MIT-Africa will be hosting an event with Molly Phee (a former US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs) on April 29th, 2026, entitled “US-Africa Relations at the Crossroads: Reset or Rupture?” Dr. Sarah Setlaelo (writer and political philosopher currently at UConn) will be the discussant.
Molly Phee is a former senior U.S. diplomat known for her strategic leadership in navigating complex political and security challenges. She led negotiations to end conflicts, build coalitions, and arrange humanitarian access across Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia. She has operated effectively in insecure environments collaborating with the U.S. military, USAID and other government agencies, the UN, international NGOs, foreign partners, and civilian stakeholders. While serving as U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs from 2021-2025, she led U.S. government engagement in 49 sub-Saharan African countries, driving outcomes in trade and investment, conflict resolution, and democracy and human rights. She oversaw 275 domestic employees, more than a thousand overseas employees, and 12,000 local staff while monitoring billions of dollars in assistance and operational budgets.
Dr. Sarah Setlaelo is a writer, researcher and academic with a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Johannesburg (UJ). Setlaelo was a recipient of the Harvard South Africa Fellowship (2024/2025), from the Harvard University Center for African Studies, as a visiting fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. She is currently visiting faculty in the philosophy department at the University of Connecticut. Her research and teaching specialization is in political, social, feminist and comparative philosophy; gender and race; ethics and aesthetics. Prior to her work in academia, she founded and operated a consulting agency that provided integrated marketing solutions for 15 years – in the football, music, broadcasting and training sectors, as well as communications services to clients across more than ten industries.
Event details
Date: Wednesday, April 29th
Time: 11:00am-12:30pm
Location: MIT building 4, room 153
Food will be provided.
RSVP here.
