USAID Re-Establishes Advisory Committee on Voluntary Foreign Aid with Leading Experts

This press release was originally published on the USAID website here. 

Today, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) re-established its external advisory committee, the Advisory Committee on Voluntary Foreign Aid (ACVFA). The Committee’s new membership is comprised of internationally recognized leaders representing a broad range of sectors who will support the Agency’s mission and goals by advising on key development challenges and priorities. The Committee will be chaired by Nisha Biswal, Senior Vice President for International Strategy and Global Initiatives at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

ACVFA, which was first established in the aftermath of World War II, has existed longer than USAID itself and has played an important role in shaping the United States’ approach to international development. Over many decades, the committee has evolved to play a key role in fostering cooperation between the U.S. government and a range of nongovernmental organizations, and it has provided a platform for civil society to engage with USAID and help inform its approach to U.S. foreign assistance.

The distinguished membership of the re-established ACVFA is among the most diverse in the committee’s history, with representation from a wide range of professional backgrounds, expertise, and identities. The demonstrated leadership of the committee’s members will support USAID’s vision for inclusive and local development, as well as responding to critical development challenges including the global food crisis, climate change, democratic backsliding and corruption.

ACVFA’s membership includes leading experts representing nongovernmental organizations, private sector, academia, civil society, and more. The newly appointed Committee members are:

• Adriana Beltrán, Executive Director, Seattle International Foundation
• Asma Lateef, Policy and Advocacy Lead for Agriculture, SDG2 Advocacy Hub
• C.D. Glin, Global Head of Philanthropy, PepsiCo Inc. and Vice President, PepsiCo Foundation
• Dan Twining, President, International Republican Institute
• Derek Mitchell, President, National Democratic Institute
• Eileen Donahoe, Executive Director, Global Digital Policy Incubator, Stanford University
• Eka Tkeshelashvili, Director, Support to Anti-Corruption Champion Institutions (SACCI), MSI a Tetra Tech Company
• Enock Chikava, Interim Director, Agricultural Development, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
• Hibak Kalfan, Executive Director, NEAR Network
• Levon Esters, Professor and Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and Faculty Affairs, Purdue Polytechnic Institute
• Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, President, Association for Indigenous Women and Peoples of Chad (AFPAT)
• Jeremy Weinstein, Professor of Political Science, Fisher Family Director of Stanford Global Studies, Stanford University
• Johan Swinnen, Global Director of Systems Transformation at CGIAR, and Director General of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
• Julie Dorf, Co-Chair, Council for Global Equality
• Katherine Marshall, Professor of the Practice of Development, Conflict, and Religion in the Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University
• Kennedy Odede, CEO, Shining Hope for Communities
• Kristin Lord, President and CEO, IREX
• Liz Schrayer, President and CEO, US Global Leadership Coalition
• Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, Global Leader of Climate and Energy, World Wildlife Fund
• Nadia Murad, Founder and Chairwoman, Nadia’s Initiative
• Nisha Biswal, Senior Vice President, International Strategy and Global Initiatives, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
• Olga Wall, CEO, Avallon Consulting LLC
• Paul Weisenfield, Executive Vice President for International Development, RTI International
• Rachel Kyte, Dean, Fletcher School at Tufts University
• Saad Mohseni, Chairman and CEO, MOBY Group
• Sanjay Pradhan, CEO, Open Government Partnership
• Sara Menker, Founder and CEO, Gro Intelligence
• Teresa Barger, Co-Founder and CEO, Cartica