Dina Powell facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Dina Powell
1st United States Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategy
In office March 15, 2017 – January 12, 2018
President	Donald Trump
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Nadia Schadlow
11th Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs
In office July 11, 2005 – June 7, 2007
President	George W. Bush
Preceded by	Patricia Harrison
Succeeded by	Goli Ameri
Director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office
In office 2003–2005
President	George W. Bush
Preceded by	Clay Johnson III
Succeeded by	Liza Wright
Personal details
Born	Dina Habib (1973-06-12) June 12, 1973 (age 52) Cairo, Egypt
Political party	Republican
Spouses	Richard Powell ​ ​ (m. 1998; div. 2017)​ Dave McCormick ​ (m. 2019)​
Children	2
Education	University of Texas, Austin (BA)

Dina Powell, also known as Dina Powell McCormick, was born Dina Habib on June 12, 1973. She is an American financial expert, a generous giver to good causes, and a political advisor. She is most famous for being the United States Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategy for President Donald Trump.

Dina was born in Cairo, Egypt, and moved to the United States as a child. She has always been a member of the Republican Party. She got involved in politics in Texas after attending the University of Texas at Austin. During the time George W. Bush was president, Powell held several important jobs. She worked in the White House and later at the State Department. After her government work, Powell joined Goldman Sachs, a big financial company. She became a top leader there and helped run programs that supported women and small businesses.

Powell later joined the Trump administration. She helped shape the country's foreign policy, especially in the Middle East. She left the government in 2018 and went back to Goldman Sachs. In 2022, she became the new leader of the Robin Hood Foundation, a group that helps fight poverty. In 2023, she moved to another financial firm called BDT & MSD Partners.

Early Life and Education

Dina Habib was born in Cairo, Egypt, into a family of Coptic Christians. Her father was a captain in the Egyptian Army. Her parents brought Dina and her younger sister to the United States when they were children. Dina did not know English when she first arrived.

Her family settled in Dallas, Texas, where they had relatives. Her parents ran a small convenience store. Her father also worked as a bus driver and in real estate. Her mother sometimes worked in social work. Dina learned English at school. However, her family made sure she also learned about Egyptian culture and spoke Arabic. She later said she is very thankful for this. All family members born outside the U.S. became American citizens. She went to Ursuline Academy of Dallas, a prep school for girls, and graduated in 1991.

She then attended the University of Texas at Austin. She helped pay for school by working for two Republican state senators in Texas. She worked on different policy issues, like making changes to laws for young people. Her family strongly supported the Republican Party. She agreed with their ideas about people being in charge of their own lives and less government involvement. She also believed people should spend their own money wisely. She graduated from the University of Texas in 1995 with a degree in Humanities.

Early Political Career

After college, Dina was accepted into law school. But she received an offer for a year-long internship with U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison from Texas. Because she spoke Arabic, this was a good opportunity. She decided to take the internship and moved to Washington, D.C.. She never went back to law school.

After her internship, she worked for Dick Armey, a Republican leader in the U.S. House of Representatives. She worked on his team for four years. In 1998, she married and started using her husband's last name, Powell.

After that, she worked for the Republican National Committee. She helped find jobs for Republicans in different companies. She also became involved in George W. Bush's presidential campaign in 2000.

Bush Administration

Working in the White House

While working at the Republican National Committee, Dina Powell was noticed by Clay Johnson III. He was in charge of hiring people for the George W. Bush administration. After the election, Johnson called Powell about joining the new team.

Powell became a Deputy Assistant to the President. This meant she helped the President choose people for different jobs. In 2003, she took over Johnson's role. She became the Assistant to the President for Presidential Personnel. This was a very important job in the White House. She was in charge of helping the President choose people for cabinet positions, ambassadors, and other government roles. She had a team of 35 people working for her. When President Bush started his second term in 2005, she helped hire about 4,000 people. At 29 years old, she was the youngest person to ever hold this position.

Some of her suggestions for the U.S. State Department were well-received by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Working at the State Department

In 2005, Powell was chosen to be the Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs. This job also meant she acted as an ambassador to Arabic-speaking countries. News of her nomination was even on the front page of a newspaper in Egypt. She held this position from 2005 to 2007. She also worked as the Deputy Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. In this role, she managed programs like the Fulbright Program, which helps people from different countries study and teach abroad. Powell traveled around the world with Secretary Rice, focusing mostly on the Middle East.

