Corina R. Sanders

Corina R. Sanders, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service with two decades of diplomatic experience, is currently serving as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs covering the nine countries of Central Africa and Economic and Regional Affairs.

She completed her two-year assignment in January 2024 as the Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Ms. Sanders previously served as the Acting Office Director and Deputy Director for South Sudan and Sudan Affairs in Washington DC. She has also held a variety of leadership and staff assignments at the U.S. embassies in South Korea, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Brazil. From 2007-2009, while serving as the Deputy Press Attaché at U.S. Embassy Kabul, Afghanistan she was seconded for six months to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan in the Spokesperson’s office.

Ms. Sanders graduated from the National War College with a master’s degree in National Security Strategy and a concentration in Emerging Information Technology. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Geography from Kansas State University, and a master’s in education specializing in Organizational Development and Human Resources from the University of Georgia. She is married to Civil Service Officer Joel A. Hinz, who won the Department of State’s prestigious, worldwide Eligible Family Member of the year award in 2013.