Virginia Staab is the Public Affairs Officer of U.S. Embassy Lisbon. In this capacity, Gini oversees all cultural and press affairs for the Mission, acts as the official Embassy spokesperson and advises the Ambassador, Deputy Chief of Mission, and fellow senior advisors on public diplomacy aspects of the bilateral relationship.  She also represents the Ambassador as the President of the Fulbright Commission and is the Embassy's institutional link with the Luso-American Foundation (FLAD).  Most recently, Gini served for two years as the Deputy Spokesman for the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs at the Department of State in Washington, D.C.  She entered the Foreign Service in 2003 after an extensive career in the private sector as a Director of Client Relations for an international, corporate, San Francisco-based law firm.  Her previous Foreign Service postings include Bogota, London and Washington, D.C.  She is a seventh generation Californian, born in San Francisco.