Cari Guittard

Cari Guittard is a former U.S. State Department official, founding principal at Global Engagement Partners (GEP), co-founder and Chief Diplomacy Officer of World Citizens Guide, a travel and cultural guide for Americans traveling abroad. She is also a strategy advisor for Lighthouse Communications and an adjunct professor for the University of Southern California Annenberg School and the Hult International Business School.

Guittard graduated from the University of Texas at Dallas with a bachelor's degree in government and political science in 1997 and earned an MPA from UT Dallas in 1998.

From 2001 to 2003, Guittard served as Special Assistant to the Undersecretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs at the US Department of State, where she previously served as a cybersecurity expert and department spokesperson. She also advised former Secretary of State Colin Powell. At the State Department, Guittard oversaw cyber threat and infrastructure assessments in the Middle East, Asia, Eastern Europe, and South America. She also taught cyber-terrorism and infrastructure protection seminars at government educational facilities, including the Marine Corps Base Quantico and the Naval War College.

Guittard is Chief Diplomacy Officer at World Citizens Guide, a travel and cultural guide for Americans traveling abroad, of which she is also a co-founder. She is also a facilitator and strategy advisor for Lighthouse Communications, where she facilitates seminars on negotiation, gender intelligence, and strategic influence.

She was previously Chief Strategy Officer at Secure Mentem, a cybersecurity consulting firm. Guittard was also the Executive Director of Business for Diplomatic Action, an organization engaging and guiding corporations in a variety of global affairs and public diplomacy activities, which was selected in 2010 to work on the U.S. State Department's global entrepreneurial outreach initiative.

Guittard is a founding principal at Global Engagement Partners (GEP), a strategic communications firm focused on corporate diplomacy, global engagement, intelligence, diversity and inclusion.

Guittard is a senior associate and ambassador for Gender Intelligence Group, an organization that advocates for gender parity in business, government, and education.

She also teaches courses in Corporate Diplomacy & Geopolitics at the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, and in International Negotiations and Women’s Leadership at the Hult International Business School.

Guittard was named one of San Francisco Magazine’s “Hot 20 Under 40” in 2007, part of a list of emerging leaders in the San Francisco Bay Area. In 1998, she received the Presidential Management Fellowship. She has been awarded the Hall of Heroes Award by the MBA Women International Conference, which recognizes work to advance women's representation in leadership roles. In 2009, Guittard was selected by California's then-Lt. Governor John Garamendi to join his business delegation to China.

Guittard has written for the Huffington Post on topics including global citizenship, private and public sector leadership, entrepreneurship, and gender equality. She has appeared in numerous media and radio outlets, including the Today Show, Good Morning America, CNN, Fox News, and the BBC.