Comments on: We Need a USAID Administrator Now! Who Should it Be?

By: Al Lackey

Al Lackey — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 00:13:29 +0000

I would like to see David Korten on the list.
His bio etc is available at davidkorten.org.

By: USAID Poll: Voter comments show deep interest, diverse views « Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network • Blog

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 10:25:33 +0000

[...] poll has drawn thousands of votes from around the world. More importantly, those voters have made their opinions known about who they voted for and why, leaving us with a rich collection of comments that show how [...]

By: Maria N. Mullei

Maria N. Mullei — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 10:47:14 +0000

I vote for Emmy Simmons who has the USAID experience and knowledge of what needs to be done to revitalize the agency. USAID needs an individual who appreciates the cultural, social and political envinroments of developing world and knows the changes which have occurred over the years in the developing world and new challenges he/she has to face. It’s my conviction that new comers are not properly prepared for this work and they take too long to learn. The history of USAID shows beyond doubts that development needs are responded through leaders who turn intuitions and visions into planning and action and lead the people to follow in the process. Hence the need for an Administrator with practical experience in development assistance and a people person.

By: Herb Miller

Herb Miller — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 01:33:39 +0000

Although I think it unlikely that he would take the job, my vote would be for former senator Chuck Hagel. With all of the present debate about which direction USAID should be going and just exactly where it should be within the administrative hierarchy, the Agency needs someone with the gravitas of Hagel to deal with the Congress and to deal with other departmental political appointees – all of whom want a part of the pie. I was quite impressed with Hagel’s column in the Washington Post of September 3rd. Without explicitly stating such, I believe he has demonstrated insights on the foreign policy implications of a strong USAID and the role it must play in engageing the developing world – from whence our present problems spring. Intimate knowledge of the theories and practice of development work is of secondary importance. There will be numerous Deputies, Assistant Adminstrators, Deputy Assistant Adminstrators. Office Directors, Mission Directors, etc., who will have countless years of experience to advise and counsel him on the nuts and bolts. In fact, a vast knowledge and experience in development work may even be detrimental to the task ahead for a new Administrator which might bring the wrong focus to the necessary political work ahead. In the immediate future, the new AID Administrator must focus his energies and talents on ensuring AID’s strong presence and independence within the bureaucratic hierarchy. This will require a strong personality to interface with Congress, State and the White House on non-development work grounds. I am still haunted by memories of the fate of USIA. The Agency needs someone to protect it from a similar fate. And United States’ foreign policy desperately needs a strong political direction from and for AID.

By: Bob Lester

Bob Lester — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 12:35:54 +0000

This is a critical time for USAID as an organization and development assistance as a significant sector for the USG to invest scarce resources. The key issues faced by USAID at this time to me are less developmental in nature than they are political: rewrite of the Foreign Assistance Act, relationships with other agencies particularly State and DOD, internal organization and management. I voted for Colin Powell as someone who knows how State and DOD work and can deal with them, has shown the leadership that USAID desperately needs, boosted morale at State and improved its management capabilities. If a rewrite of the FAA is going to shape the organizational structure of how the USG provides development assistance and what agency is to be the primary actor in making development policy, then it seems to me that Colin Powell would be the best person to influence the debate in a way that best fosters development interests.

By: Audrey Quaye

Audrey Quaye — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 21:22:19 +0000

Thanks for setting up the MFAN organisation, website and poll. I am a former Rotary International Foundation Scholar that feels a tremendous need to give back for the gifts that I have received. I am new to the development field so my knowledge of experts in the development field is somewhat limited so I will not comment on my choice in the poll. Still I would like to express my opinion on the subject of development in general and the type of USAID leader that would make a difference.

After several years and the billions of dollars that the US has spent on poverty eradication and development issues with barely a dent in poverty, I think there is a need for a fresh approach to development. I think USAID needs a leader that understands the need to address the fundamental problems that face people in the developing world. There is an urgent need to address basics such as water, sanitation and energy needs and also climate change issues. The next leader also needs to emphasize education, health care, nutrition and wellness, sustainable agriculture and technology.

Above all, the approach to development needs to be much more of a multi-disciplinary, integrated, consultative, and bottom-up approach that takes the native wisdom, knowledge and experience of indigenous populations into account in crafting solutions to development challenges. Local ingenuity and resourcefulness needs to be emphasized over imported solutions.

In addition, there should be collaboration between development experts in various fields. The current “silo approach” where health experts take care of health issues, agriculture experts focus on agriculture issues, and water experts focus on solving water supply issues needs to end. Each development project should have a multi-disciplinary team that works in a collaborative fashion so that they can learn from each other and take into consideration the impact of their decisions on other sectors.

My organisation, African Integrated Development & Research Group, is still in the development phase of setting up our nonprofit corporation. Our goal is to harness the tremendous talent of educated Africans in the Diaspora; educate them about development issues; and provide opportunities for them to participate in Africa’s development. We look forward to being a part of the solution and hope that a dynamic leader is appointed to lead USAID.

I will post the URL for my organisation’s website as soon as we unveil the website later this month.

Thanks again,

Audrey Quaye
Executive Director
African Integrated Development & Research Group

By: bob randolph

bob randolph — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 19:37:49 +0000

Dear Blog,

Then, why not make the poll truly democratic and open the floor for nominations in order to surface candidates who may truly have interesting ideas, and the requisite energy, for revitalizing, as well as modernizing, foreign assistance. We will no doubt have the time given the glacial pace of the nominations process.

By: John Harbeson

John Harbeson — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 18:43:42 +0000

There are some good candidates on the list and a number of people I can think of ought to be on the list, e.g. Paul Farmer as someone suggested. I can think of several colleagues in academia who meet all the criteria who ought to be on the list. Tough to choose from those on the list, when good friends are there–Gayle, Emmy, and Carol especially. But on balance I vote for Carol as best meeting all the criteria, Emmy as a close second. Nancy Birdsall looks good, and I’d be happy with her I think, but somehow she seems like a better candidate for the World Bank. Gayle has the grassroots dirt under the fingers experience that it is so important, as does Emmy. I respect Colin Powell but don’t see that he has any business being on this particular list.

By: UPDATE: USAID Administrator Poll Leaders, New Ideas « Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network • Blog

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 14:48:36 +0000

[...] course, even with 20 choices in our poll, we are bound to leave somebody out. In the comments section for our original blog post on the poll, we’ve received some interesting ideas about who else should be considered for the USAID [...]

By: Jill Buckley

Jill Buckley — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 14:43:23 +0000

I voted for Carol Lancaster. She has the knowledge, experience, and commitment to development needed by the USAID Administrator. She has traveled the developing world learning and “doing” for years. She is a person of vision and compassion and has management experience. I have worked with her and known her as a friend and colleague. This is a very tough job and Carol could do it extraordinarily well.