Sonali Korde is the 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.
Most recently Sonali served as Deputy Assistant to the Administrator (DAA) for BHA. During her time as DAA, Sonali served as Deputy to the U.S. Special Envoy for Middle East Humanitarian Issues charged with leading U.S. diplomacy efforts to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Before joining BHA, Sonali served as Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy in the Office of the Administrator at USAID, and prior to that as Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator at USAID's Bureau for Legislative and Public Affairs. In this role, she provided strategic and operational oversight of USAID's engagement with the U.S. Congress, including negotiation of USAID legislative and budget issues with Members of Congress, their committees, and staff. Having worked for USAID in various roles since 2004, she has a background in legislative affairs, national security policy, infectious diseases and emergency humanitarian response, and global health. From 2019-2020, she has also served as Senior Policy Advisor on the Ebola response in Eastern Congo as well as Deputy Director for Coordination on the COVID-19 response.
Ms. Korde previously served on the National Security Council staff as Director, Global Health and Development. In this role, she supported all aspects of the U.S. government’s global health portfolio and linkages into broader development, security and bilateral diplomacy and cooperation goals. She supported NSC’s coordination of the interagency Ebola response, other emerging infectious disease responses including MERS and Zika, and the Global Health Security Agenda. Prior to joining the NSC, she served as USAID Foreign Affairs Fellow in the Office of Congresswoman Nita Lowey, Ranking Member of the House Appropriations Committee and Subcommittee for State and Foreign Operations.
From 2005 until 2013, Ms. Korde served as a Senior Technical Advisor for the President's Malaria Initiative in USAID's Bureau for Global Health. She was responsible for managing integrated malaria and public health programs in Africa and Asia in coordination with multilateral and bilateral donor partners, WHO and other UN organizations, NGOs, and government counterparts. Ms. Korde has an MA in International Relations from Yale University and a BS in Economics from New York University.