Matt Kaczmarek is the White House Liaison at the Department of State. In this role, he is senior advisor to the Secretary of State for presidential personnel and appointments, and responsible for the recruitment, retention, and development of the Department’s senior leadership. Matt came to the State Department from the White House, where he was Senior Advisor and Chief of Staff to Caroline Atkinson, the Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economics, coordinating the policy agenda and staff of the President’s senior official responsible for all international economic, financial, trade, investment, energy, and climate policies. Matt also served as Director for Brazil and Southern Cone Affairs on the National Security Council, advising the President on and coordinating interagency implementation of the President’s policies related to the countries of Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, and Paraguay.

Prior to his appointments in the White House, Matt was Deputy Director of the Western Hemisphere Office at the U.S. Treasury Department, where he supervised a team of economists developing U.S. economic policies toward the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean and U.S. policy positions on regional issues in the International Financial Institutions. Previously, he worked in Treasury’s East Asia Office, for the White House Council of Economic Advisors, and as a policy advisor to the Treasurer of the State of California. Matt holds a B.A. in Political Science and Economic Geography from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA); and an M.A. with distinction in International Economics and Latin American Studies from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), where he was editor-in-chief of SAIS’ scholarly journal, the SAIS Review of International Affairs, and president of SAIS' lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender student association.