Ambassador M. Osman Siddique
Founder and Chair
M. Osman Siddique is a former U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Fiji, also accredited to Tonga, Nauru, and Tuvalu, having been appointed by President Bill Clinton. He became America's first serving Muslim Ambassador and Chief of Mission. As a Muslim and South-Asian American diplomat, his appointment carried symbolic and practical importance, representing a more diverse America abroad and embodying religious and ethnic plurality. Born in Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan), Ambassador Siddique witnessed the violent birth of a new country as East Pakistan became Bangladesh.
Seeking the promise and opportunity of the United States, he left Bangladesh to continue his academic studies at Indiana University, where he received his MBA from the Kelley School of Business. Before entering public service, he founded and ran ITI/Travelogue, Inc., a corporate travel management company that became one of the largest of its kind in the United States. He also founded a private bank and several real estate holding companies.
Ambassador Siddique has a long record of public and diplomatic service. In 1996, the White House nominated him to serve as a member of the United States election observer team, headed by the National Democratic Institute, to the Bangladesh parliamentary election held that year. Along with Congressman Bill Richardson, he was one of the main architects of the formation of the United States-Bangladesh Congressional Caucus. In 2000, President Bill Clinton invited Ambassador Siddique to join his cabinet delegation on a historic state visit to Bangladesh and India. During the 2000 U.S. presidential campaign, Ambassador Siddique served as a senior advisor and "Ambassador Emeritus" to the South Asians for Biden Committee, where he actively worked to integrate Bangladeshi American communities into the Biden-Harris campaign and helped several Bangladeshi American candidates win political office across the United States. While serving as ambassador, Siddique also navigated the complexities of the 2000 Fijian coup d'état, a role that demonstrated diplomatic resolve and helped shape U.S. responses during a sensitive international crisis.
Ambassador Siddique's contributions have continued to be recognized at the highest levels. In 2011, the Obama Administration appointed Ambassador Siddique as a trustee to the Board of Governors of the prestigious East-West Center in Hawaii. In 2024, President Joe Biden appointed him to the important National Security Education Board for a four-year term. At the 2025 Unity Summit, the Asian American Unity Coalition presented Ambassador Siddique with the Norman Mineta Award for Public Service, honoring his dedication to public service.
He continues to serve as Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council's South Asia Center, contributing to analysis and policy discussions on cross-cultural, South Asian, and interfaith issues. He has emerged as one of the Council's principal spokesmen on Bangladesh-related matters, speaking and writing frequently on the country's current challenges and opportunities, and has moderated and participated in numerous discussions and debates with current and former Bangladesh Ambassadors to the United States and United States Ambassadors to Bangladesh.
Ambassador Siddique's own journey — immigrating to the United States as a teenager and going on to become a successful entrepreneur and U.S. diplomat — shaped his deep commitment to the Bangladeshi American community and his belief that the diaspora's voices must be heard at the highest levels of government and public life. That conviction led him to found and chair the Diaspora Action Foundation, which will serve as a pioneer and groundbreaking vehicle for that mission, advancing the interests and amplifying the perspectives of the Bangladeshi American community in Washington and beyond.
Ambassador Siddique is the author of a memoir, Leaps of Faith: An Immigrant's Odyssey of Struggle, Success, and Service to His Country, in which he reflects on his journey from immigrant student to U.S. ambassador, offering a personal and candid narrative of identity, belonging, and public service. The trajectory of his life spans multiple identities and roles—immigrant, business founder, diplomat, author, and educator—capturing a quintessential "American dream" narrative in a global context.