Kate Bentley

BIOGRAPHY (http://www.katebentley.com/kate/en/biografia.jsp)

I was raised near the banks of the Cumberland River in Western Kentucky , a small rural village where everyone knew everything there was to know about the other. I studied piano and classical voice, then later business administration. As an adult, I owned my own log home sales franchise, and I was a musician, recording jingles and demos. For 12 years, I sang professionally from Canada to Argentina .

Looking back, I was always attracted to the river, because I knew it could take me somewhere. It was my dream, and it came true. The Cumberland River took me to more than 15 countries where I worked for the U.S. government as a diplomat. My first assignments were as Press Attaché and Spokesperson for U.S. embassies in Panama and Nicaragua.

Back in Washington I worked on the staff of former Secretary of State Colin Powell. Later I worked as a negotiator in international oceans scientific and environmental affairs within the framework of the United Nations and APEC, the Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. Currently, I am Consul of the Public Affairs Section at the U.S. Consulate in Recife, Brazil.

How does a singer become a diplomat? It wasn’t easy, but music played a part in the story. If you can dream that someday you’ll see the world, then just maybe you can. Someone once told me “To make your dreams come true, first you must wake up.” I suppose that’s the first step for us all.