During this time, Powell created partnerships between American companies and groups in other countries. For example, she helped create a partnership between the U.S. and Lebanon after the 2006 war to help rebuild their economy. She also helped set up cultural exchanges between the United States and Iran. This included Iranian doctors visiting the U.S. and an American wrestling team going to Iran. She also helped bring scholars from other countries to the U.S. Powell also helped create a program that connected rising female leaders with powerful women in business. This program was praised for many years.

In 2007, she left the White House and government service. She said it was the right time for her and her family. She was the highest-ranking Arab-American in the Bush administration. She later joined the advisory group for the George W. Bush Presidential Center.

Working at Goldman Sachs

Powell joined Goldman Sachs in 2007. Goldman Sachs is a very large global investment bank and financial services company. She became a managing director there. In 2010, she became a partner. Powell admitted that she didn't have a background in finance when she joined. However, she said her career has been about taking "leaps of faith."

She was in charge of the firm's impact investing business. This meant investing in projects that also had a positive social or environmental effect. She also became the president of the Goldman Sachs Foundation in 2010. This foundation is one of the largest company foundations in the world.

As the leader of the Goldman Sachs Foundation, Powell helped create and manage programs that supported business owners around the world. These included "10,000 Women" and "10,000 Small Businesses." The "10,000 Women" program helps women business owners in developing countries. It gives them business education, money to start or grow their businesses, and mentors. Under Powell, Goldman Sachs worked with other organizations to raise $600 million. This money helped over 100,000 women worldwide get access to money for their businesses.

Powell also led "Goldman Sachs Gives," a fund where partners at Goldman Sachs could donate to charity. During her time at Goldman Sachs, Powell joined the boards of several important organizations. These included the Harvard Kennedy School and the American University in Cairo.

Trump Administration

Senior Advisor Role

Dina Powell did not know President Donald Trump or his family before the 2016 election. She received a call from Ivanka Trump, who was interested in how successful the "10,000 Women" program had been. Because of this, Powell became involved with the new administration as it was forming. She focused on helping women and girls and supporting women business owners.

Starting in January 2017, Powell became a Senior Advisor to the President. Her job was to focus on business growth and helping women. She was one of the few people from the Bush administration to join the new Trump administration. Powell moved from New York City to Washington, D.C. for this job. She planned to stay for only one year. She also sold her interests in Goldman Sachs.

Powell led a program with Canada to help women in business. This was called the United States-Canada Council for the Advancement of Women Entrepreneurs and Business Leaders. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was also involved in this effort.

Powell was also involved in important meetings, such as one between the President and the Saudi defense minister. She helped oversee large arms deals between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia. She continued to assist Ivanka Trump. Powell had many contacts in finance, business, and government, which were very helpful to the new administration. She even helped with some early hirings. Even after becoming Deputy National Security Advisor in March 2017, she still spent part of her time on this initial role. In June 2017, Powell was a key advisor on a trip to Canada to improve economic ties.

National Security Council

On March 15, 2017, Powell was named Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategy. She kept her economic role as well. This new job came from the recently appointed National Security Advisor, H. R. McMaster.

In April 2017, The New York Times called Powell a "rising star" in national security. Vogue magazine and The Washington Post also wrote about her growing influence. This attention was partly because McMaster gave the Deputy for Strategy position a more important role within the National Security Council (NSC). This meant Powell attended important meetings with top officials. Powell helped McMaster build relationships with other government leaders. She also advised McMaster on how to work best with the President.

Powell was present during a meeting where President Trump spoke with Russian officials. She stated that a news story about the meeting was false.

She was among the top officials who traveled with the President on his first foreign trip in May 2017. The trip started in Saudi Arabia. She was very involved in planning the Middle East part of the trip. She participated in several discussions with Middle Eastern leaders, sometimes being the only woman at the table. She also made sure that one of the main speeches mentioned women's rights in Saudi Arabia. Powell's past government experience and her contacts in the Arab world were very important in making the first part of the trip a success.

Powell was a key person in helping to free Egyptian aid worker Aya Hijazi. In July 2017, she traveled with the President to Poland and Germany for a big international meeting. She then went to the Middle East for peace talks led by Jared Kushner. This trip happened in late August 2017. By this time, Powell was seen as a strong force in the White House. The administration thought an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal was possible. This was followed by a secret trip to the Middle East with Kushner and others. By November 2017, she was part of a small group working on a plan for peace in the Middle East. She was the only person in the group who was born in Egypt.

