Gayle Smith

Smith is from Bexley, Ohio, a suburb of Columbus, Ohio.{{cite news|last1=Unger|first1=Mike|title=Everywhere and Anywhere|url=https://www.colorado.edu/coloradan/2016/09/01/everywhere-and-anywhere|work=Alumni Association|date=1 September 2016|language=en}}

In 1974, Smith graduated from Bexley High School.{{cite news|last1=Glasgow|first1=Pamela|title=Five Named as Bexley High School Distinguished Alumni|url=https://filecabinet9.eschoolview.com/55D9A484-4FC7-4C3E-9585-CD8932A78548/2019DistinguishedAlumniPressRelease.pdf|work=Bexley Education Foundation|date=14 October 2019}} In 1978, she received a B.A. from the University of Colorado Boulder in English.

File:Coordinator Smith Delivers Remarks at the Daily Press Briefing (51239279379).jpg in 2021]]

After college, Smith worked as a journalist for over 20 years, where she was based in Africa and wrote for publications like BBC News and the Financial Times.{{cite news|title=Gayle Smith, Co-Chair of the Enough Project|url=https://enoughproject.org/files/Gayle_Smith.pdf|work=Enough Project}}

From 1994 to 1998, Smith served as Senior Advisor to the Administrator and Chief of Staff for U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

From 1998 to 2001, she was Special Assistant to President Bill Clinton and Senior Director for African Affairs at the U.S. National Security Council.{{cite web|title=Gayle Smith|url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/author/gayle-smith|website=Obama Whitehouse.gov|language=en|date=17 November 2011}}

In 2001, Smith became a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress.{{cite news|title=Gayle Smith|url=https://www.americanprogress.org/person/smith-gayle/|work=Center for American Progress}} As part of this position, she worked on the Sustainable Security Project and co-founded the Enough Project, working as Co-Chair, as well as the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network. The ENOUGH Project was created to end genocide and crimes against humanity.

From 2005 to 2007, Smith was the Chairman of the Working Group Chair on Global Poverty for the Clinton Global Initiative.

In 2009, Smith joined the U.S. National Security Council, where she was Special Assistant to President Obama and Senior Director for Development and Democracy, where her focus was on global development and humanitarian assistance.

On April 30, 2015, President Obama announced his nomination of Smith to be the new administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID),{{cite news|last1=Smith|first1=Gayle E.|title=Statement for the Record of Gayle E. Smith, Nominee for Administrator, before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee|url=https://2012-2017.usaid.gov/news-information/congressional-testimony/jun-17-2015-statement-record-gayle-smith-nominee-administrator|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220116093051/https://2012-2017.usaid.gov/news-information/congressional-testimony/jun-17-2015-statement-record-gayle-smith-nominee-administrator|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 16, 2022|work=U.S. Agency for International Development|date=17 June 2015|language=en}} to succeed Dr. Rajiv Shah, who resigned the post in February 2015.{{cite news|last1=Cooper|first1=Helene|title=Obama Nominates Gayle Smith to Lead U.S.A.I.D.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/01/world/obama-to-nominate-gayle-smith-to-lead-usaid.html|work=The New York Times|date=30 April 2015}} Despite some opposition to her appointment,{{cite news|last1=Winsor|first1=Morgan|title=Amid Ethiopia Elections 2015, Obama's USAID Nominee Gayle Smith Slammed For Supporting Africa's Repressive Regimes|url=https://www.ibtimes.com/amid-ethiopia-elections-2015-obamas-usaid-nominee-gayle-smith-slammed-supporting-1927748|work=International Business Times|date=20 May 2015}} and a delayed Senate confirmation,{{cite news|last1=Hulse|first1=Carl|title=Partisan Tussle Keeps Top U.S. Aid Job Vacant|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/11/world/partisan-tussle-keeps-top-us-aid-job-vacant.html|work=The New York Times|date=11 September 2015}}{{cite news|last1=de Waal|first1=Alex|title=Open Letter to Gayle Smith, Nominee for USAID Administrator|url=https://bostonreview.net/world/alex-de-waal-open-letter-gayle-smith-usaid|work=Boston Review|date=15 June 2015|language=en}} Smith was confirmed on November 30, 2015.{{cite news|last1=Nixon|first1=Ron|title=Senate Confirms Gayle E. Smith as Head of U.S.A.I.D.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/01/us/politics/senate-confirms-gayle-e-smith-as-head-of-usaid.html|work=The New York Times|date=1 December 2015}}{{cite news|last1=Kerry|first1=John|title=U.S. Senate's Confirmation of Gayle Smith as Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development|url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/secretary/remarks/2015/11/250163.htm|work=U.S. Department of State|date=30 November 2015}}

As Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Smith's focus was on development and international affairs.

Smith has worked as a consultant to various non-governmental agencies like the Cooperation Canada (formerly the Canadian Council for International Cooperation), Dutch Interchurch Aid, Norwegian Church Relief, UNICEF, the World Bank, among others.

On March 28, 2017, Smith joined the Bono's ONE Campaign, succeeding Michael J. Elliott.

