30 Jun 2026

Jeffrey Sizemore Embarks on the Third Act

We're planting the seeds for the next generation of diplomats that believe better is possible. The education space is where the third act goes.

Following his family legacy of service, Jeffrey Sizemore spent more than two decades as a public servant. In what Jeff calls his first act, he served as a Surface Warfare Officer in the U.S. Navy. It was in his second act as a civil servant at the State Department where Jeff found his calling in the atrocity prevention and human rights community.

Joining the Department in 2017, Jeff played a pivotal role in operationalizing the Elie Wiesel Genocide and Atrocities Prevention Act. He helped build a comprehensive curriculum to train officers across the whole of government on what justice looks like and how to mitigate the risks of mass violence. For Jeff, the mission was apolitical and grounded in a simple, unshakeable truth: we must never find ourselves on the wrong side of a moral question.

In 2025, Jeff’s moral code was tested during the dramatic shift in federal priorities brought on by the second Trump administration. As the administration began freezing assistance for human rights and democracy programs, massive Reductions-in-Force (RIFs) gutted critical conflict and stabilization initiatives. Then serving as a Deputy Director, Jeff was spared from the RIFs.

Instead, Jeff was pushed toward a role as the senior adviser on sanctions where he would be expected to use sanctions tools against judges and the International Criminal Court. It was a role he could not, in good moral standing, accept. Jeff made the difficult decision to resign. He knew his obligation to protect marginalized populations hadn't ended, but his ability to do so from within the department had.

Now in his third act, Jeff is educating the next generation of diplomats and human rights defenders. He is a regular host on the YouTube channel Former Feds & Friends using TV, movies and pop culture to make sense of today’s challenges in a way that’s engaging and relatable.

In January 2026, Jeff took his expertise to the Pacific, as the Mary Wing-Ming Lee Senior Human Rights Research Fellow in the Asia Pacific Centre for the Responsibility to Protect at the University of Queensland School of Political Science and International Studies in Brisbane, Australia. Jeff is not just working in the Pacific; he is also a visiting professor with the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution at George Mason University in Virginia. He is planting the seeds for the next generation of diplomats that will be needed to rebuild these critical global initiatives.

Connect with Jeff on LinkedIn, and make sure to check out Former Feds & Friends on YouTube.

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