Goldman Sachs' DINA POWELL top contender to replace Nikki Haley at the UN

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Who Is Dina Powell


Dina Powell was born Dina Habib in Cairo, Egypt in 1973.

When Powell was four, her Coptic Christian parents moved the family to Dallas, Texas, where her father worked as a bus driver and both parents ran a convenience store while their daughter attended a private all-girls school.

Powell got her first taste of politics while studying at the University of Texas at Austin, where she worked as an aide to a Texas state senator. She deferred law school to work for Republicans on Capitol Hill and, in 2003, joined President George W. Bush's administration, where she served in top jobs in the White House and the State Department.

In 2007, Powell transitioned into the private sector, running Goldman Sachs' philanthropic efforts, including the company's 10,000 Women initiative, which seeks to empower female small business owners in developing countries.

Shortly after the election, Ivanka Trump, the president's eldest daughter and adviser, sought out Powell for advice on international women's empowerment programming and shortly after Powell, an Arabic speaker, became a White House economic adviser and top national security aide, helping lead Middle East policy.

She was unique among President Donald Trump's advisers as a rare Bush administration veteran friendly with top Democrats, including some of former President Barack Obama's senior aides, but left the Trump administration last January to return to Goldman Sachs in a senior role and as a member of the company's management committee.

After Nikki Haley, Trump's ambassador to the UN, announced on Tuesday that she will be leaving the administration by the end of the year, Powell was reported to be a top candidate to replace her.
Sources close to the administration told Politico on Tuesday that the White House had reached out to Powell to offer her the job, but that she asked for time to consider it.

Powell in the Bush White House

At 29, Powell joined the Bush administration as the youngest-ever White House personnel director, overseeing 4,000 hirings and a staff of 35.


In 2005, as the administration attempted to improve relations with the Middle East, Bush made Powell assistant secretary of state for educational and cultural affairs. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expanded Powell's responsibilities, charging her with developing public-private partnerships to create jobs in places like Lebanon.


Powell was the highest-ranking Arab-American in the Bush administration and became a key adviser to Rice, who has called her "one of the most capable people I know."