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Assistant Administrators:- Africa
Earl Gast
- Asia
Margot Ellis (Acting)
- Latin America and the Caribbean
Debbie Kennedy-Iraheta (Acting)
- Europe & Eurasia
Ken Yamashita (Acting)
- Middle East
George Laudato (Acting)
- Global Health
Gloria Steele (Acting)
- Economic Growth, Agriculture, & Trade
William Hammink (Acting)
- Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance
Dirk Dijkerman (Acting)
- Management
Drew Luten (Acting)
- Legislative & Public Affairs
Jonathan Addleton (Acting)
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Fulgham Is First African-American to Head USAID
FrontLines - April 2009
Alonzo Fulgham is flanked by USAID employees Kimberly Ball, left, and Alfreda Thomas during a Feb. 24 Blacks in Government event honoring Fulgham’s service to the Agency.
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Acting Administrator Alonzo Fulgham—the first African-American to occupy the top position in USAID history—was honored by the Blacks in Government (BIG) organization in February in a special event that coincided with Black History Month.
“I cannot think of an African-American in this organization who has had such a successful career,” Africare President and former USAID Mission Director Julius Coles said to more than 50 people attending the Feb. 24 celebration.
“This is the first time in the history of this organization since its inception going back 50 years that an African-American has been put in charge.”
Fulgham was also the first person to hold three senior USAID positions simultaneously:
acting administrator, chief operating officer, and executive secretary.
“We have to be among the most fortunate people in the American working world today,” Fulgham noted in his own remarks. “After all, our commitment
is to eradicate poverty and improve the quality of life for people everywhere.”
Fulgham also paid tribute
to those who had pioneered diversity at USAID, citing in particular the late John L. Withers who had “overcome both the poverty and widespread segregation of his time.”
Recently, Withers was honored
with the establishment of a USAID award in his name that recognizes both his commitment
to the work of USAID and his early courage as a military
officer in protecting Jewish Holocaust survivors who sought refuge in his military base during
the months after Germany’s surrender. Sheltering two young boys was against Army regulations and could have ruined his career. Withers later joined USAID as a Foreign Service Officer, serving as USAID mission director in both Kenya and India. His son now serves as the U.S. ambassador
in Albania.
“Alonzo has some great achievements but he’s not going to tell you that himself,” noted USAID Counselor Lisa Chiles in her remarks.
Fulgham joined the Agency in 1989, serving as private sector
advisor in Swaziland. Three years later, he was selected as an international development intern. He served in Jordan, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Serbia before returning to Washington where he assisted with the work of the congressional
Helping to Enhance
the Livelihood of People around the Globe (HELP) Commission.
Fulgham has also served as USAID director in Afghanistan and as special assistant
to Ambassador Wendy Chamberlin in the Asia and
the Near East Bureau. Prior to joining USAID, he was a Peace Corps volunteer in Haiti from 1984 to 1986.
Ambassador Harry K. Thomas Jr., director general of the Foreign Service, hailed Fulgham as “a leader, a manager,
a mentor, but most importantly
as a friend.”
“These are truly historic times,” BIG’s President Melvin Porter said at the start of the ceremony. He added that
there is “no better way to celebrate
Black History Month than by honoring our current administrator.”
★ —A.A.M.
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by the Bureau for Legislative and Public Affairs
U.S. Agency for International Development
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