Dina Powell, also known as Dina Powell McCormick (née Habib, ; born June 12, 1973 to President Donald Trump. She is the current president and vice chair of the social media and technology company Meta.

Born in Cairo, Egypt, she came to the United States as a child. A lifelong member of the Republican Party, she became involved in Texas-oriented Republican politics during and following her time at the University of Texas at Austin. During the George W. Bush administration, Powell served in several roles, first as an Assistant to the President for Presidential Personnel and then as Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs and Deputy Undersecretary of State for Public Affairs and Public Diplomacy. In 2007, Powell joined Goldman Sachs, where she became a managing director and eventually a partner at the firm, In that capacity she ran the foundation's 10,000 Women program. She was also an Assistant to the President and Senior Counselor for Economic Initiatives, a position – demanding about 20 percent of her time returning to work for Goldman Sachs, where she was a Partner and served on the Management Committee. In October 2018, Powell was a leading candidate for the position of United States Ambassador to the United Nations, but withdrew from consideration and remained with the financial firm. before being named president and vice chair of the company in January 2026. Her father was a captain in the Egyptian Army, and her mother had attended American University in Cairo. A third daughter was born once the family was in North America. With them, she worked on a number of policy matters, including juvenile justice reform. She adopted the same views, later recalling that "... when I started to work with Republicans I realised that I agree with the views of personal empowerment, of less government involvement, of having the ability to talk about things without the government necessarily being involved. And on the economic side I'm definitely a believer that people should spend more of their money and spend it the way they think so and invest it wisely."

Early political career

Habib had applied to, and had been accepted by, a law school. However, in part due to her Arabic fluency,

she received an offer of a year-long internship with the U.S. Senator from Texas, Kay Bailey Hutchison.

After the year-long internship concluded, After the marriage, she began using his last name professionally.

Bush administration

White House Personnel Office

While working at the RNC, Powell was spotted by Clay Johnson III, who would come to be in charge of hiring for the George W. Bush administration. The day after the election Johnson called Powell regarding the presidential transition. through June 6, 2007. Powell was also designated by Secretary Rice to the office of Deputy Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. In addition, Powell led the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs,

During this period, Powell established several public-private partnerships between American corporations and foreign entities, including a U.S.-Lebanon partnership in the wake of the 2006 war that sought to help rebuild the local economy.

Goldman Sachs

Powell joined Goldman Sachs in 2007 as a managing director, Powell has conceded that she joined Goldman Sachs despite having no background in the subject of finance; she has said that her entire career has been guided by the notion of not planning a lot but rather "just taking that leap of faith." This was in addition to her responsibilities as global head of the Office of Corporate Engagement and a member of the Goldman Sachs Partnership Committee.

As the leader of Goldman Sachs Impact Investing, Powell was responsible for a business with more than $4 billion in housing and community development investments across the United States.

In her role as president of the Goldman Sachs Foundation, Powell led one of the world's largest corporate foundations. Powell helped build and was responsible for all the Foundation's initiatives supporting and developing entrepreneurs around the world, including 10,000 Women and 10,000 Small Businesses. 10,000 Women provides women entrepreneurs in developing countries with business education, access to capital and mentors. Under Powell, Goldman Sachs partnered with International Finance Corporation and Overseas Private Investment Corporation to raise 600 million dollars to provide access to capital for more than 100,000 women worldwide. To realize this project, Powell worked closely with the State Department.

During her time at Goldman Sachs, Powell joined the boards of directors or trustees of Harvard Kennedy School's Social Enterprise Initiative, the American University in Cairo, the Center for Global Development, Vital Voices, and the Nightingale-Bamford School. and a member of the Trilateral Commission.

Powell has worked with Democrats such as Obama administration advisors Valerie Jarrett and Gene Sperling.

Trump administration

Senior advisor

Powell had no relationship with the incoming President or his family until after the 2016 United States presidential election. Powell relocated from New York City to Washington as part of taking this job. Powell intended to only join the administration for one year. As part of this change of path she became divested of her interest in Goldman Sachs.

Powell led a joint American-Canadian program to advance the role of women in business, Another Powell endeavor involved a listening session on the related topics of domestic and international human trafficking. She continued to assist Ivanka Trump. and she assisted in a few of the early hires.

Powell was on the short list for White House Chief of Staff to replace Reince Priebus. Ivanka and her husband were pushing for Powell. Reportedly the president was happy with Powell's performance so far and considered the idea, but in July 2017 chose Homeland Security Secretary and former General John F. Kelly.

