Linda Thomas-Greenfield is serving on President Joe Biden’s cabinet as ambassador to the United Nations. She was confirmed in late February 2021.
Thomas-Greenfield has spent the majority of her career as a civil servant in Foreign Service. She served as Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of African Affairs from 2013 to 2017. She was the ambassador to Liberia from 2008 to 2012. According to a State Department bio, she also represented the United States in Switzerland, Pakistan, Kenya, The Gambia, Nigeria, and Jamaica during her career.
The commitment to public service appears to run in the family. Thomas-Greenfield met her husband, Lafayette Masteen Greenfield, while studying overseas. Their daughter became a Foreign Service Officer and their son has also spent time working for a U.S. agency overseas.
Here’s what you need to know about Thomas-Greenfield’s husband and kids:
1. Thomas-Greenfield Met Her Husband, Also a Foreign Service Officer, While Studying in Liberia
Getty Linda Thomas-Greenfield speaks at the US-Africa Leader Summit in Washington, DC, August 4, 2014, while she was the Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs.
Thomas-Greenfield’s husband, Lafayette Greenfield, was also dedicated to civil service. They both spent their careers working for the State Department as Foreign Service Officers.
Thomas-Greenfield publicly recognized her husband before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations in 2008 when she was nominated to be the ambassador to Liberia. In her opening statement, she thanked Greenfield for encouraging her to pursue a career with the State Department and for supporting her along the way. She mentioned that Greenfield had retired by that point.
Thomas-Greenfield explained that she had lived in Liberia before. She studied abroad in Liberia for more than a year while she was a graduate student at the University of Wisconsin.
According to their son, she met her now-husband during this study abroad program. Lafayette Greenfield II wrote an online blog while he was a college student. He noted in the bio section that his parents met in Liberia during the 1970s. Greenfield II also described himself as a “foreign service brat.” He wrote that while he was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, his upbringing also included time spent living in The Gambia, Kenya, Pakistan, and Switzerland. His sister, Lindsay, shared a photo of the family from the 1990s to Facebook.
2. Her Daughter, Lindsay Jamila Greenfield, Works in the Foreign Service & Was Stationed in Bolivia
Thomas-Greenfield’s daughter, Lindsay Jamila Greenfield, followed in her parents’ footsteps and went to work for the State Department. According to her Facebook page, which is now unavailable, Lindsay was currently a Foreign Service Specialist based in La Paz, Bolivia. Lindsay’s public-facing account included a few photos of her travels around the central South American country.
According to her LinkedIn account, Lindsay attended the International School of Kenya during her primary education. Her mother was based in Nairobi during the mid-1990s, according to her bio. Lindsay also listed a boarding school in Switzerland, Collège du Léman, on her LinkedIn page.
But Lindsay returned to the United States for her college education. She studied French at Lynchburg College in Virginia and graduated in 2005.
3. Lafayette Masteen Greenfield II Is a Partner at a Law Firm in Washington, D.C.
LinkedIn Lafayette Greenfield is the son of Linda Thomas-Greenfield.
Thomas-Greenfield’s son, Lafayette Masteen Greenfield II, was born in August 1986. He explained in a 2009 blog post that the similarities with his father extended beyond just his name: “I was named for my father and my personality mirrors his. I am known to everyone as ‘Deuce’, which my mother considered a more unique way to call me junior.” Thomas-Greenfield actually referred to her son as “Deuce” during her opening statement before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations in May 2008.
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Lafayette II graduated from Radford University in 2009 with a bachelor’s degree in political science, according to his LinkedIn profile. He worked for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Liberia both before and after graduation. He first served as an intern during his winter break from school and then as a coordinator after receiving his college diploma. Lafayette II returned to the U.S. in September 2009 for a job with the State Department in the Family Liaison Office, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Lafayette II earned a law degree from Howard University in 2013. He worked as an associate with the law firm Milbank LLP for more than 7 years before accepting a position as a partner at Davis Wright Tremaine. He made the switch in November 2020.
4. Thomas-Greenfield Has a Daughter-In-Law & at Least One Grandchild
Thomas-Greenfield is a grandmother, according to her son’s Twitter page. Lafayette II has a photo of a baby set as his profile photo. In April 2019, he also described his wife as “amazing” and an “awesome mom” in a tweet. In February 2018, he wrote that he was excited to meet his unborn daughter.
Lafayette II is married to Aida Kebere, according to a search of online records. The young family owns a home in Fairfax County, Virginia, according to real estate sales data published by the Washington Post.
Kebere has either deleted or suspended her LinkedIn profile. But a search of online records suggests she earned a master’s degree in international business from George Mason University.
5. Thomas-Greenfield & Her Husband Own Property in Virginia & North Carolina
Getty U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Linda Thomas-Greenfield attends the 30th Annual Awards Gala hosted by The Africa-America Institute on September 22, 2014.
Thomas-Greenfield and her husband live near their son in Fairfax County, Virginia. A search of property records shows the couple purchased their Arlington home in 2003 for $385,000.
The Greenfields are also listed as the owners of two adjacent properties in Seven Springs, North Carolina. The area includes a 4-bedroom, 2,000 square-foot home that Wayne County records show is worth about $106,000. The second lot appears to be a land parcel that is about 3/4 of an acre.
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