D.C.

Joseph A. Farsakh (HKS) serves as a political appointee in the Biden Administration, currently in the United States Department of State. Prior to joining the Biden Administration and the Office of Secretary Blinken, Joseph served as a member of the Biden-Harris 59th Presidential Inauguration Committee. On the Biden-Harris Campaign, Joseph led the Americans Abroad portfolio, and served on the foreign policy working groups, where he focused on Arabian Peninsula affairs. Joseph also contributed to the effort to secure celebrity endorsement to the campaign, working on the intersection of entertainment and politics. Prior to government service, Joseph spent nearly 10 years practicing law at King & Spalding LLP in the law firm’s New York, Riyadh, Dubai, and Abu Dhabi offices, and Snell & Wilmer LLP in the Los Angeles office.

Joseph also worked for a number of business and political organizations in the U.S., Europe, and the Middle East. Joseph served as a legal analyst for The Carter Center during periods of transition in key Middle Eastern nations. He also clerked at the California Supreme Court for the Honorable Justice Ming W. Chin. Over the course of his academic career, Joseph served as the Co-Chair of Harvard’s Electoral Politics Professional Interest Council, and Harvard’s Diplomacy and Foreign Affairs Professional Interest Council, as well as Senior Managing Editor of his law school’s Science and Technology Law Journal, and Chair of the International and Comparative Law Society. Joseph, an Orange County, CA native, holds a Masters in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, a Juris Doctor from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of California, Los Angeles.