Afreen Akhter is a visiting scholar with the American Statecraft Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Her work focuses on how U.S. foreign infrastructure and investment tools can more effectively advance American industrial priorities in strategic sectors, strengthen supply chains, and create U.S. jobs.

Afreen most recently served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia in the Biden administration. In that role, she led diplomatic initiatives across the Indo-Pacific region, including advancing clean energy and infrastructure partnerships, responding to Sri Lanka’s economic collapse, addressing the Rohingya refugee crisis, and confronting democratic backsliding in Bangladesh. She previously served as national security and foreign affairs adviser to U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen, where she developed bipartisan legislation sanctioning corrupt actors, strengthening protections for U.S. companies, and safeguarding refugee assistance programs.

Her earlier government service includes roles at the White House National Security Council, U.S. Embassy in Beijing, and multiple offices at the State Department, where she began her career as a Presidential Management Fellow. She was previously a Fulbright Scholar in Jamaica, working with a nonprofit that used street theater to address community violence and inequality.

She holds a Master of Public Policy from Harvard Kennedy School and a Bachelor of Arts from Brown University.