Ambassador Kelly Keiderling was a member of the U.S. Foreign Service for 37 years, serving in former Soviet states, Latin America, and anglophone Africa. Her final diplomatic assignment was as Head of the OSCE's Mission to Moldova; she was the primary mediator between Moldovan and Transnistrian negotiators, seeking a political settlement to the 33-year Transnistria conflict. Her diplomatic areas of specialty were authoritarian states, democratization, public diplomacy, media, and communication with foreign audiences.