Jennifer “J.R.” Littlejohn is the Packard Foundation’s Vice-President of Environment and Science. In this role she leads the Foundation’s efforts to advance bold climate solutions, foster a sustainable ocean, and drive scientific innovation and discovery to secure the health and future of people and the planet.
Prior to joining the Foundation, J.R. was a career member of the U.S. Foreign Service, with over two decades of experience in foreign policy and national security strategy, diplomacy, and management at the U.S. Department of State and the White House. Most recently, as the Acting Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, she advanced programs and policies designed to protect the environment, reinforce U.S. leadership in science and technology, and strengthen climate diplomacy and ocean conservation.
Her career spans diplomatic assignments in six countries, including North Macedonia, Timor-Leste, Afghanistan, Brazil, Thailand, and Germany. Throughout her diplomatic tenure she advanced critical global issues, from democracy and human rights to conservation and tech diplomacy, holding leadership roles such as Deputy Director of the Secretary of State’s Policy Planning Staff and Director for Central and Northern European Affairs at the National Security Council.
Littlejohn holds a Master of Science in National Resource Strategy from the National Defense University, a Master of International Affairs from Columbia University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Morgan State University. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a 2022-2023 International Women’s Forum Leadership Fellow, and the recipient of numerous State Department Superior Honor Awards. Before joining the Foreign Service, Littlejohn was a Robert Bosch Foundation Fellow in Berlin, Germany, and a Thomas R. Pickering Graduate Foreign Affairs Fellow.