Sonali Korde sworn in as assistant to USAID Administrator

Indian American official Sonali Korde has been sworn in as assistant to USAID Administrator for the Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, the US government’s lead for international disaster assistance.

“I view Sonali, and I think this packed house speaks to this for so many here, but Sonali is really a gift to us all. And because we get to see a lot of her, in time, and a lot of her many qualities, which I will dwell on,” Administrator Samantha Power said during the swearing-in ceremony Monday.

On average, the bureau responds to 75 crises in more than 70 countries each year, providing food, water, shelter, health care, and other critical aid to people who need it most.

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It works to ensure that this assistance reaches people affected by natural disasters—including hurricanes, earthquakes, and volcanoes—as well as slow-onset crises, such as drought and conflict.

Korde’s parents, who migrated from India, gave her an incredible upbringing that endowed her with a deep appreciation for a world outside of their Cranford, New Jersey, home, Power said.

“They took frequent trips back to India where Sonali saw a tale of two countries, such incredible dynamism and burgeoning intellect, culture but also such extreme poverty that persists in many parts of the country — even with all of the success lifting so many hundreds of millions of people out of poverty — but seeing people with and people without, I think for Sonali just contributed to what her parents had instilled in her, which is a strong sense of justice and a desire to address inequity and unfairness,” she said.

After getting her master’s, Sonali spent a summer serving at a rural development center in northern India, alongside Kshama Metri, a community doctor and leader who would become a lifelong mentor, Power recalled.

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“Alongside Dr. Metri, Sonali worked with women entrepreneurs, helping them expand their access to credit, and training them in micro-enterprise. And in turn, the women taught Sonali how to plant rice, milk cows, raise baby chickens, and make a mean dahl,” she said.

Before being sworn in as assistant to the administrator of USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, Korde served as deputy assistant to the administrator of the Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance.

In that role, Korde served as deputy to the US Special Envoy for Middle East Humanitarian Issues charged with leading the country’s diplomacy efforts to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Korde previously served on the National Security Council staff as director for Global Health and Development. In this role, she supported all aspects of the US government’s global health portfolio and linkages to broader development, security and bilateral diplomacy and cooperation goals.

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From 2005 to 2013, Korde served as a senior technical advisor for the President’s Malaria Initiative in USAID’s Bureau for Global Health.

She was responsible for managing integrated malaria and public health programs in Africa and Asia, in coordination with multilateral and bilateral donor partners, the World Health Organization and other United Nations organizations, NGOs and government counterparts.

Korde has an MA in international relations from Yale University and a BS in economics from New York University.