Prior to her appointment, she served as the United States Ambassador to the Federated States of Micronesia from 2004-2007. As Minister-Counselor for Agricultural Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, she managed USDA’s three offices in Japan from 2000-2004. From 1997-2000, she served as Minister-Counselor for Agricultural Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing during China’s WTO accession negotiations.

As Director of the Foreign Agricultural Service’s AgExport Services Division from 1990 to 1996, she managed USDA’s international trade show program, worked closely with state departments of agriculture, and coordinated outreach for new exporters. She served at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo from 1981 to 1988, first as an Agricultural Attaché, then as Director of the Agricultural Trade Office. She received USDA’s top honor – the Secretary of Agriculture’s Distinguished Service Award—for her cost effective management while opening the first Agricultural Trade Office in Japan.

From 1978-1981, she worked with USDA’s international trade policy staff in Washington, DC.

Hale was raised in western New York and educated at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, the International Christian University in Tokyo, and Beloit College in Beloit, Wisconsin. Her husband is an attorney; they have two grown children.