In April 2017 The New York Times labeled Powell a "rising star" in the national security establishment, an appellation echoed by Vogue magazine, In part this level of attention was because in that month, McMaster elevated the Deputy for Strategy position to a higher role within the NSC, meaning that Powell came to attend both the Principals Committee and National Security Council Deputies Committee. In addition, Powell attempted to guide McMaster on the best ways to have useful interchanges with the chief executive himself. However this soon-to-be infamous, unannounced meeting with the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Ambassador Sergey Kislyak was as it happened where Trump was later revealed to have disclosed Israeli intelligence. While she dissembled to cover up the president's error, he later admitted to having revealed these secrets.

She was among the top officials escorting the chief executive on his first foreign trip, which in May 2017 started with a two-day stay in Saudi Arabia. She had been heavily involved in the planning for the Middle Eastern portion of the trip.

Powell was one of the key figures in securing the release of Egyptian aid worker Aya Hijazi.

She then went to the Middle East on the next Kushner peace process trip. This took place in late August 2017 and also made the involvement of envoy Jason Greenblatt. By this time the likes of Bannon and Gorka were gone from the White House while Powell was still an ascendant force there. The trip was viewed positively within the Administration, which continued to think that an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal was achievable. This was followed by a secret trip to the Middle East made by Kushner, Powell, and others. By November 2017 she was part of a "core four" drafting a plan for a comprehensive Middle East peace, along with Kushner, Greenblatt, and U.S. Ambassador to Israel David M. Friedman. Given that the other three were Orthodox Jews with various ties to Israel, Powell was the only native-born Egyptian. She worked on it intensively with McMaster and senior NSC staffer Nadia Schadlow. In doing so they talked with numerous national security experts and stakeholders as well as gaining the buy-in of Cabinet-level officials. Powell planned to return to her life in New York, with a goal of spending more time with her family. Several officials viewed her departure as a significant loss for the White House. NSC staffer Nadia Schadlow was chosen to replace Powell.

Possibilities of returning

In October 2018, following the sudden resignation of Nikki Haley as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Powell was reported to be one of the leading candidates to replace her. The possibility of appointing Powell faced significant opposition from some within the Administration, including Bolton. Ultimately, Powell announced to friends the time was not right for her family or Goldman Sachs, and by October 11 she told the White House that she was withdrawing from consideration.

However, after picked Heather Nauert withdrew from consideration in February 2019 due to nanny issues, Powell's name once again emerged as a possible choice for the position. One report had her as one of the two leading candidates. However Kelly Knight Craft was chosen and it was unclear if Powell was ever interested or in serious consideration.

Also around this time, Powell was also considered to become the first female president of the World Bank. She was also under consideration for White House Chief of Staff.

Harvard Kennedy School fellow

On February 12, 2018, it was announced that Powell would be joining the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs within the bounds of the Harvard Kennedy School. and her capacity would be that of a non-residential senior fellow.

In the following years she was made Goldman's global head of sustainability and inclusive growth. She played a key part in Goldman Sachs' role for the massive 2019 initial public offering of Saudi Aramco. The Wall Street Journal wrote that "Dina Powell McCormick has been a critical link between Goldman Sachs and sovereign-wealth funds, particularly those in the Middle East." She became partner there.

Second marriage and role in husband's career

Dina and Richard Powell divorced in 2017. In 2019, she and McCormick were married. At times, Powell subsequently went by the name Dina Powell McCormick. There were reports in the press, denied by some, that Powell hinted that McCormick's rival Dr. Oz would be unelectable due to his Muslim background. The efforts did not have success, as the endorsement went to Oz.

The Republican primary election was very close and went to a recount phase, but, in the end, McCormick lost to Oz. Oz proceeded to lose the general election to the Democrat, John Fetterman.

On September 21, 2023, McCormick announced his second campaign for the 2024 United States Senate election in Pennsylvania; he did not face strong primary opposition as he had the previous time and won the Republican primary unopposed. Powell was part of his September 2023 campaign announcement. He went on to narrowly defeat three-term incumbent Democratic senator Bob Casey Jr. in what was widely considered an upset.

Foundation chair

In October 2022, Powell was named the new chair of the Robin Hood Foundation, a venture philanthropy that seeks to alleviate poverty in New York. She took the position effective early 2023.

She received an Outstanding Young Texas Ex Award, associated with the University of Texas, in 2006.

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

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

In 2017, she was the honored speaker for a State Department dinner in acknowledgment of the Fortune/U.S. State Department Global Women's Mentoring Partnership.

References

  • Official NSC website
  • C-SPAN appearances
  • Profile page at Goldman Sachs – current stint
  • Profile page at Goldman Sachs – prior stint
  • Dina Powell in the Huffington Post: The Future of Egypt Depends on Investing in Women
  • Style portrayal in Gotham magazine