Inside USAID’s Dismantling: A Deputy Director’s Account of the Lifesaving Memo That Changed Everything

Tech leaders recently went to the U.N. Security Council to talk about oversight of AI. The U.S. government rejected global governance of AI outright. In this bonus conversation, Ambassador Samantha Power, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and the last administrator of USAID, draws on her time on the Security Council to unpack what’s happening in the debate over global AI governance. Why would tech leaders invite oversight, and why take that case to the U.N.? Power explains what she thinks is really driving them, where China fits in, and why the U.S. position at the Security Council alarmed her. Her answer challenges the administration’s view of what the U.N. is for. If the goal is guardrails for everyone, the U.S. is far stronger with the world behind it. Listen, Watch, Follow Listen & Watch on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Youtube Follow on: Instagram: @globaldevinterrupted | Facebook: Global Development Interrupted

Ambassador Samantha Power, former war correspondent, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, and the last administrator of USAID, joins Global Development Interrupted to discuss what she witnessed inside government, what the dismantling of USAID means for American power, and what comes next. She shares stories of USAID teams at work, from helping young people in the Dominican Republic plan for their futures to responding to the earthquake in Haiti and supporting Armenians fleeing Nagorno-Karabakh. By her last year as administrator, 70% of the places USAID operated were in some form of crisis, whether political upheaval, natural disaster, or conflict. She describes a workforce driven by a sense of vocation, one that was not only dismantled but disparaged. She explains why she sees USAID’s dismantling as a canary in the coal mine for American checks and balances, and what happens when the tech ethos of “move fast and break things” is applied to an agency that people’s lives depended on. She sees the same lack of guardrails in technology today as a warning. She describes what the abrupt cuts meant in practice: textbooks promised for the next school year, contraceptives incinerated in a warehouse instead of distributed, and antiretroviral treatment cut off. She also reflects on the trust that has been broken, what it will take to begin rebuilding it, and what gives her hope: nearly 30 USAID veterans now at Harvard, sharpening their tools and preparing to get back out there. The agency was dismantled. The workforce wasn’t. Guest: Ambassador Samantha Power, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and former USAID administrator Topics: USAID dismantling, the USAID workforce, American foreign policy, checks and balances, rebuilding trust, foreign assistance Listen, Watch, Follow Listen & Watch on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Youtube Follow on: Instagram: @globaldevinterrupted | Facebook: Global Development Interrupted

Life stops when the electricity goes out, and that’s not just how it feels. The International Energy Agency says electricity consumption and GDP growth have historically gone hand in hand, particularly in emerging and developing economies. India and Southeast Asia are a clear example. Electricity use per person has risen rapidly over the past few decades, alongside a boom in economic development. In sub-Saharan Africa, electricity use per person has been essentially stagnant for more than 30 years. In 2023, electricity consumption per person in Africa was half that of India and 70% lower than Southeast Asia. The World Bank calls electricity “the bedrock of jobs, opportunity, and economic growth.” And yet, more than 560 million people across sub-Saharan Africa still live without electricity. So what does it take to build economies when the power isn’t there? That was the challenge behind Power Africa, a U.S. government initiative established in 2013 and terminated in 2025 following the Trump administration’s dismantling of USAID. Leah speaks with Mark Carrato, one of the former coordinators of Power Africa, who spent more than 25 years working across climate, energy, and economic development. During his time as coordinator of Power Africa, he helped lead a partnership of governments, development banks, international donors, and hundreds of private-sector companies working to expand electricity access across the continent. Mark saw his work as more than megawatts or power plants. It was about understanding the ecosystem around them, figuring out where development dollars could have the greatest impact, and asking what it takes to make development last. Later, as USAID’s mission director in Brazil, Mark brought the same systems-oriented thinking to protecting the Amazon. Today, he leads emerging markets work at SecondMuse, an innovation firm that builds economies to benefit people and the planet. In this episode, Mark takes us inside Power Africa, talks about what markets have to do with development, and makes the case for thinking differently about where and how we invest in progress. We also talk about what he hopes that approach can look like in the future, and why predictability matters in markets. Guest: Mark Carrato leads SecondMuse's work in emerging markets and brings more than 25 years of experience in climate, energy, and economic development. Before joining SecondMuse, he held senior roles at USAID, serving as USAID director for Brazil and among the former coordinators of Power Africa, the U.S. government partnership created to expand energy access across sub-Saharan Africa. Topics: Power Africa, market-based development, USAID’s dismantling, the Amazon, systems change. Listen, Watch, Follow Listen & Watch on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Youtube Follow on: Instagram: @globaldevinterrupted | Facebook: Global Development Interrupted

What happens when environmental work that has taken decades to build suddenly disappears? For years, USAID supported efforts around the world to protect forests and wildlife, reduce pollution, strengthen local communities, and address the interconnected challenges of biodiversity loss, climate change, and environmental degradation. But when the agency’s programs were abruptly shut down, the loss went far beyond funding. In this episode, Leah speaks with former USAID environmental leaders Hadas Kushnir and Monica Bansal, who are now examining the impacts of the withdrawal of USAID’s environmental programs. They share what they heard from people around the world—and what those conversations revealed about the relationships, expertise, and long-term work that were lost. Their full findings will be published in a forthcoming report, Beyond the Funding Gap, out after Labor Day through their initiative, Momentum for the Environment. From man-eating lions and piranhas to landfill fires, plastic waste, and community conservation, this conversation explores what USAID’s environmental work actually looked like on the ground. It’s also a story of why environmental challenges in one part of the world can affect all of us. What did we lose when that work stopped? And what might it take to rebuild? If you want to support environmental work that’s still active on the ground, Hadas and Monica’s team has curated a pipeline of vetted, shovel-ready projects at www.oneearthpartners.com. You can also reach them directly at [email protected] to talk through what fits your interests. Guest: Hadas Kushnir and Monica Bansal, co-founders of Momentum for the Environment Initiative and former USAID environmental leaders Topics: USAID’s environmental and climate work, biodiversity loss, community-based conservation, the agency’s dismantling, localization, and the forthcoming Beyond the Funding Gap report Listen, Watch, Follow Listen & Watch on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Youtube Follow on: Instagram: @globaldevinterrupted | Facebook: Global Development Interrupted

Can demography — the study of how populations grow, move, and change — offer a window into a country’s future? That’s what Leah talks about with Dr. Apoorva Jadhav, former USAID senior demographer and statistician, in this episode of Global Development Interrupted. Apoorva explains how USAID was rethinking the way it invested in development through the lens of demography — looking at population data and trends to understand where countries were headed and how to invest more strategically. That work came to an abrupt end when the agency was dismantled. The conversation gets into what’s at stake when the data infrastructure behind development begins to erode. USAID invested in the long-term systems, standards, and expertise that allowed the U.S. and other countries and organizations to make smarter investments and address real problems. Without that foundation, what happens to the quality of the data and the decisions built on it? Because behind every data point is a person — and, as Apoorva puts it, “there is a pulse.” Guest: Dr. Apoorva Jadhav, former Senior Demographer and Statistician, USAID Office of Population and Reproductive Health; author of Demography Matters on Substack Topics: Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), family planning and reproductive health, maternal and child health, HIV and disability data, child marriage, global migration policy, the dismantling of USAID, the future of development data Listen, Watch, Follow Listen & Watch on: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Youtube Follow on: Instagram: @globaldevinterrupted | Facebook: Global Development Interrupted