Nancy J. Eslick is the Senior Deputy Assistant to the Administrator for USAID’s Bureau for Resilience, Environment and Food Security (REFS), supporting implementation of the Water for the World and Feed the Future initiatives. She serves as the USAID Global Water Coordinator, leading the agency’s implementation responsibilities under the U.S. Global Water Strategy.
For more than two decades, Ms. Eslick, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, has demonstrated effective leadership in advancing foreign policy and development objectives with USAID and key partners. Most recently, she was the Deputy Assistant Administrator for Assistance, Private Sector, and Donor Coordination focused on developing initiatives for Ukrainian efforts, in the Bureau for Europe and Eurasia. Ms. Eslick served as Mission Director in Cambodia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and (Acting) Jordan. As a champion of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility, she developed a pioneering Indigenous Peoples and Ethnic Minorities Strategy to integrate across the Cambodia portfolio. While serving in Bosnia-Herzegovina she led a complex portfolio working to expand economic prosperity, combat corruption, and strengthen the rule of law. In Jordan, she led one of USAID’s largest development programs as Acting Mission Director and Deputy Mission Director. During her tenure, she guided long-term strategic efforts to address the Syrian refugee crisis and developed innovative partnerships to promote regional security and stability. Ms. Eslick has also served overseas for USAID in Burma, Pakistan, Uganda, and Afghanistan.
Before joining USAID in 2001 as a Presidential Management Fellow, Ms. Eslick began her development career as a Peace Corps Volunteer, helping establish Uganda’s Kibale National Park. She holds Masters’ degrees in Public Affairs and Environmental Science, with a focus in Water Resources, in addition to an undergraduate degree, from Indiana University at Bloomington.