Jake Jacanin is the Minister Counselor for Public Diplomacy at the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa, Canada, leading educational and cultural programming and media and information outreach across Mission Canada’s eight posts. Prior to this assignment, Jake served as the Country Public Affairs Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Brasilia, Brazil, preceded by an assignment as the Public Affairs Officer in Kabul, Afghanistan. Other overseas assignments include Beijing and Shanghai, China; Mexico City, Mexico; and Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei. Domestically in Washington, Jake was an advisor in the Office of Policy, Planning, and Resources for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs and served as the Deputy Director of the Office of Public Diplomacy in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs. He has also worked in the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs.
Jake holds a BA in history from Mary Washington College; he has studied French, Mandarin Chinese, and Portuguese. He is married to Julia Harlan (also a Foreign Service Officer with the Department of State). They have two children.