On March 5, 2021, it was announced that Smith would be the coordinator of the global COVID response and health security at the U.S. Department of State, where she focused on COVID financing, capacity, and global efforts to distribute COVID vaccines equitably.{{cite news|last1=Finegan|first1=Conor|title=Blinken taps COVID coordinator as US prepares to pivot to sharing vaccines overseas|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/blinken-taps-covid-coordinator-us-prepares-pivot-sharing/story?id=76884523|work=ABC News|date=6 April 2021|language=en}} As part of this program, Smith worked on the 2021 COVAX Investment Opportunity, an approach to funding the World Health Organization's COVAX Facility, which provides vaccinations to low- and middle-income countries.{{cite news|last1=Jakes|first1=Lara|title=Gayle Smith, who helped lead the U.S. response to Ebola, will run Biden's vaccine diplomacy|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/05/us/politics/gayle-smith-covid-vaccine.html|work=The New York Times|date=5 April 2021}} She returned to ONE on December 6, 2021.{{cite news|title=ONE statement on Gayle Smith's return as CEO|url=https://www.one.org/us/press/one-statement-on-gayle-smith-return-as-ceo//|work=The ONE Campaign}}

• Acumen Fund, Acumen Fund Advisory Council{{cite news|title=Five Year Report 2001-2006|url=https://acumen.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Acumen-Fund-Five-Year-Report_hi-res.pdf|work=Acumen Fund|date=March 2013}}
• Africa-America Institute, Board Member{{cite news|title=Leadership|url=https://www.aaionline.org/who-we-are/board-of-trustees/|work=The Africa-America Institute}}
• Center for a New American Security, Advisory Board Member
• ASSET Campaign, Founding Board Member{{cite news|title=Who We Are: Founding Board|url=https://www.assetcampaign.org/team-partners|work=Asset Campaign}}
• Council on Foreign Relations, Board Member
• DATA/ONE Campaign, Advisory Board Member
• Global Fairness Initiative, Advisory Board Member
• National Security Network, Board Member
• Oxfam America, Board Member{{cite journal|title=Creating Peace|journal=OXFAMExchange|date=Winter 2007|publisher=Oxfam America}}
• USA for Africa, Board Member

• 1989: World Affairs Council, World Journalism Award
• 1991: World Hunger Year Award
• 1999: U.S. National Security Council, Samuel Nelson Drew Award for Distinguished Contribution in Pursuit of Global Peace

• {{cite news|last1=Sinai|first1=Nick|last2=Smith|first2=Gayle|title=The United States Releases its Second Open Government National Action Plan|url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2013/12/06/united-states-releases-its-second-open-government-national-action-plan|work=Whitehouse.gov|date=6 December 2013|language=en}}
• {{cite news|last1=Smith|first1=Gayle|title=Hailing the Contributions of the Private and Non-Profit Sectors to the Ebola Fight|url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2014/11/06/hailing-contributions-private-and-non-profit-sectors-ebola-fight|work=Whitehouse.gov|date=6 November 2014|language=en}}
• {{cite news|last1=Smith|first1=Gayle E.|title=This year, The Day of the Girl is marked by a state of emergency|url=https://www.cnn.com/2017/10/11/opinions/day-of-the-girl-one-campaign-opinion-smith/index.html|work=CNN|date=11 October 2017|language=en}}
• {{cite news|last1=Smith|first1=Gayle E.|title=Lessons from Mandela: Making humility count again|url=https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/oped/comment/Lessons-from-Mandela-Making-humility-count-again/434750-4722372-y72eurz/index.html|work=The East African|date=21 August 2018|language=en}}
• {{cite news|last1=Smith|first1=Gayle E.|title=Cyclone-lashed southern Africa needs more support for recovery|url=https://www.axios.com/cyclone-lashed-southern-africa-needs-more-support-for-recovery-2ae21b75-5e00-4b99-8e60-e82baa6c168a.html|work=Axios|date=28 March 2019|language=en}}
• {{cite magazine|last1=Smith|first1=Gayle E.|title=The U.S. Helped Defeat Ebola in 2014. Now, We're Watching a Crisis Become a Catastrophe|url=https://time.com/5627405/ebola-congo-outbreak-goma-rwanda-border/|magazine=Time|date=16 July 2019}}
• {{cite news|last1=Finucane|first1=Anne|last2=Smith|first2=Gayle E.|title=Commentary: Don't let the COVID crisis reverse our progress in fighting AIDS|url=https://fortune.com/2020/12/01/world-aids-day-hiv-progress-covid-19/|work=Fortune|date=1 December 2020|language=en}}
• {{cite journal|last1=Smith|first1=Gayle|title=To End a Global Pandemic, We Need Global Solutions: In My View|journal=Development Co-operation Report 2020: Learning from Crises, Building Resilience|series=Development Co-operation Report |date=22 December 2020|pages=47–49|doi=10.1787/20747721|publisher=OECD Publishing|location=Paris|isbn=978-92-64-48131-2|doi-access=}}
• {{cite news|last1=Smith|first1=Gayle E.|title=Development Depends on More Than Aid|url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2021-03-01/development-depends-more-aid|work=Foreign Affairs|date=4 March 2021}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{Twitter}}
• {{C-SPAN|82600}}
• [https://catalog.archives.gov/id/95119570 Gayle Smith's Subject Files, 2009 - 2017] at the U.S. National Archives

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Category:1956 births

Category:Administrators of the United States Agency for International Development

Category:Bexley High School alumni

Category:Living people

Category:Obama administration personnel

Category:United States National Security Council staffers

Category:University of Colorado Boulder alumni