The Rally to Restore Foreign Aid Now was held on Wednesday, February 5, from 11:30-12:30 PM at the Upper Senate Park (Constitution & Delaware Ave NE) and included speeches from members of Congress, bipartisan former government officials, and experts in the field. Members of the press were also in attendance to cover the event.
***This event was held by Friends of Foreign Assistance.
Mission
President Trump and Congress must act now to restore vital foreign aid programs, ensuring bipartisan support to keep America safe, strong and prosperous. The pause and possible termination of foreign aid activities is detrimental to the United States and our allies, and we urge the President and Congress to prevent further harm.
Rally Speakers
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Senator Tim Kaine (VA)
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Senator Chris Van Hollen (MD)
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Senator Chris Coons (DE)
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Representative Lois Frankel (FL-22)
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Representative Sara Jacobs (CA-51)
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Representative Dina Titus (NV-1)
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Representative Greg Stanton (AZ)
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Representative Jason Crow (CO-6)
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Atul Gawande, Former Head of Global Health for USAID
Atul Gawande was Assistant Administrator for Global Health at USAID from January 2022 to January 2025. He is a renowned surgeon, author, and public health leader. He was previously a practicing general and endocrine surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and a professor at Harvard Medical School and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He co-founded and chaired Ariadne Labs, a joint center for health systems innovation, and Lifebox, a nonprofit organization making surgery safer globally. From 2018-2020, he was CEO of Haven, the Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, and JPMorgan Chase healthcare venture.
In addition, Atul was a longtime staff writer for The New Yorker magazine and has written four New York Times best-selling books: Complications, Better, The Checklist Manifesto, and Being Mortal.
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Bama Athreya
Bama Athreya served as the Deputy Assistant Administrator for the Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Hub and the Inclusive Development Hub in USAID’s Bureau for Inclusive Growth, Partnerships, and Innovation. From 2013 through 2019, she served as USAID’s Senior Specialist for Labor where she developed new programming to address labor rights, counter human trafficking, and promote women’s economic inclusion and was part of a working group to advance USAID’s approach to gender and social inclusion. She has developed and led multi-stakeholder initiatives with global corporations, and has worked and written extensively on labor and gender in U.S. trade policy.
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Jeremy Konyndyk
Jeremy Konyndyk is president of Refugees International. A committed humanitarian advocate and seasoned emergency operator, he has served in senior appointments in two U.S. administrations and in a range of U.S. and overseas NGO leadership positions. From 2013–2017, Jeremy served in the Obama administration as the director of USAID’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA), where he led the U.S. government’s response to international disasters.
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Chris Milligan
Chris Milligan served as the Counselor to the United States Agency for International Development (the most senior career position) under the first Trump Administration. A former member of the Senior Foreign Service, served as the Senior Development Advisor for the first Quadrennial Diplomatic and Development Review (QDDR), and the Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator in USAID’s Bureau of Policy, Planning, and Learning.
Mr. Milligan also served as the Regional Director for the Near East in the Office of the Director of U.S. Foreign Assistance (F) in the State Department overseeing $7 billion in politically-sensitive assistance. Mr. Milligan has a Bachelor’s degree from Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service, a Master’s degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, and is a distinguished graduate of the National War College.
Event Organizers
This rally was organized by Friends of Foreign Aid, a grassroots effort composed of retired Senior Foreign Service members, USAID program implementer’s staff, nonprofit organizations, and other senior leaders in foreign assistance. This group came together in response to the administration’s executive order halting USAID projects and the recent events involving the dissolution of USAID.
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LeAnna Marr
LeAnna Marr is a retired USAID Deputy Assistant Administrator and former US Government Senior Coordinator for International Basic Education. As a USAID Foreign Service Officer since 2004, she served as Education Office Director and Program Officer in Guinea, South Sudan, Sudan (Khartoum) and Macedonia, and was the Program Officer and Acting Mission Director of USAID/Morocco. From 2007 to 2010, LeAnna served as USAID’s Senior Education Advisor in the Office of Afghanistan and Pakistan Affairs.
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Alicia Dinerstein
Alicia Dinerstein retired from USAID's Senior Foreign Service in 2021 after 26+ years of service. She served as a technical officer overseas in Benin, Nepal, Mozambique, Bolivia and Nicaragua and as Deputy Mission Director in South Sudan and Ethiopia. In Washington, she served as the Director of the Office of Strategic and Program Planning and as the Agency's first Sr. Advisor on Deputy Mission Director Leadership Development.
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MaryBeth Hastings
MaryBeth Hastings has spent her career promoting human rights, democracy, health, and gender equality within US foreign assistance. She currently serves as a senior leader at a small woman-owned business that supports the implementation of foreign assistance programs globally. Ms. Hastings specializes in ensuring that US-funded programs advance gender equality, as required by US law. She has been furloughed as a direct result of the suspension of USAID funding.
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Isabel Rogers
Isabel Rogers is an international development professional, specializing in USAID-funded democracy, rights, and governance projects. Ms. Rogers currently works for a major implementor of USAID programs, and represents young professionals in the foreign assistance industry who have been affected by the mass furloughs and layoffs due to the freeze and possible termination of USAID-funded projects. Isabel will be speaking and introducing congressional members and other senior experts in foreign affairs, at the rally at the Capitol on Wednesday, February 5th.