Jessica “Jessye” Lapenn is an American career member of the Senior Foreign Service, class of Minister-Counselor,[1] who was sworn-in as the U.S. Ambassador to the African Union and the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa on August 27, 2019. Immediately prior, Lapenn served as the Chargé d'Affaires at U.S. Mission in South Africa from 2016 to 2019.[2]