US Agency for International Development - Obama Presidency Oral History Back US Agency for International Development Index / Organizations Transcripts Tom Frieden ...I still remember, the head of the US Agency for International Development said to me—he fought hard in a meetin... Tom Vilsack ...she volunteered until she worked for USAID [United States Agency for Internationa... ...she worked for USAID [United States Agency for International Development ] . She'd go out to communities and b... ...public school teacher and who worked at USAID during the Obama administration—anothe... Kathleen Merrigan ...does—because of course that was led by USAID [US Agency for Internationa... ...of course that was led by USAID [ US Agency for International Development ] . That what the US government wa... Sam Kass ...wasn't there for too long. He went to USAID [US Agency for Internationa... ...there for too long. He went to USAID [ US Agency for International Development ] for a while, and then he left. I lov... Rajiv Shah ...year, you were appointed as the head of USAID [US Agency for Internationa... ...were appointed as the head of USAID [ US Agency for International Development ] on January seventh, 2010. So that'... ...about his agency. And when I was at USAID —he and I partnered to put forth, ... ...did that work out that you went over to USAID ? No, that wasn't planned at all... ...in accelerated change. I started at USAID in December, I think, of that firs... ...the emergency operations center at USAID , and understood the intricacies of ho... ...the twelve Senate-confirmed leaders at USAID , I was the only one confirmed and i... ...Just a technical question: What was USAID prepared to do with what had com... ...because we were able to recruit, within USAID , our best people from around th... ...asked him to literally work inside the USAID building and help me run the emergenc... ...My first comms [communications] team at USAID was actually a FEMA team, Brent Colbur... ...effect for you. You were entering USAID when it was not as strong as it wa... ...give us a little bit of context about USAID in the time you came in. Well, ... ...all the talk was about how USAID had been underperforming, disseminated... ...the task. I think the judgments about USAID 's level of engagement in Iraq an... ...over time, I think; helped us rebuild USAID . What was the condition on the groun... ...to Afghanistan at that point, and was USAID mainly using contractors? Or how did i... ...energy to improving the way not just USAID , but the entire US government, showe... ...performed in Afghanistan. I'm proud of USAID 's contributions during my tenure. W... ...priority for our government and for USAID , and a very specific presidentia... ...I would just say, when I started in USAID , I think the other thing Presiden... ...they really elevated the role of USAID and the role of—not for me, but whoeve... ...me, but whoever was administrator of USAID . So offering us a seat at the Nationa... ...fact, would say the same about the way USAID was brought in and its leader was give... ...certain kind of interdisciplinarity to USAID that was very healthy, and helped hi... ...how you saw that re-relating USAID to the State Department, essentially. ... ...and [Office of] Foreign Assistance, and USAID had not benefited from that type o... ...getting folks, and myself included at USAID , to see that we would be stronger i... ...role around the world. In fact, when USAID was created in the early 1960s by Joh... ...very much in the fact that I, as the USAID administrator, and then Gayle Smit... ...engagements. And all of that required USAID to do some things very differently. W... ...policy planning processes so that the USAID administrator could be sufficientl... ...foreign policy, and, frankly, elevated USAID in the context of how America chose t... ...relationship between DOD and USAID . We then sought to replicate an... ...US taxpayer dollars that went through USAID or State were protected as best the... ...is that then implies that, okay, USAID will, at the end of the day, reimburs... ...had to do some things differently, and USAID had to do some things differently. Bu... ...with the United States government at USAID , I would almost always insist on ... ...American food aid during my tenure at USAID , backed by the Department o... ...in the winter and early spring of 2014. USAID runs a group called the DART, th... ...the theater of response. Meanwhile, USAID and CDC partnered to basically identif... Show more... Sylvia Burwell ...at that time, I'm not sure—the head of USAID [United States Agency for Internationa... ...a very difficult thing to do. Getting USAID —that had a very important role in thi... Debra Eschmeyer ...Who were you working with primarily at USAID [United States Agency for Internationa... ...with primarily at USAID [United States Agency for International Development ]? USDA, you mean? USADA. Yes... Krish Vignarajah ...with—State Department, Peace Corps, USAID [United States Agency for Internationa... ...agencies. So we went to agencies like USAID , who I had worked closely with while ... ...was that already a program within USAID ? Can you talk a little bit about—yo... ...wasn't a priority at agencies like USAID , my alma mater the State Department... Pranav Shetty ...Disaster Assistance [OFDA] under USAID [United States Agency for Internationa... ...[OFDA] under USAID [United States Agency for International Development ]. So I met all of the technica... 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