President-elect Joe Biden has nominated Ambassador Samantha Power to be the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the transition team announced on Wednesday morning.
Power is a crisis-tested public servant and diplomat and served in the Obama-Biden Administration Cabinet from 2013 to 2017 as the 28th U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations. While there, she rallied countries to combat the Ebola epidemic and ratify the Paris climate agreement.
“Samantha Power is a world-renowned voice of conscience and moral clarity — challenging and rallying the international community to stand up for the dignity and humanity of all people,” President-elect Joe Biden said in a statement. “I know firsthand the unparalleled knowledge and tireless commitment to principled American engagement she brings to the table, and her expertise and perspective will be essential as our country reasserts its role as a leader on the world stage.”
As USAID Administrator, Power will work to confront the COVID-19 pandemic as one of her main challenges, a key problem facing the American people as Biden gets set to be inaugurated.
Power served as National Security Council staff as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights from 2009 to 2013. She worked with the Obama-Biden national security team, advising them on key issues such as democracy promotion, UN reform, LGBTQ+ and women’s rights, atrocity prevention, and the fights against human trafficking and global corruption.
“Few Americans are better equipped to help lead that work than Ambassador Samantha Power,” Vice President-elect Kamala Harris said in a statement. “Clear-eyed, resolute, and guided by a true moral compass, Ambassador Power is a seasoned leader and innovative thinker. And she will not only help lift up the world’s most vulnerable and advance our nation’s interests around the world, she will be a powerful voice for the values and ideals we cherish as Americans.”
