‘Representing the best of both countries, Reddy aims to bolster US-India’s development partnership’
Veena Reddy, a Foreign Service officer with the US Agency for International Development (USAID), has become first Indian-American to lead USAID-India as its Mission Director.
“Today, Veena Reddy was sworn-in as our new Mission Director. She will be the first Indian-American to lead USAID-India, representing the best of both countries, and aims to bolster US-India’s development partnership leveraging her unique experiences and leadership,” tweeted USAID-India Monday.
“Best wishes, Veena @USAID_India. India-USAID partnership has the potential to make a difference to the lives of people not only in India and US, but across the world!” tweeted India’s Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu.
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USAID India describes India as a partner in advancing the agency’s “shared objectives to support clean energy, environment, climate challenges, health, open and inclusive digital ecosystems, inclusive economic growth, and the Covid-19 response in India and across South and Central Asia and the Indo-Pacific region.”
“India is a leading global power and a key US partner in the Indo-Pacific and the world. The US supports India’s rise as a leader and its development assistance to other countries, including Afghanistan, where we share economic and humanitarian interests,” it says.
“USAID also leverages India’s growing human and financial resources through partnerships, with both public and private actors, that catalyze innovation and entrepreneurship to solve critical local and global development challenges,” the agency says.
Prior to her India assignment, Reddy was USAID-Cambodia’s Mission Director since August 2017 overseeing a staff of 75 as well as USAID programs in the food security, environment, health, education, child protection, and democracy and governance sectors.
She has served as Deputy Mission Director in Haiti, where she oversaw post‐earthquake reconstruction efforts, elections support, economic growth, food security interventions, hurricane response, and the development of a new strategy.
Read: Veena Reddy Sworn In As USAID’s First Indian-American Mission Director (July 27, 2021)
Earlier, she served in Washington as an Assistant General Counsel, covering legal matters for USAID’s programs in Asia, Middle East, and Afghanistan and Pakistan. She has also served in USAID missions in Pakistan, the Central Asian Republics and Central America.
Prior to her government service, Reddy was a corporate attorney at Rogers & Wells in New York and at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld in London and Los Angeles.
Reddy holds a JD from Columbia University School of Law and an MA and BA from the University of Chicago. She is a member of the New York and California bars.