Michelle Bekkering was sworn in as Assistant Administrator of the Bureau for Economic Growth, Education and Environment (E3) on January 6, 2020. Ms. Bekkering leads the bureau in developing innovative and sustainable solutions across twelve technical sectors to accelerate USAID’s impact in reaching its development outcomes. When E3 transitions to the Bureau for Development, Democracy, and Innovation (DDI) as part of USAID’s Transformation, Ms. Bekkering will continue her leadership role and serve as DDI’s Assistant Administrator.

Ms. Bekkering joined USAID in July 2017, and concurrently served as the E3 Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator and as the Agency’s Senior Coordinator for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment. During Ms. Bekkering’s tenure as Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator of E3, she led the bureau’s efforts to reorient its strategies, partnerships, and programs to achieve the Administrator’s vision of the Journey to Self-Reliance. This included the U.S. Government Strategy on International Basic Education which was released in September 2018, and USAID’s new Private Sector Engagement policy which was launched in December 2018.

As the Agency’s Senior Coordinator for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment, Ms. Bekkering supported the White House in the development of the first whole-of government effort to focus on global women’s economic empowerment, the Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative (W-GDP). She also represented the U.S. Government in high-level bilateral and multilateral policy fora, including the 2017 G7 Development Ministerial, the 2017 Global Entrepreneurship Summit, official delegate to the 2017 and 2018 UN’s Commission on the Status of Women, and head of the USG delegation for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)’s Women and the Economy Forum (September 2018).

Prior to joining USAID, Bekkering served at the International Republican Institute (IRI) from 2005-2017 where she provided leadership to Institute initiatives in Washington, D.C. and as residential country director for the Institute based in Indonesia. During her tenure at IRI, Bekkering led global democracy, rights and governance initiatives with specific focus on parliamentary strengthening, political party strengthening, people-to-people exchanges, and the political inclusion of women and youth. Bekkering also represented the Institute as a trainer, speaker and accredited election observer on five continents.

Bekkering has also served in numerous positions in the U.S. Government. She worked in the European and Eurasian Affairs Directorate of the National Security Council under President George W. Bush. She also worked on Capitol Hill as an aide to Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (CA-46).

A native of Iowa, Bekkering graduated from Dordt College in Sioux Center, Iowa, where she was honored in 2015 with the Distinguished Alumni Award. As part of her education, she also studied at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Kimberly A. Reed was sworn in as President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) on May 9, 2019.  She is the first woman and first West Virginian to lead EXIM, an independent federal agency that supports American jobs – nearly 1.5 million jobs in all 50 states over the past decade – by facilitating the export of U.S. goods and services.

Reed has spent her 20-plus-year career working in the public and private sectors and has led efforts focused on American job creation, trade, economic development, food and agriculture, and government reform.

Reed most recently served as President of the International Food Information Council (IFIC) Foundation where she collaborated with the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and State to increase acceptance of U.S. exports in emerging market countries. At the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Reed headed the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, where she oversaw the award of $4 billion in tax credits, loans, and grants to financial institutions and economic development groups investing in distressed communities across the nation. She also served as Senior Advisor to U.S. Treasury Secretaries John Snow and Henry Paulson. As counsel to three committees in the U.S. House of Representatives – Ways and Means, Government Reform and Oversight, and Education and the Workforce Committees – she focused on oversight and reform of federal agencies. Reed was also Vice President for Financial Markets Policy Relations at Lehman Brothers in New York.

Recognized as one of the "100 Women Leaders in STEM” and Washingtonian’s “Most Powerful Women in Washington,” Reed previously served as a Member of the Boards of the Alzheimer’s Association, Alzheimer’s Impact Movement, American Swiss Foundation, National Coalition for Food and Agriculture Research, Tax Coalition, and West Virginia Wesleyan College. She was the first woman elected as Chair of the Republican National Lawyers Association.

Originally from Buckhannon, West Virginia, Reed earned her J.D. from West Virginia University College of Law and B.S. from West Virginia Wesleyan College. She is a Certified Association Executive (CAE), earned a Professional Certificate in Finance from the New York Institute of Finance, and has spent time in more than one hundred countries.

Elena Ocenic has hands-on experience in solar photovoltaic project development and expertise in European electricity market regulation. She is currently exploring how innovations in enabling technologies, business models, market design and system operation can help IRENA members achieve their ambitious renewable power policy goals by mid-century. She has 10 years of professional experience in academia (Sciences Po Paris, Heidelberg University), European institutions (European Parliament, ACER), international organisations (IAEA, IRENA), the private sector (renewable energy) and NGOs, including French, German and Romanian associations. She graduated with a Master degree in International Economic Policy focusing on Energy from Sciences Po Paris (France) and a Bachelor degree in Political Science and Economics from the University of Heidelberg (Germany). She speaks fluently Romanian, German, English and French.