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Drinks With Ambassador Bonnie Jenkins

The head of WCAPS talks international security, start-up life, and navigating as a woman in a male-dominated field.

Words: Laicie Heeley
Pictures: Holson House
Date:

Ambassador Bonnie Jenkins came to her work with a little luck — she says, “by accident,” — and a lot of passion. A recent grad, she’d taken a legal fellowship in the Office of the Secretary of Defense when she found herself sitting in a meeting on the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty.

While some folks might have been bored to death, Amb. Jenkins was charged. She loved the process and, even more, she loved the concept of strategic arms — a subject that, up to that point, hadn’t crossed her mind. She moved from the Department of Defense to the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency at the Department of State, and the rest is history.

With a PhD, LLM, MPA, JD, and military service under her belt, Amb. Jenkins is overqualified for just about any job you could throw at her, so it’s fitting that she’s risen to the top of her field. Amb. Jenkins was nominated and confirmed in 2009 as the Department of State’s Coordinator for Threat Reduction Programs in the Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation, where she led US government programs in chemical, biological, nuclear and radiological security.

Today, in addition to continuing her work on these issues, she’s added, arguably, an even more estimable task to her list: strengthening the voice of women of color in peace and security.

Amb. Jenkins’ organization, Women of Color Advancing Peace and Security (WCAPS) not only aims to create “a platform devoted to women of color that cultivates a strong voice and network for its members,” but also to “change the global community landscape.” Theirs is a much-needed and long overdue mission statement that, much like Amb. Jenkins, feels like a breath of fresh air.

We were honored to sit down with Amb. Jenkins to talk international security, start-up life, and navigating as a woman in a male-dominated field.

Click through the photos to read her interview, below:

