Thérèse Tayah served with the Department of Justice in the counter terrorism arena following 9/11, both in the U.S. and Middle East. She worked on several high profile counter-terrorism cases in the U.S. and was also sent on several missions to Iraq, where she worked in particular with the Marsh Arabs in southern Iraq. In 2010 she transitioned to the Department of State and served as Senior Advisor to two U.S. Ambassadors and one Chargé d'Affaires in Baghdad before joining the private sector in early 2013 after 11 years of government service. In her role with U.S. Embassy Baghdad, Thérèse was responsible for managing the relationship with the Iraqi Government and the leadership of the major political blocs. She was a key negotiator during the Iraqi government formation negotiations. Thérèse resigned in February 2011 to work in the private sector, but at the request of the U.S. Ambassador, returned to government service in July 2011 to assist with the negotiations between the US and Iraq. She remained in this position until October 2012 when she again resigned and began working in the private sector providing high level lobbying support for US businesses operating in Iraq as well as advice and consultancy.

Thérèse was educated in French and English and is also fluent in Arabic and Spanish and has studied Syriac and Farsi. She majored in International Relations at university. For work in the field of counter terrorism she was awarded Outstanding Law Enforcement Officer of the year in 2008 by the Miami division of the Department of Justice and for her service in Iraq she was awarded two Meritorious Honor Awards, the Superior Honor Award and the Distinguished Honor Award by the Department of State.