Experience

Fifteen years of U.S. government international program management.

Field and Washington assignments across Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Peru, Sri Lanka, Tunisia, and Thailand, in stabilization, humanitarian response, democratic governance, and public integrity. Portfolios from $28M to $500M. Project Management Professional and FAC-COR Level II certified.

Fifteen years of diverse international experience

Professional experience

Program Officer

USAID/Middle East Bureau · Washington, DC · Mar 2024 – Jul 2025
  • Program strategy, operations, and performance management for a 12-country regional portfolio with a $28M annual budget, supervising a three-person team across five technical offices.
  • Directed annual planning and reporting processes, synthesizing regional data into submissions informing leadership decisions and resource allocation.
  • Served as the primary coordination point between technical teams, financial management, contracting, legal, and communications offices, ensuring execution, procurement, and public messaging remained compliant with federal requirements.

Program Officer (Acting)

USAID/Libya · Washington, DC · Nov 2023 – Mar 2024
  • Acting Program Office Director for a $190M non-presence mission portfolio, supervising five staff across strategy, budget, planning, M&E, and communications.
  • Led a rapid strategic redesign aligning programming to evolving political conditions, reducing operational burden on staff while maintaining program relevance.
  • Coordinated Libya's integration into the Global Fragility Act framework — cited as exemplary among GFA countries, and the mission received 180% of its requested funding.
  • Prepared high-level briefing materials and ran Washington strategy discussions with senior leaders from USAID, State, and Defense.

Director of Stabilization

USAID/Iraq · Baghdad, Iraq · Mar 2022 – May 2023
  • Led a $500M+ stabilization portfolio of nine projects in a post-ISIS environment, representing USAID to the Government of Iraq, the Kurdistan Regional Government, donors, and interagency partners.
  • Converted third-party monitoring from a compliance function into an evidence-based decision system informing course corrections across the portfolio.
  • Developed a conflict-sensitive stabilization strategy analyzing current and emerging drivers of instability.
  • Coordinated interagency work on repatriation from al-Hol camp in Syria, covering the return and reintegration of 25,000+ Iraqi citizens.

DART Member

USAID/Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance · Bangkok, Thailand · Nov 2021 – Jan 2022
  • Afghanistan Disaster Assistance Response Team following the Taliban takeover, supporting a $671M humanitarian response portfolio — a 125% funding increase over the prior year.

USAID Lead

Afghanistan Evacuation Task Force · Washington, DC · Aug 2021 – Oct 2021
  • On-the-ground lead at the Dulles Expo evacuation site, building real-time systems to process, register, house, feed, and care for thousands of Afghan evacuees. Led volunteer teams across twelve-hour night shifts for four weeks.

Maghreb Lead

USAID/Middle East Bureau · Washington, DC & Tunis, Tunisia · Jun 2018 – Jun 2021
  • Led a three-person team on a $40M+ portfolio for Libya and the Maghreb, serving as the primary coordination point between field missions, Washington leadership, and interagency partners.
  • Briefed Congressional staff on Libya programming; Congress issued a $40M directive supporting continued funding without disrupting implementation.

Director of Governance

USAID/Peru · Lima, Peru · Jan 2015 – May 2017
  • Managed a $33M democracy, governance, health, and education portfolio while executing an office merger during a 30% budget reduction . Restructured teams, processes, and agreements without interruption to programming.
  • Directed governance strategy through Peru's five-year planning cycle, establishing governance as a central Development Objective.
  • USAID's lead interlocutor with Peruvian ministers, regional governors, ambassadors, and the Embassy Country Team, including OECD accession and anti-corruption reform.
  • Group Mission Honor Award for high-profile diplomatic engagements, including Dr. Jill Biden's official visit and Secretary Kerry's women's empowerment event.

Governance Advisor

USAID/Afghanistan · Kabul, Afghanistan · Sep 2013 – Nov 2014
  • Designed and procured a $38M Women in Government task order within the $416M Promote program — the Agency's largest gender investment to date.
  • Managed $75M+ of high-visibility governance programming, including Government-to-Government agreements with the Afghan Civil Service Commission.
  • Formal group citation for "superb teamwork and professional expertise."

Governance Officer

USAID/Sri Lanka · Colombo, Sri Lanka · Jun 2011 – Jun 2013
  • Democracy, governance, and post-conflict stabilization programming with Embassy and interagency partners, supporting civil society capacity and inclusive political processes.
  • Group Meritorious Honor Award for governance programming and mobilizing additional resources for election-related initiatives.

Consultant

The World Bank · Aug 2009 – May 2010
  • Research and operations support on education and science, technology and innovation in Latin America; drafted project documents covering strategic direction, planning, and implementation arrangements.

Skills

Areas of depth

Program & portfolio leadership

Program management·Portfolio management·Multi-country portfolio oversight·Program design·Strategic and operational planning·Annual planning and reporting cycles·Portfolio restructuring and redesign·Program scaling·Technical assistance

Financial & contract stewardship

Financial management·Budget formulation, analysis and defense·Grant management and grantmaking·Grant and award design·Contract management·Procurement and solicitation design·Federal Acquisition Regulation compliance·2 CFR 200·Fiduciary oversight·Due diligence and risk assessment·Government-to-government agreements

Crisis, humanitarian & stabilization

Humanitarian response leadership·Crisis and emergency operations·Post-conflict stabilization·Conflict mitigation and conflict-sensitive programming·Forced displacement·IDP, returnee and evacuee programming·Repatriation and reintegration·Disaster risk reduction·Protection·SPHERE / Core Humanitarian Standard

Governance, democracy & rights

Democratic governance programming·Anti-corruption and public integrity·Electoral and institutional reform·Rule of law and civil society strengthening·Human rights programming·Gender and inclusive development·Civic engagement

Stakeholder engagement & representation

Interagency coordination·Civil-military coordination·Government and ministerial liaison·Donor coordination·Congressional staff briefings·Preparation of Congressional testimony for principals·Diplomatic engagement·Coalition and partnership building·Facilitation of high-stakes convenings·Negotiation

Systems, process & organizational design

Organizational restructuring and office mergers·Process design and improvement·Workflow and systems building·Change management·Knowledge management·SOPs, templates and documentation·Operating in ambiguity and under constraint

Monitoring, evaluation & learning

MEL framework design·Third-party monitoring design and oversight·Performance management·KPI and indicator development·Evidence-based decision systems·Portfolio reviews·Commissioning and directing evaluations·Learning reports and after-action review

Team & people leadership

Team leadership·Supervision and performance management·Staff development and mentoring·Recruitment and hiring·Remote and geographically dispersed team management·Cross-functional and matrixed coordination

Communication & analysis

Executive briefing and decision memoranda·Strategic analysis and synthesis·Technical and analytical writing·Field reporting·Talking points and briefing materials·Public speaking·Ghostwriting in a principal's voice

Education & instruction

English language instruction·Adult and community education·Curriculum-connected programming·Training design and delivery·Community-based literacy and ESL services·Immigrant and refugee support·Migration policy and programming

Education & credentials

Credentials

Master of Military Studies

Marine Corps Command & Staff College

Master of International Affairs

Columbia University, School of International and Public Affairs

Bachelor of Arts, Government

College of William & Mary

Project Management Professional (PMP)®

Project Management Institute. Current through 2029.

FAC-COR Level II

Federal Acquisition Certification, Contracting Officer's Representative. Federal Acquisition Institute.

TESOL

Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. Trinity International University.

Languages

Spanish, full professional proficiency.