Obama names new administrator for USAID…finally

Big news came last week when the Obama administration finally named a new administrator for USAID – Raj Shah. Shah formerly worked at US Department for Agriculture as well as the Gates Foundation, helping them develop new initiatives such as GAVI.

He’s got an impressive resume, with a strong history developing innovative global health programs and working with many partners. An appointment long over-due, Shah will face an uphill climb, with an agency that has seen its mission be questioned and its morale decline. The Obama administration has been working behind the scenes for months now on re-orienting their foreign aid and global health strategy, and hopefully Shah’s nomination will now get the ball rolling. We’re curious as to what the plan really is.

The buzz on the nomination of Shah has largely been positive, and there are hopes that this will be an inspired choice. However, he’s not as well known as some names that had been discussed for the job, and there are serious questions that a 36 year old doctor can possess the gravitas to really elevate foreign aid as a key priority in DC. Innovative ideas matter in DC, but so do the backgrounds of the people proposing them. We certainly wish Shah the best on this job, because the position has the potential to shape the lives of literally billions of people across our planet.