Robert Holden

Bob Holden retired in 2021 from a 42-year federal career in public diplomacy and public affairs that included daily operations, social media and marketing, and translations. He spent the earlier part of his career as a writer-editor for a government wire service, as well as writing for magazines and speechwriting.

Bob spent 12 years as director of the Office of East Asia-Pacific Affairs in the State Department’s Bureau of International Information Programs. During that time, he started the Department of State’s first Chinese-language Internet information service. Following that assignment, he established a translations office tailored to meet the demand for foreign languages in public diplomacy. Prior to working at State, Bob worked for the U.S. Information Agency where he organized public diplomacy campaigns around U.S. participation in annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summits, including drafting speeches and op-eds for the president and the secretary of state.

For the past couple of decades, Bob has used singing and guitar-playing to relieve stress and to raise money for various charities in musical ensembles that include the Lost Agency Ramblers, the Last Chance Garage Band, and the Rock Hard Bagels.  Bob and Jeanne Holden have three children, all of whom are teachers. Their daughter Jenny started with ArtStream classes at George Mason University’s LIFE program in 2009 and has continued with its Northern Virginia acting companies ever since.