State Deputy Secretary Lew Visits Agency
FrontLines - March 2009
Jacob Lew
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Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources Jacob Lew came to USAID headquarters Feb. 3, three days after he was sworn in to his new job, and told a senior staff meeting he would seek greater resources for USAID and U.S. foreign assistance in general.
“The challenges in my assignment are many [but Secretary Clinton and I] will do all we can to get the resources needed for USAID.”
Lew served as director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget under former President Bill Clinton from 1998 to 2001 and has been assigned by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to try to obtain the resources so that development and diplomacy can be seen as equals with defense in America’s foreign policy.
Regarding the Agency’s ongoing effort to double the Foreign Service by 2012—
the Development Leadership Initiative—Lew said: “If we don’t grow the number of Foreign Service and USAID direct hires, we can’t be in
all those places around the world.”
The current financial crisis was also on his mind and he called on employees—even if they do their jobs well—to do it more efficiently.
“We can’t do business as usual,” he said. “We want to roll up our sleeves and do the job we all do more effectively,” Lew said.
Over the past eight years, the Agency “added new models to its portfolio and now it is time to stand back and ask if they are the right tools to achieve our objectives,” he said.
Lew noted that his interest in assisting the needy dated back to when he was 16 in New York City and worked on the March on Hunger.
Before ending his visit, Lew also met with senior officials and staff at the Agency’s operations center and spoke with employees in the Asia and Middle East bureaus.
Since the initial meeting, Lew has become a frequent visitor to the Ronald Reagan Building, as he receives briefings from each of USAID’s bureaus on their programs, priorities, and budget issues.
★ – B.B.
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