USAID Director Honored with Order of José Matías Delgado

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2012-06-12
USAID Strategic Development Office: (503) 2501-3471
U.S. Embassy Public Affairs Section: (503) 2501-2471
www.usaid.gov/sv

From left to right: The Viceminister of Cooperation for Development, Jaime Miranda; the Minister of Foreign Relations, Hugo Martínez, and the Director of USAID, Carl Derrick, in Mr. Derrick's decoration ceremony. Photo by the U.S. Embassy Public Affairs Office.

SAN SALVADOR– The Director of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in El Salvador, Carl Derrick, was awarded the rank of “Grand Officer” of the Order of José Matías Delgado by the Minister of Foreign Relations of El Salvador, Hugo Martínez. The order, which was presented to Mr. Derrick for his contributions to the development of El Salvador, represents the greatest honor awarded by the Salvadoran Government. The ceremony was attended by representatives of the U.S. Embassy, the Government of El Salvador, the private sector, the diplomatic corps, and the Derrick Family.

This was the last official act that Mr. Derrick completed as Director of USAID in El Salvador. This week he will retire after 25 years of service to the agency, where he has held positions in Washington D.C., El Salvador, Egypt, Bolivia, and Ecuador. After this, he will return to Virginia, where he is a resident, with his wife Carmen Infante – of Salvadoran and Spanish descent – with whom he has three children.

Mr. Derrick first came to El Salvador for the period of 1987-1992, at which time he provided support for the country’s National Reconstruction Plan for recuperation after the end of its twelve-year civil war. He later returned to El Salvador to serve as Deputy Mission Director from August 2008-July 2010 before being promoted to Acting Mission Director and, since May of 2011, Mission Director.

As Mission Director, Mr. Derrick is the principal senior development advisor to the U.S Chargé d’Affaires and oversees overall program management for all USAID program areas. Mr. Derrick represents USAID and the U.S. Mission in policy dialogue in bilateral, multi-lateral and regional settings at the Representative, Minister and Presidential level. Alongside El Salvador's Vice-Minister of Environment, he is the U.S. Government Representative on the Board of Directors of the Fund for the Initiative for the Americas (FIAES). As Mission Director, he is responsible for the local implementation of emerging Presidential Initiatives, including Partnership for Growth, Feed the Future, Global Climate Change and the Central America Regional Security Initiative (CARSI).

“Thank you for giving me the opportunity to work with you in building the country that we all dream of – the country that José Matías Delgado imagined when he fought for liberty – a prosperous El Salvador, free of difficulties, in which we all work together so that it may stand out as the earth’s most precious diamond,” said Mr. Derrick, addressing the representatives of different sectors that attended the ceremony.

Mr. Derrick has a B.A. in Spanish and Multi-National Business from Florida State University, an MBA in Contract Management from Florida Institute of Technology, and an MS in National Resource Strategy from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. Prior to joining USAID, he had four years of experience in defense contracting, including Harris Corporation. He was Born in West Point, New York, and raised in Melbourne Village, Florida.