Efforts to Enhance Resilience in the Horn of Africa

Assistant Administrator Nancy Lindborg brings a wealth of development and humanitarian aid insight to the Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance (DCHA). Nancy has spent the last 14 years as president of Mercy Corps, a non-governmental organization (NGO) that helps people in the world’s toughest places turn the crises of natural disaster, poverty, and conflict into opportunities for progress. Under her guidance and strategic vision, Mercy Corps has grown into a respected international relief and development organization and is known for addressing challenges with responsive, innovative programming. Nancy also served as co-president on the Board of Directors for the U.S. Global Leadership Campaign. She was co-chair of the National Committee on North Korea where she led efforts to advance, promote, and facilitate engagement between citizens of the United States and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and was a member of the USAID Advisory Committee on Voluntary Foreign Aid.

From 2000 to 2005, she was chair of the Sphere Management Committee, an international initiative to improve the effectiveness and accountability of NGOs. From 1998 to 2002, Lindborg was the co-chair of the InterAction Disaster Response Committee—InterAction is the largest alliance of U.S.-based international NGOs focused on the world's poor and most vulnerable people. Before joining Mercy Corps in 1996, she managed economic development programs as a regional director in post-Soviet Central Asia and worked in the private sector as a public policy consultant in Chicago and San Francisco. She holds a B.A and M.A. in English Literature from Stanford University and an M.A. in Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Gregory C. Gottlieb was named Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator for the USAID Bureau for Food Security in November 2010, where he oversees development activities associated with Feed the Future, the U.S. Government’s global hunger and food security initiative. He most recently served as the Mission Director in Namibia since August 2008. Prior to his assignment to Namibia, he served as Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator of USAID's Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance. He has more than 25 years of experience with the U.S. government, NGOs, and the UN, primarily in the field of humanitarian relief. He began his USAID career in 1988 as the Disaster Response Coordinator in Malawi, subsequently serving in Sudan, Ethiopia and Kenya. In 1999 he established the first regional USAID Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance in Africa while serving as the Senior Regional Advisor in Kenya. Much of his work has focused on improving disaster assistance as well as humanitarian and transition programs in order to ensure economic recovery. He has also served as a protection officer for UNHCR and as Chief of Party of the USAID-funded Famine Early Warning System. He obtained his Bachelors' Degree from Humboldt State University in California, a Juris Doctor from Loyola Law School, and a Master's Degree from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. He is married and has two children.

Susan Fine is the Director of the Office of East African Affairs in USAID’s Africa Bureau where she oversees programs in the Horn of Africa and the Great Lakes countries. A Senior Foreign Service officer, she has extensive experience planning and managing international development programs. She was most recently the Deputy Mission Director responsible for southern Sudan during southern Sudan’s historic self-determination referendum and subsequent transition to independence. Prior to that, she guided program policy in USAID’s Office of the Chief Operating Officer and served as Director of Strategic Planning and Operations in the Bureau for Asia and the Middle East. She began her USAID career in Swaziland and subsequently served in Uganda, South Africa and Senegal. She holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Colby College and a master’s degree in public policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard.

Jeff Hill has many years of experience in African agricultural development and currently serves in USAID's recently created Bureau for Food Security (BFS). He started his career as a Peace Corps volunteer in Sierra Leone and later served as Associate Peace Corps Director in that country. Prior to USAID, he worked for the World Bank for 10 years in Tanzania and Nigeria. At USAID he has been a team leader for a number of agriculture and food security initiatives for the Africa Bureau and now for BFS. He presently works on Feed the Future initiatives, and prior to that worked on many programs that promoted agricultural growth and built on African-led partnerships to cut hunger and poverty. He has designed, led, and managed a variety of teams on research, private sector development, trade, capacity building and policy. He currently chairs the Donor Development Partners CAADP group and process -- a group of 32 donors worldwide dedicated to African agricultural development. He holds a BS from Weber State University in Utah in public administration and an MS from UC Davis in agricultural economics and agronomy.