior advisor at the White House National Security Council, conducting negotiations with the government of Cuba and overseeing a series of regulatory changes and migration agreements.}}</ref> In February 2017, Meehan left the Foreign Service to serve as the chief international officer at the [[Obama Foundation]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.obama.org/updates/leaders-africa/|title=Obama Foundation Announces New Program to Train Emerging Leaders Across Africa|date=April 23, 2018|website=The Obama Foundation|access-date=July 31, 2018|archive-date=July 31, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180731062148/https://www.obama.org/updates/leaders-africa/|url-status=live}}</ref> She eventually became its executive vice president of global programs.<ref name="Reuters" />

===United States ambassador to Chile===
[[File:29 August 2022, Deputy Secretary Sherman officiates the Swearing-In Ceremony of Ambassador Bernadette M. Meehan (cropped).jpg|thumb|Meehan sworn in as Ambassador to Chile in 2022 by Deputy Secretary of State [[Wendy Sherman]]]]
On July 9, 2021, President [[Joe Biden]] nominated Meehan to be the next [[United States ambassador to Chile]].<ref name="July9">{{Cite web|date=July 9, 2021|title=President Biden Announces His Intent to Nominate Four Individuals to Serve as Ambassadors|url=https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/07/09/president-biden-announces-his-intent-to-nominate-four-individuals-to-serve-as-ambassadors/|access-date=July 9, 2021|website=The White House|language=en-US|archive-date=January 21, 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250121201648/https://bidenwhitehouse.archives.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/07/09/president-biden-announces-his-intent-to-nominate-four-individuals-to-serve-as-ambassadors/|url-status=live}}</ref> Hearings on her nomination were held before the [[Senate Foreign Relations Committee]] on March 15, 2022. The committee favorably reported her nomination on May 18, 2022.<ref>{{cite web |title=PN787 — Bernadette M. Meehan — Department of State 117th Congress (2021-2022) |url=https://www.congress.gov/nomination/117th-congress/787 |date = March 15, 2022|access-date=March 22, 2022}}</ref> On July 20, 2022, the [[United States Senate]] confirmed her nomination by a 51–44 vote.<ref>{{Cite web |title=On the Nomination (Confirmation: Bernadette M. Meehan, of New York, to be Ambassador of the United States of America to the Republic of Chile) |url=https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1172/vote_117_2_00264.htm |access-date=July 21, 2022 |website=www.senate.gov |archive-date=July 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220720224434/https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_votes/vote1172/vote_117_2_00264.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> She was sworn in on August 29, 2022,<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.ex-ante.cl/quien-es-bernadette-meehan-nueva-embajadora-de-ee-uu-en-chile/ | title=Quién es Bernadette Meehan, embajadora de EE. UU. En Chile | date=September 13, 2022 | language=es | access-date=September 27, 2022 | archive-date=September 27, 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220927180350/https://www.ex-ante.cl/quien-es-bernadette-meehan-nueva-embajadora-de-ee-uu-en-chile/ | url-status=live }}</ref> and presented her credentials to President [[Gabriel Boric]] on September 30, 2022.<ref>{{Cite news |date=September 30, 2022 |title=Presidente de la República Gabriel Boric Font recibe Cartas Credenciales de seis nuevos embajadores |trans-title=President of the Republic Gabriel Boric Font receives Letters of Credence from six new ambassadors |url=https://prensa.presidencia.cl/fotonoticia.aspx?id=202068 |access-date=December 10, 2025 |work=Government of Chile |archive-date=February 9, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250209091818/https://prensa.presidencia.cl/fotonoticia.aspx?id=202068 |url-status=live }}</ref> Following the election of President [[Donald Trump]], Meehan submitted her resignation as ambassador effective January 10, 2025, following tradition for political appointees of both parties.<ref>{{Cite web |date=January 2025 |title=CNN Íntimo: Bernadette Meehan, embajadora EE.UU en Chile |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fw0-7wFGpoI |website=CNNChile |access-date=April 15, 2025 |archive-date=December 17, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241217142851/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fw0-7wFGpoI |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Post-ambassadorial career===
On December 9, 2025, Meehan was appointed CEO of the [[Wikimedia Foundation]].<ref name="Reuters">{{Cite web |last=Sophia |first=Deborah Mary |date=December 9, 2025 |title=Exclusive: Wikipedia operator taps former US Ambassador to Chile for CEO role |url=https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/wikipedia-operator-taps-former-us-ambassador-chile-ceo-role-2025-12-09/ |website=[[Reuters]]}}</ref> She assumed the role on January 20, 2026,<ref name=":1">{{cite web |title=Wikimedia Foundation appoints Bernadette Meehan as Chief Executive Officer |url=https://wikimediafoundation.org/news/2025/12/09/wikimedia-foundation-appoints-bernadette-meehan-as-chief-executive-officer/ |website=Wikimedia Foundation |date=December 9, 2025}}</ref> succeeding [[Maryana Iskander]].