A major achievement for Powell in December 2017 was finishing the administration's National Security Strategy document. She worked hard on it with McMaster and other NSC staff. They spoke with many experts and got approval from cabinet members.

Leaving the Administration

On December 8, 2017, it was announced that Powell would leave the administration in early 2018. She planned to return to her life in New York and spend more time with her family.

White House spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that Powell was a "trusted advisor." She also said that Powell had only planned to stay for a year. She added that Powell would continue to support the President's goals and work on Middle East policy. Several officials felt her departure was a big loss for the White House. Nadia Schadlow was chosen to replace Powell.

Possible Return to Government

In October 2018, after Nikki Haley resigned as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Powell was considered a top choice to replace her. The President even said she was being considered. However, some people in the administration did not want her to be appointed. They argued that her global views did not fully match the President's "America First" approach. Also, Powell was reportedly worried about a difficult hearing in the Senate. She decided not to be considered for the job.

Later, in February 2019, her name came up again for the UN Ambassador position. However, Kelly Knight Craft was chosen instead. Around this time, Powell was also considered to become the first female president of the World Bank. She was also thought of for White House Chief of Staff.

Harvard Kennedy School Fellow

On February 12, 2018, it was announced that Powell would join the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School. Her job was to teach about diplomacy and foreign affairs. She would be a senior fellow, meaning she would not live on campus.

Return to Goldman Sachs

In February 2018, it was announced that Powell would return to Goldman Sachs. She would be part of the firm's management committee.

In the following years, she became Goldman's global head of sustainability and inclusive growth. She also became head of the firm's Sovereign Fund. This role involves building relationships with large government investment funds around the world, especially in the Middle East. She played a key part in Goldman Sachs' role in the huge 2019 stock offering of Saudi Aramco. The Wall Street Journal wrote that Dina Powell McCormick was a "critical link" between Goldman Sachs and these large funds.

Powell left Goldman Sachs in May 2023 to join BDT & MSD Partners, another financial company. She became a partner there, with the title of vice chairman and president of global client services. In 2023, Powell was also elected to the board of directors for ExxonMobil, a major energy company.

Second Marriage and Family

Dina and Richard Powell divorced in 2017.

By 2018, Powell was engaged to Dave McCormick, a financial expert and former government official. They married in 2019. Sometimes, Powell uses the name Dina Powell McCormick.

In 2022, Dave McCormick ran for the Republican nomination in the 2022 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania. Powell was very involved in his campaign. She went with him to Mar-a-Lago to try and get an endorsement from her former boss, the former president. Powell's connections to the former president were seen as important. The Republican primary election was very close, and McCormick lost.

On September 21, 2023, McCormick announced he would run again for the 2024 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania. Powell was part of his campaign announcement. He won the Republican primary without strong opposition.

Foundation Chair

In October 2022, Powell was named the new chair of the Robin Hood Foundation. This organization works to reduce poverty in New York City. She started the position in early 2023. She had previously been the vice chair of the fund. She helped the foundation organize its response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.

Awards and Honors

Powell was chosen as one of the World Economic Forum's Young Global Leaders before or in 2010.

She received an Outstanding Young Texas Ex Award from the University of Texas in 2006.

In 2007, Powell received an American by Choice Award. This award recognizes the great achievements of naturalized U.S. citizens. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice presented the award during a special ceremony.

In 2008, she received the first Young Alumna Award from Ursuline Academy of Dallas.

In 2009, Powell was named a Great Immigrant by the Carnegie Corporation of New York. This was for her work in public service and her contributions to American life.

In 2017, she was the honored speaker for a State Department dinner. This dinner recognized the Fortune/U.S. State Department Global Women's Mentoring Partnership. At the same time, Working Mother magazine named her one of the 50 Most Powerful Moms of 2017.

Images for kids

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  Dina and Richard Powell (center and right)

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  Official White House photo during Bush years

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  Powell reviewing papers in the Oval Office with Vice President Dick Cheney and President George W. Bush, circa January 2005

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  Powell (at far right) during the April 2017 Syrian missile strike operation. Her being the only woman present attracted notice.

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  Powell with others on the Saudi Arabia trip, 2017