Ms. Ilka Rodríguez-Díaz was appointed Chief Foreign Language Strategist on 04 September 2018 and, with the Chief Foreign Language Officer, is charged with developing the programs, policies and services that support the acquisition, maintenance, and advancement of foreign language professional proficiency at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Prior to that she served as the Deputy Chief for Talent Acquisition, overseeing the worldwide effort to recruit new hires and students. She joined CIA in 1985 and spent the first seven years of her career as a Technical Intelligence Officer, providing support to human intelligence collection in 25 countries on four continents.

Ilka then changed professions to begin a career in human resources and has served in a variety of first, mid, and executive level leadership positions with enterprise-wide impact. She is also a founding member of the Agency’s Latino employee resource group, the Hispanic Advisory Council.

Ilka is a member of the Senior Intelligence Service, the CIA’s executive cadre, and is a recipient of numerous Exceptional Performance Awards to include an Intelligence Commendation Medal and two National Intelligence Professional Human Capital Awards.

Ilka graduated from New York University, or NYU, in 1985 with a B.A. in French and German (with honors in German). Prior to enrolling at NYU, she studied abroad at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. While at NYU, she again pursued studies overseas at L’Institut Catholique de Paris.

Ilka later attended The George Washington University where, in 1995, she earned an M.A. in Education and Human Development. She also attended an executive development program at Harvard’s JFK School of Government.

A native of New Jersey, Ilka lives in Northern Virginia with her husband José A. Díaz and their son Oscar Ramón.