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Donald Steinberg serves as deputy administrator at USAID, providing overall direction and management for the Agency. His areas of focus include the Middle East and Africa; reforms under USAID Forward and the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review; integration and mainstreaming of gender and disabilities into Agency programming; and enhanced dialogue with development partners, including civil society, business, foreign donors, international institutions, Congress and other U.S. Government agencies.
Steinberg previously served as deputy president for policy at the International Crisis Group, a nonprofit seeking to prevent, contain and resolve deadly conflict. He also served as a Randolph Jennings senior fellow at the U.S. Institute of Peace, where he advocated for the world's 25 million internally displaced persons.
During his nearly 30 years with the government, Steinberg served as director of the State Department's Joint Policy Council, White House deputy press secretary, National Security Council senior director for African affairs, special Haiti coordinator, U.S. Ambassador to Angola, and the president's special representative for humanitarian demining. He also served as officer-in-charge at the U.S. Embassy in Pretoria, South Africa, during the country's transition from apartheid to democracy, as well as postings in Mauritius, Brazil, Malaysia and the Central African Republic. On Capitol Hill, he served as senior adviser for defense and foreign policy to House Majority Leader Richard Gephardt (D-Mo.) and as director of the House Task Force on Trade and Competitiveness. He has also worked with the Women's Refugee Commission, the United Nations Development Fund for Women, and the Institute for Inclusive Security.
Steinberg has published more than 100 articles on foreign policy, African developments, gender issues, post-conflict reconstruction, children and armed conflict, and disarmament. He holds master's degrees in journalism from Columbia University and political economy from the University of Toronto, and a bachelor's degree from Reed College.
His honors include the Presidential Meritorious Honor Award, the Frasure Award for International Peace, the Hunt Award for Women in Policy Formulation, the Pulitzer Traveling Fellowship, the State Department Distinguished Service Award, and six State Department Superior Honor Awards.
Last updated: July 13, 2012