Photo by: Justin Brown / CC BY-NC-SA

In honor of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner...

9 White House officials who matter for global

development

On the NSC, Smith advises U.S. President Barack Obama on

issues related to global development, democracy and

humanitarian affairs. Smith worked as a journalist in Africa

for 20 years before relocating to Washington, where she was a co-chair of the Modernizing Foreign Aid Network, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and co-founder of the Enough Project

to end genocide and crimes against humanity.

Gayle SmithSpecial assistant to the president and senior

director, National Security CouncilPhoto by: Laura Elizabeth Pohl/Bread for the World

Ben RhodesAssistant to the president and deputy national security advisor for strategic communications

and speechwriting

Rhodes gained prominence as one of Obama’s startlingly young

and talented speech writers during the 2008 campaign. Now he’s a high-level adviser to the president who also happens to

care about international development. Rhodes now liaises

with the U.S. Agency for International Development to

guide the president’s engagement with developing

countries.

Photo by: The White House

Photo by: The White House

After her recent stint as U.S. ambassador to the United

Nations, Rice, a longtime friend of the Obama family, now chairs the National Security Committee.

She was a member of the Obama-Biden transition project in

2008 while serving as a senior fellow at the Brookings

Institution, where she focused on fragile states.

Susan RiceNational security adviser

Atkinson represents the president at major international economic

summits and advises Rice on issues related to international

economic affairs and investment. Atkinson came to the Obama White House by way of the

International Monetary Fund, where she was a senior

executive.

Caroline AtkinsonDeputy assistant to the president and deputy

national security advisor for international economics

Photo by: CSIS / CC BY-NC-SA

Froman preceded Caroline Atkinson as deputy national

security advisor for international economic affairs, and while

technically no longer within the White House, he still occupies a

crucial advisory position on international trade and

investment issues at a time when the development agenda,

especially in Africa, is shifting dramatically from aid to trade.

Michael FromanU.S. trade representative

Photo by: World Trade Organization / CC BY-SA

Thomisee runs a high-level advisory group appointed to

provide independent insight and analysis of the administrations’ global development policies and goals. The council’s first public

meeting was delayed for a year, but last month the group issued

recommendations to the president and plans to continue

doing so.

Jayne ThomiseeExecutive director, Global Development

Council

Photo by: Tim Hamilton / CC BY-NC-ND

Photo by: Kris Krug/PopTech / CC BY-SA

Described as a serial entrepreneur, Greenblatt leads his office’s efforts

to “leverage human capital and financial capital to elevate

community solutions.” As the White House point person on impact investing and social

enterprise, Greenblatt has elevated the conversation around how the government should interact with the private sector to accomplish

social goals — such as supporting USAID’s Grand Challenges for

Development.

Jonathan GreenblattSpecial assistant to the president and director,

Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation in the Domestic Policy Council

Feldbaum advances global health and food security within the NSC. He has worked in refugee camps and on mountain rescue teams, holds a doctoral degree in public health and served with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and

the Center for Strategic International Studies.

Harley FeldbaumDirector for global health, food security and

development, National Security Council

Photo by: Harley Feldbaum

Photo by: Robynn Steffen

Steffen has focused as much White House energy as possible

on innovation for global development, through prizes and challenges that link innovators and entrepreneurs with public policy goals. Steffen previously served as deputy chair of the

Clinton Global Initiative Education Working Group.

Robynn SteffenAssistant director for global development,

Office of Science and Technology Policy

Photo by: Tim Hamilton / CC BY-NC-ND

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