In April 2023 Abigail Hunter became Director of International Affairs and Partnerships, a new position within the SAFE Center for Critical Mineral Strategy. Previously, Hunter led federal government affairs for nearly three years as the senior attaché in Washington, D.C., for Quebec, Canada’s most mineral-rich province. In Hunter’s new role she will sustain existing SAFE partnerships and develop new ones to reduce – in a sustainable and ethical way – the free world’s critical mineral dependencies on the People’s Republic of China and other Foreign Entities of Concern.   Hunter’s association with SAFE began as a student fellow in October 2022, when she began providing writing and research support to the SAFE Center for Strategic Industrial Materials, leading to C-SIM’s seminal report on aluminum supply challenges published in February.
Before joining Quebec’s DC office in 2020, she led international programs for the U.S. National Governors Association, where her portfolio included trade negotiations and overseas missions.  Hunter is completing a Masters in Sustainable Energy at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.  Her paper on North American grid connections was published by JHU’s Initiative for Sustainable Energy.