The US Agency For International Development (USAID) has named the Indian-American Veena Reddy as its new mission director. She is the first Indian-American to be nominated for this position.
"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," USAID shared a tweet on 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 the US, but across the world!" Indian Ambassador to the United States Taranjit Singh Sandhu tweeted.
Before being sworn in the current position, Veena Reddy, a Foreign Service Officer with the US Agency For International Development is USAID/Cambodia’s Mission Director.
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She took charge in Cambodia in 2017 and currently runs USAID programs in sectors like food security, environment, health, education, child protection, democracy and governance with a staff of 75.
Previously she had also served as Deputy Mission Director in Haiti, where she was in charge of post-earthquake reconstruction efforts, elections support, economic growth, food security interventions, hurricane response and new development strategy.
Earlier she had also served as an Assistant General Counsel in Washington, covering legal matters for USAID’s programs in Asia, Middle East and Afghanistan and Pakistan. She was also part of USAID’s missions in Pakistan, Central America and Central Asian Republics.
Before starting work for government agencies, Veena was a corporate attorney at the Rogers & Wells in New York and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer and Feld in London and Los Angeles.
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She is an active member of the New York and California bars and holds a Juris Doctorate (JD) from Columbia University School of Law.