ADMINISTRATOR POWER: Good morning, everyone. Thank you, Alex, for kicking us off, and thank you all for joining us today.
Thanks to Azerbaijan’s Ambassador to the United States, Ambassador Khazar Ibrahim, for being here with us today and for your words. I look forward to continuing our collaboration in pursuit of a more prosperous and freer Azerbaijan.
I’d also like to thank our previous Mission Director to Azerbaijan, Dr. Jay Singh. As Mission Director since 2018, Jay helped navigate the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Much of Jay’s work in Azerbaijan was aimed at attracting private sector investment and diversifying the economy, two areas that have yielded dividends over the years. Jay, we are thankful for your service, and we are pleased to have you here in Washington as our Director of the Center for Environment, Energy and Infrastructure.
Lastly, I’d like to welcome a few special people that are very close to Michael and that I just had the pleasure of meeting. Welcome to Michael’s wife of 29 years, Rosa, and their two wonderful children, Zoe and Ian. Both Zoe and Ian are channeling their creativity just up the road at Montgomery College in Maryland, where Ian is studying game design and Zoe is just beginning her studies but hopes to explore her love for animation. Welcome to you, and thank you all for joining us as we officially swear-in our newest Mission Director to Azerbaijan, Michael Nehrbass.
Michael was born in Chicago, and after a bit of moving around, he and his mother left city life behind and settled in Houston. Not Houston, Texas, population of 2.3 million! Houston, Missouri, population of 2,900, where Michael and his mom lived on a farm.
It was on that farm where Michael first discovered his love of animals. But despite his love for them, he wasn’t always the best caretaker. I’m told that when Michael’s mother went out one afternoon—against her explicit orders—Michael fed one of the pigs some leftover berries. Seems harmless, right? Except these were berries that were fermented to make wine, which means that the pig got a little intoxicated. Soon that tipsy pig wobbled into a pond, and Michael had to chase after it. It was at that moment that Michael’s mother returned, discovering Michael holding the pig’s head above water so that it wouldn’t sink. Well Michael, at least you didn’t break into those berries yourself.
When Michael got to high school he moved to Germany as an exchange student and then to Singapore with his father, where he graduated high school.
Michael then went to UC Berkeley to pursue his undergraduate degree, not in international relations or political science. Instead, he created his own major: a Bachelor of Arts in Folklore.
It was quite the creative way of turning his passion for fantasy novels, Star Wars, and superheroes into a degree.
Michael now holds two—more applicable—masters degrees. One in International Relations from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and the other in National Security Strategy from the National War College.
After college, Michael joined the Peace Corps in Honduras, where he quickly fell in love with his local mail carrier. Rosa’s aunt ran the local post office, and Rosa helped deliver the mail. Michael’s house was along her route, and as Rosa said, “Once we met, Michael was trying to get mail delivered everyday—even on Sundays.”
When Michael wasn’t waiting for the mail, he brought his animal husbandry skills to bear and taught local farmers how to take care of their livestock. Before it was cool, Michael took working from home to a whole new level and his goat, Spanky, lived in his house.
Once his time in the Peace Corps, and time with Spanky, came to a close, Michael decided to make development the centerpiece of his career. After a few years working on economic development in Latin America with a USAID-funded NGO, Michael officially joined USAID in 2001 as a Foreign Service Officer.
Much of his time with USAID has focused on building the capacity of other nation’s institutions and diversifying their economies. And some of his work has taken place at our Agency's more dangerous and difficult postings.
From 2005 to 2006, Michael worked as the Officer Director of Capacity Development at our Mission in Baghdad. There, Michael became, as he says, “a PowerPoint ranger,” but more importantly, he developed and oversaw a nearly $340 million contract to help strengthen key government ministries.
While Michael was in Iraq, the war was raging, and bombings, kipnappings and attacks by insurgents were a part of everyday life. But colleagues speak of his calmness and compassion in the middle of those life-threatening situations.
As one of his colleagues said: “Michael was the epitome of calm. When the alarm would sound to signal potential danger, and we had to put on our flak jackets and helmets, Michael would walk out of his office with his equipment on and make sure everyone was alright and would console people so that no one got overstressed.”
A few years later, Micheal became Deputy Director for Economic Growth at our Mission in Afghanistan. There, Michael and his team were hard at work expanding business opportunities for women, creating public-private partnerships and developing economic policy reforms.
On Michael’s team, the work never stopped. There were always new things to do, but Michael often reminded his staff: “to save some fun for tomorrow.” This was his polite way of telling everyone they needed to go home and get some sleep.
After his time in Afghanistan, in 2015, Michael became USAID’s Deputy Coordinator for President Obama’s Young African Leadership Initiative. Michael helped recruit and assemble the staff for this new initiative and worked with our Missions in Africa to train young Africans to be future leaders in any sector from government to business.
Most recently, Michael was our Deputy Mission Director to Pakistan, typically a one year posting, but a role he held for three years. In Pakistan, Michael helped oversee a reorganization of the Mission that made it more responsive and proactive, all while contending with a significant scaling down of activity.
And now, after more than two decades with USAID, we are pleased to welcome Michael into his first Mission Director position.
His appointment comes at a crucial time for Azerbaijan. Just this week, renewed fighting broke out between Azerbaijan and Armenia once again—particularly disappointing because momentum had been building recently for a broader, more durable peace agreement.
The violence has already extracted a devastating human toll. Secretary Blinken has urged President Aliyev to cease hostilities immediately, and to work to resolve this conflict through peaceful negotiations since we know there is no military solution to this conflict. We also urge both governments to re-establish direct lines of communication and to recommit to a constructive diplomatic dialogue.
In addition to this renewed conflict, Azerbaijan still faces challenges with corruption and a weakening of its democratic institutions. As partners, the United States and the people of Azerbaijan have worked together for 30 years to encourage greater opportunities for free expression and representation of the people in Azerbaijan, and we will continue to do so under Michael’s leadership.
USAID is currently working to encourage more civic participation, and supporting independent media so that people have trusted sources of information—and so the journalists providing that information can operate free from intimidation.
USAID is also working to help the government diversify its economy away from a reliance on oil and gas exports. In recent years, we’ve watched more non-energy businesses invest in Baku, agriculture outputs increase year-over-year, and more tourists travel to Azerbaijan taking in those beautiful Caspian views. That kind of investment and tourism is exactly what is put at risk by conflict and corruption, and so once again, we urge our partners in Baku to address these issues head on.
I am confident that Michael will work tirelessly to expand and deepen the collaboration between our two nations.
As one of Michael’s colleagues said: “No matter the situation, Michael brings positive energy. There’s a lot of people in this world who carry negative energy, but not Micheal Nehrbass. You can just feel the positivity when you’re around him.”
Michael, we look forward to seeing the ways you'll contribute to the Mission there.
And thank you to Rosa, Zoe, and Ian for the support you have selflessly provided so that Michael can have this career and serve our nation so proudly. I know it is not always easy to travel the world and build new lives at each posting. Thank you for the years of support you’ve given Michael, and because of you all, he is able to fill this crucial role for our Agency.
Michael, once you get to Baku, I know how busy you’ll be and how excited you’ll be to solve every problem at once, but as you always say, don’t forget to leave some fun for tomorrow.
And with that it is my pleasure to swear you in as our next Mission Director to Azerbaijan.