Meeting the U.S. Consul General Ragini Gupta
I sincerely hope that this message finds you and your loved ones happy and healthy, and that your 2022 has gotten off to a strong start. Although this year started off under the specter of the Omicron variant, in 2022 we have more tools at our disposal – vaccines, treatments, and a greater understanding of the virus – to help us combat it. If we use these tools, working together, we will win.
Something I have learned through my years of service as a diplomat is that our most valuable asset is our people-to-people relationships and connections. For me, 2022 represents another important year of community building. Over the past months I have had the honor of meeting – both in person and virtually when restrictions required — with extraordinary individuals across a range of sectors, including government, academia, business, the military, NGOs, cultural organizations, and more.
My experience here has reminded me that at the heart of the U.S. – Italy relationship are individual connections and friendships forged between the Italian and American people. These ties are borne out of an array of circumstances, whether sparked by immigration, tourism, business, or academic exchanges. It is these very friendships that make the relationship between our two nations even stronger. While certainly we have seen visible changes in our everyday lives due to the pandemic, we are fortunate that Florence and Tuscany boast wonderfully welcoming communities. I think that this is why so many Americans feel at home here, including me.
My wish for all of us is that we collectively pledge to give back to our respective communities as much as possible and find ways to get involved. If you aren’t already volunteering in your local community and are not sure where to start, I can assure you that there are lots of organizations on the lookout for volunteers, so when pandemic conditions allow, I would encourage you to get out there and connect with them. In every city there are groups who organize city clean-up operations like the Angeli del Bello; soup kitchens at Caritas, churches, and other places of worship; hospital/healthcare volunteer organizations like the Red Cross and AVO; to name a few.
Please also join the Consulate’s social media community to stay up to date on events, opportunities, and news. You can find us on Twitter and Facebook at @USCGFlorence. For anyone seeking information on American Citizen Services, please e-mail: USCitizensFlorence@state.gov. For visa information: visaflorence@state.gov. Helpful information can also be found on the Consulate’s website in case of need: https://it.usembassy.gov/embassy-consulates/florence/. For American citizens (both visitors and ex-pats), I also invite you to join the Department of State’s community and sign up with the “STEP” program (Smart Traveler Enrollment Program) at www.step.state.gov to receive important alerts and be sure you can be located in an emergency.
I look forward to seeing you online, and hopefully at in-person events as soon as conditions allow us to gather when and as we would wish.
Ragini Gupta
U.S. Consul General in Florence
GETTING TO KNOW CONSUL GENERAL GUPTA
U.S. Consul General Ragini Gupta arrived in Florence in the summer of 2020 after six months of Italian language training, and just after total lockdown restrictions due to Covid-19 had slightly eased. In the months since then, Ms. Gupta has been on a roller coaster of challenges posed by changing scenarios as a result of the pandemic. Last year, Tuscany went from yellow, to orange, to red levels of pandemic restrictions in a matter of weeks. Vaccines arrived, bringing some reprieve, until the arrival of the highly infective Omicron variant, which posed new challenges.
Regardless of the rapidly-shifting pandemic landscape, the mission of the U.S. Consulate remains firmly in place: that of ensuring the safety of American citizens and that the U.S.-Italy and U.S.-San Marino relationships remain strong. The consular district consists of the regions of Tuscany, most of Emilia-Romagna (with the exception of the provinces of Parma and Piacenza), and the Republic of San Marino. In pre-pandemic times, two million American tourists visited the Florence consular district and up to 15,000 American students studied here each year. In addition, an estimated 60,000 U.S. citizen residents call Tuscany home.
In December 2021, Magenta staff interviewed Ms. Gupta at the U.S. Consulate, which is housed in the 19th century Palazzo Canevaro, designed by architect Giuseppe Poggi, located just across the south bank of the Arno. She spoke fondly of her first visit to Florence as a student with a backpack and the amazement of seeing the art of the city, and experiencing its culture and history. When asked what inspired her to become a diplomat she replied, “The concept of service was always very important. As a child of immigrants to the United States, I wanted to give back to the country that had given so much to me and had provided me with so many opportunities.”