ambassador bonnie jenkins national security international security foreign policy disarmament nonproliferation nuclear weapons arms control
I wasn't sure what kind of law I wanted to do because I had joined the government right after I graduated with my law degree, and I went to a meeting and they were talking about the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty and I got so excited. I thought, “This is really cool. This is something I want to do.” So that really started my entrance into issues of weapons of mass destruction and arms control and disarmament.
ambassador bonnie jenkins national security international security foreign policy disarmament nonproliferation nuclear weapons arms control
We have a false sense of security here. I think it was shattered a bit with 9/11… but we still have this belief that nothing can ever really touch us. And that’s not true. There are people in this country who are suffering from issues of food and water security. We don’t hear about it, but those are things that are going on.
ambassador bonnie jenkins national security international security foreign policy disarmament nonproliferation nuclear weapons arms control
We need to think more strategically. The global world we are dealing with now is very different from the Cold War days. We have to look at things like climate change, infectious disease, and food and water security – all of these issues that have a much more global impact on us.
ambassador bonnie jenkins national security international security foreign policy disarmament nonproliferation nuclear weapons arms control
So, when we look at issues of national security, we should be a lot more global, because that’s really where the future problems will be, not just dealing with one particular issue or country that is our adversary. When you look at the definition of national security, it also looks at the health and wellbeing of citizens. It’s not just a militaristic definition. It’s also an economic definition.
ambassador bonnie jenkins national security international security foreign policy disarmament nonproliferation nuclear weapons arms control
We [also] have a lot of weapons. It’s important that we’re out there saying the right things. And, if we’re not doing it, then, you have to wonder who’s going to fill that leadership gap… I don’t know what happened with the three D’s: defense, development, and diplomacy. It seems like all we have now is defense. The other two are gone.
ambassador bonnie jenkins national security international security foreign policy disarmament nonproliferation nuclear weapons arms control
People have always asked me, how has your military experience helped you. And, my military experience combined with having been an ambassador has been really helpful for me in terms of leadership and not being afraid to take chances. As an ambassador I had to do a lot of things on my own – arrange these international meetings and speak at international conferences, a lot of times I did my own talking points, though I had great help, there were times at the last minute where I had to do things – and this was all good training. It was good training for running an organization… I don’t care how it’s going to get done; it’s going to get done. No excuses.
ambassador bonnie jenkins national security international security foreign policy disarmament nonproliferation nuclear weapons arms control
[WCAPS’ mission] is to try to strengthen the voices of women of color in peace and security issues. Everything from my issues of weapons of mass destruction to infectious disease, something I also worked on. But also things like climate change, immigration, and food and water security and biodiversity issues… these issues that have effect on international security and peace. So, it's all about developing a network of women of color who work in these issues.
ambassador bonnie jenkins national security international security foreign policy disarmament nonproliferation nuclear weapons arms control
We’re also looking for ways in which we can be mentors to young women. We have a women young ambassadors program. We have five really great women who are leading that program and developing plans for next steps. You just can't get women in the field unless you reach further into the education system.
ambassador bonnie jenkins national security international security foreign policy disarmament nonproliferation nuclear weapons arms control
I thought about it and thought about it and finally I said this is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time, I was in government for a long time and there’s no way I could do it then, so after a few months after leaving government last year in January I said I am going to do it, just do it. Let’s just try it. You just have to get past your own nervousness.
ambassador bonnie jenkins national security international security foreign policy disarmament nonproliferation nuclear weapons arms control
A friend of mine has a son who, out of the blue, she sends me text through Facebook. She says, “My son wants to support your organization.” And I’m like, “Okay, what do you mean?” She says, “He has a class project and he was looking on your website and he really was inspired and he wants to raise money for your organization.” And then they had a party, and people were donating ten dollars, twenty dollars, five dollars, a hundred dollars and they had a skating rink party and they sent the photos, I was just blown away. I don’t want to spend the money. I just want to use the money to go visit him and his class and go speak to the class… I would like to use it to be a role model, maybe bring a couple of people with me to his class and speak to them. This kid wants to interview me, I’m like, “I want to interview you!
ambassador bonnie jenkins national security international security foreign policy disarmament nonproliferation nuclear weapons arms control
This is not where I make money, but this is my passion. And so I can always work on it. On the weekends I just pull up the website and start updating it or reaching out to people to be on the podcast the next time, or think, who’s going to be the woman of the month this time, or think, oh, I’ve got to set up a webinar, or think, oh we’ve got that meeting coming up in March and we’ve got to get a flyer, so there’s a lot of things to do.
ambassador bonnie jenkins national security international security foreign policy disarmament nonproliferation nuclear weapons arms control
[These days] I just like being at home. I traveled so much, almost my whole career. I was always on a plane. And this last job was crazy because my portfolio was global. So I could be anywhere from Indonesia to Ghana to Jordan. And it may sound great… but it wore me out.
ambassador bonnie jenkins national security international security foreign policy disarmament nonproliferation nuclear weapons arms control
I like binge-watching on the weekends — I love putting on something and just typing, having my laptop and watching TV. [Right now] I’m binge watching the show <em>Two Broke Girls</em>. I love that show – it’s so funny! *laughs* Nothing highly intellectual. I’ve binge-watched <em>Frasier</em> five times. Everyone in my family laughs at me because I love <em>Frasier</em>.
ambassador bonnie jenkins national security international security foreign policy disarmament nonproliferation nuclear weapons arms control
[My advice to young women is] find a good role model. You have to find somebody who’s made it through whatever it is they need to make it through: the challenges of being a woman, the challenges of being a woman of color, particularly in some fields that may not have very many women at all. Then, of course, follow your passion. If you’re passionate about something it’s not work. This is not work.
ambassador bonnie jenkins national security international security foreign policy disarmament nonproliferation nuclear weapons arms control
I think too many times, women of color let people tell them they can’t do things. They let society’s prejudices get them down and make them believe they can’t do it. They need someone to tell them they can. And I think that’s true for women in general.
Author bio

Laicie Heeley

Editor in Chief

Laicie Heeley is the founding CEO of Inkstick Media, where she serves as Editor in Chief of the foreign policy magazine Inkstick and Executive Producer and Host of the PRX- and Inkstick-produced podcast, Things That Go Boom. Heeley’s reporting has appeared on public radio stations across America and the BBC, where she’s explored global security issues including domestic terrorism, disinformation, nuclear weapons, and climate change. Prior to launching Inkstick, Heeley was a Fellow with the Stimson Center’s Budgeting for Foreign Affairs and Defense program and Policy Director at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation. Her publications include work on sanctions, diplomacy, and nuclear arms control and nonproliferation, along with the first full accounting of US counterterrorism spending after 9/11.

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