Dianna Darsney is the Deputy Assistant to the Administrator of USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA), the U.S. government lead for international disaster response. With a mandate to save lives, alleviate human suffering, and reduce the impact of disasters, BHA monitors, mitigates, and responds to global hazards and humanitarian needs. The Bureau also promotes resilience by preparing communities for disasters before they strike, and by helping people recover and move beyond crises.
Before joining BHA, Ms. Darsney was the Director for the Office of South American Affairs in USAID’s Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) and the Principal Officer for the Venezuela Operating Unit. Prior to this role, she was the senior USAID official in Türkiye and Deputy Director for the interagency Syria Regional Platform (START). She supervised State Political, Public Diplomacy, Management, and RSO sections and guided USAID and State humanitarian and stabilization assistance. Ms. Darsney concurrently served as Principal Officer for the Gaziantep Embassy Branch Office, START’s hub for diplomatic engagement and humanitarian assistance 25 miles from Syria’s northwest border.
From 2019-2020 Ms. Darsney served as a Deputy Mission Director at USAID/Ethiopia and led a team to implement a $728 million annual foreign assistance portfolio that strengthened and stabilized Ethiopia as a strategic partner in the Horn of Africa. She led Ethiopia’s Office of Assets and Livelihoods in Transition from 2015-2019 and provided direction and vision for a $2.1 billion portfolio of humanitarian aid, food security, and disaster risk management activities.
Ms. Darsney’s previous assignments include USAID/Uganda as the Vulnerable Populations Team Leader; USAID/Peru as a Private Enterprise Officer in the Office of Economic Growth; and USAID’s Haiti Task Team as a Project Design Officer on behalf of the Office of Crisis Surge Support (formerly Civilian Response Corps) following the 2010 earthquake.
Prior to joining USAID, Ms. Darsney worked with Conservation International in Guyana, FINCA International in Nicaragua, and in international trade at a Crowell & Moring affiliate in Washington DC. She also followed foreign affairs issues in member offices in both the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate.
Ms. Darsney received a B.A. in Economics and International Relations from Tufts University and an M.A. in International Development Studies from the Elliott School of International Affairs at the George Washington University. Ms. Darsney originally hails from Boston, Massachusetts.