Ms. Gupta continued, “Diplomacy was my true calling: working to build bridges, consolidate relationships, and find mutually beneficial solutions to problems. When I was a lawyer, my job was to litigate, and be a part of the conflict and try and achieve an outcome on behalf of one party, whereas the work I’m doing now is about deepening connections, ties and relationships—hopefully to prevent conflict. So that was what motivated me to become a diplomat.”
Gupta continued, “Diplomacy is based on relationships, and there’s only so far that you can get in a virtual call, especially when you’ve just been introduced to someone. When possible, I make a point of meeting mayors and prefects in person across the district. We work with government officials, but we also work very closely with business leaders and cultural associations because the U.S. – Italy partnership is so broad, diverse, and so rich already. Our job here is to build on that solid foundation to increase economic ties, increase cultural ties, increase our collaboration on issues and on our mutual objectives: everything from dealing with Covid to climate change to ensuring that the incredibly strong friendship that exists between the Italian and American people remains strong.”
Before entering the Foreign Service in 2002, Ms. Gupta was a practicing attorney at several large law firms in New York City and litigated civil rights cases in Montgomery, Alabama. She holds a Juris Doctor degree from New York University School of Law and a Master of Science degree in National Security Strategy from the National War College. Prior to her posting in Florence, she served in Washington, D.C. co-leading the implementation of the largest State Department reorganization in 20 years, which lead to the creation of the Global Public Affairs Bureau. She was previously assigned to the U.S. missions in Jordan, Mexico, Pakistan, and India.
In her previous missions, Gupta dealt with problems in pivotal times of U.S. foreign relationships. Posted to Pakistan in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and Musharraf’s military coup, she was at first suspected of being an Indian spy due to her Indian heritage. “The embassy very much stood by me, and made sure that our counterparts knew that they had to work with me, that I was the American diplomat,” she said. “Thus, I was able to overcome that initial hurdle and gain their trust. The fact that I shared a sort of a common cultural language — because my family is originally from north India. Pakistani culture and north Indian culture in so many ways are very alike — I was able to actually use that cultural knowledge to advance our mutual objectives.”
In Jordan, Gupta witnessed both the rise and military defeat of the Islamic State. While serving as Counselor for Public Affairs in Amman, Jordan, Gupta and her team were nominated for the Edward R. Murrow award, given by the Department of State. At that time the Islamic State was gaining ground in Iraq and Syria and recruiting all around the world, including Jordan. “What we did as a team and what I led was a shift in our operations once we saw the incredibly high quality of the Islamic State’s recruiting propaganda. It became the primary concern of our mission to minimize the recruitment not only by the Islamic State, but by all terrorist organizations because Jordan is an island of stability in a pretty tough neighborhood.” After these challenging situations, she considers her current post in the city of the Renaissance quite a reward.
Relationships and connections are central to the U.S. Consulate’s mission in Florence. The Consulate is also responsible for the welfare of U.S. citizens traveling and residing in Italy, and offers a range of services, from registering births and deaths of U.S. citizens, to assisting victims of crimes, to replacing lost passports, to providing notarial services. The Consulate also processes nonimmigrant visas.
Gupta stressed the importance of U.S.- Italy historic ties: “In my view, the strength of the U.S.- Italy partnership rests on this incredibly strong friendship and respect and admiration that we have for each other’s peoples. The tourists coming in from both directions, the students coming here when they’re young as I did, and then returning to want to do something more substantive, to want to live here and want to contribute to the relationship,” she said, adding, “that’s been a challenge during Covid, because there was the lack of American students and tourists for quite some time. For me, it’s been critical to also work on strengthening our people-to-people ties, especially in light of the impact that the pandemic had on our ability to meet each other to forge new relationships.
When queried about some specific issues the Consulate deals with, Ms. Gupta responded:
“Things do happen, and we are here for when unfortunate situations arise . . .we are here to provide assistance and support in challenging moments. When an American is the victim of a crime, such as theft or sexual assault; or if an American passes away, or is destitute and can’t support themselves, or is arrested, we’re available to provide guidance on how to navigate these challenging circumstances.”
Tuscany is a popular study abroad destination for U.S. students, and the Consulate proactively engages with the numerous universities and study programs by conducting safety orientations on the local culture, rules of behavior and living here successfully while studying. Ms. Gupta and her team are looking forward to the arrival of more students. The spring semester will also be marked by a “Welcome Day” event for students, coordinated by AACUPI (the Association of American College and University Programs in Italy).
Gupta commented on the importance of the safety briefings: “It is a way to help make sure that the students are safe during their time here,” says Ms. Gupta. “During Covid, we’ve been conducting safety orientations in presence or virtually. We provide information on what the students can do if they end up in a situation if, for example, they’re out late at night and they’ve been left by their friends, where can they go for help.”
She continued, “We also talk about what happens if they are arrested, which happens. It’s usually related to alcohol consumption, and we talk to them about the fact that Florence is a city. It seems like this incredibly gorgeous, beautiful museum, but it is actually a city with a lot of the same problems that you would find in any city. So, we provide advice based on our experience of having worked with American citizens for decades.”
“We’d also like to work on integrating the American student community more with the city and with their Italian student peers, and providing them with additional sort of cultural and social opportunities so that they come away even more enriched by their experience.”
Gupta explained the importance of citizen diplomats, or the role of visitors and students as citizen diplomats: “With every interaction or relationship that they create, they bolster the friendship that exists between the U.S. and Italy, which is made up of all of these millions of small daily interactions.”
Gupta also stressed the importance of the Department of State’s Smart Traveler Enrollment Program, or “STEP,” which visiting Americans (students, tourists, and residents alike) can sign up for at www.step.state.gov and receive regular updates. “By getting access, you’re also a part of our community and we’re aware that you’re here in case something goes wrong. If there’s an emergency, a national disaster or a pandemic, we use that database to reach out to American citizens with specific information relative to whatever the crisis is. So, for example, during Covid, the updates are about the various travel restrictions and the impact they have, information that’s relevant to an American citizen living here in Italy.”
Another primary pillar of the Consulate’s mission is that of providing advocacy services for U.S. companies based in the district and encouraging innovative Italian companies to invest in the U.S. U.S.- Italy business ties remain strong even throughout the pandemic, with U.S. companies continuing to expand their businesses in the district and Italian companies continuing to make investments in the U.S. Baker Hughes, an American energy technology company, is the single largest private sector employer in Tuscany, while pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly’s Sesto Fiorentino-based operations produce over half of the world’s insulin.
The Consulate also works with cultural organizations that bring together Italian and American counterparts, including Friends of Florence, the Rotary Club, the Lions Club, the Tuscan American Association, the Women’s International Network of Florence, and the American-International League. Gupta emphasized that policy is made in Washington D.C., but the impact of cultural exchange is made through the interaction with people.
On a personal note, Ms. Gupta also emphasized the dual role of service and sacrifice as a diplomat. She values the sense of professional accomplishment that come with her service but at the same time acknowledges the sacrifices made by her family, which includes moving every three years and navigating a new environment with a new language. Many would flinch at the thought of moving so often and adjusting to a new culture and language, but Ms. Gupta enjoys learning new languages. Through her various assignments she has learned Spanish, Arabic, Urdu, and Italian. She expressed her joy upon the realization that after just over a year of living in Florence, her children have acquired a high level of Italian language fluency and are thriving.
Gupta explained that she was inspired to undertake a life of service, in part, because of the story of her mother, who married young and was not able to pursue higher education. Although Gupta’s mother was unable to pursue her own professional aspirations, Gupta explained that her mother is a lifelong feminist who championed – and champions to this day — the elevation and social equality of women. Gupta also noted that her husband, a fellow Foreign Service Officer, is also a source of great inspiration and credits him for her positive work-life balance because of his active role in co-parenting their two children.
When asked about her favorite “vista” of Florence, Gupta said that she loves the view of Florence from the Consulate looking upriver because of the spectacular skyline featuring the Cupola, Palazzo Vecchio, and other architectural wonders, which make her feel closer to Renaissance and medieval genius. She mused, “Even on a challenging day, I can step outside on the terrace and instantly feel inspired.” (ashutosh ajay shah/in collaboration with rita kungel and elizabeth wicks)
