Washington, DC
ADMINISTRATOR SAMANTHA POWER: Thank you so much, and I would like everyone who is online to turn on their camera if they are comfortable doing so. I think it’s really nice for Jeff and Elena to see as many of you as possible. Ambassador [Kent] Logsdon, just thank you for being sort of a dream partner really, as Ambassador to there [Moldova]. I can’t think of an ambassador with whom we work more closely. We share all the same objectives, I think you have shown again and again that you see the value of what the USAID team is doing there. And we really are one country, one team in service of one mission. But that leadership comes from you at the top which ensures that seamless integration, so it is going to be a great experience for Jeff to pick up where Scott has left off. And I just want to thank Scott for an incredibly powerful time as mission director, impact, legacy and ripples that will extend for a very long time. So thank you for that partnership Ambassador, I’m really really grateful and you being here today is just reflective of that
Thank you Ambassador [Viorel] Ursu, for your leadership here. I think we first welcomed you here to the USAID premises maybe in your first week. And it is great to see you making the rounds. I think you are doing a tremendous job expanding that constituency for Moldova here in Washington, that makes our job easier in trying to secure our resources and services for that broad agenda you have described which I will come back to. Again, thank you for your partnership, we really are very very fortunate that President Sandu has sent you here to join us in Washington.
Thank you to Jeff’s family for joining us today. I’d like to extend a special welcome to the Moldovan in the house, Jeff’s wife, Elena – the best kept secret so far, this deep into this swearing-in ceremony – I will come back to that. Jeff’s mother, Robyn; father, Robert; stepmother, Kathy; and children, Marcus and Martha – who I guess are at dive practice now, so they are not here with us. But what is really an exceptional added bonus of this posting is that Marcus and Martha will get to live with Jeff and Elena in Moldova and be smothered with the love of family members – who they know, but have known from afar, so now to be fully integrated and embraced by their Moldovan family. It is very very moving actually that this gets to happen as collateral benefit to this posting for Jeff and Elena.
Those of you who know Jeff well may be aware that he comes from a family of builders. Jeff’s grandfather, John, emigrated from Newfoundland to Pittsburgh, and built his new American life from the ground up, working as a mason, and laboring day in and out to erect towering construction projects – including the 500-foot high smokestacks that powered the city’s booming steel industry. Jeff’s father and uncles followed in their father’s footsteps, carrying on the family masonry trade; Robert worked as a bricklayer for 50 years and owned a masonry contracting company alongside his brothers. When Jeff arrived on the scene, he too was quickly thrust into the family trade; he grew up spending weekends and summers waking up before dawn to labor with his hands, mixing mortar, setting up and tearing down scaffolding, and heaving cinder blocks as the family constructed buildings all around their rural Virginia hometown. When Jeff went to James Madison University to pursue an English degree, it seemed like his career in the family trade would be coming to an end – but throughout his life, Jeff would continue to build – to build and to build, physical buildings and communities and partnerships and teams, across oceans and continents, across languages and cultures, and across topics and sectors, carrying with him the same steady handed commitment of his forebears.
After college, Jeff had a hunger to see the world and joined the Peace Corps. He was sent to Gabon and got back to building. This time, leading a rural school construction project for the Gabonese Ministry of Education. Jeff excelled in his role, and was recruited to pilot a new Peace Corps disaster response program in Antigua, rehabilitating health clinics and restoring access to critical medical care after a hurricane had decimated the island’s infrastructure. Soon, he was sent to Madagascar to lead similar efforts in the wake of a cyclone.
Working in disaster relief and reconstruction sparked Jeff’s interest in humanitarian assistance, and upon returning to the United States, Jeff volunteered with the American Red Cross, right here in DC. He was soon snapped up by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies to serve as a Relief Coordinator in the Democratic Republic of the Congo during the early days of the devastating Second Congo War. As the nation heaved under the violence and turmoil, Jeff organized critical relief activities and disaster response – alongside aid workers from USAID. Seeing USAID staff do their lifesaving work with compassion and extreme competence, Jeff set his sights on working for the Agency someday.
He pursued a graduate degree at Texas A&M, where he focused on disaster recovery, honing in on hurricanes, and after graduating, Jeff fulfilled his dream of working at USAID, joining the very team he had first encountered in DRC, USAID’s Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance.
Soon, Jeff was traveling all over Africa, leading USAID’s responses to some of the most dire humanitarian crises of the day: delivering assistance to the people of Angola, after a civil war plunged the country into economic turmoil; providing critical relief to the people of Zimbabwe, after civilian attempts to forcibly redistribute land led to violent conflict and mass displacement; and opening a brand new USAID regional office in South Africa, which would serve as a hub for coordinating rapid humanitarian responses across the region.
In 2003, Jeff joined the Foreign Service. His first tour took him to Afghanistan, where he found himself managing a $2 billion budget – ah! the good old days – and taking a central role in developing flagship infrastructure projects, including the Kabul to Kandahar highway, which revolutionized transportation and commerce in Afghanistan, and the Kajaki dam power project, which moved the region toward energy diversification. Again, he was building. On his next tour, Jeff found himself back in the DRC, this time working to build peace and security through supporting the reintegration of child soldiers into their communities and countering the exploitation of critical minerals like cobalt.
Jeff’s third assignment carried a special significance for our purposes here today. I mentioned that I would come back for this: he was sent to Moldova, where he led USAID’s Economic Growth and Democracy and Governance offices from 2010 to 2014. Moldova then was also at a critical inflection point. The country had just emerged from a popular uprising against the country’s leadership the year prior, which ushered in a new government poised to move toward European integration, experimenting with an open democracy, and eager to embrace USAID’s support. Jeff got back to building once again – this time, building up democratic institutions by supporting civil society, strengthening independent media, and safeguarding human rights. He also partnered with the Moldovan private sector to advance key industries, from agriculture to apparel to IT, working hand-in-hand with Moldovan businesses to expand their customer base and move them away from total reliance on Russian markets. While many of the gains USAID made during this time were strategically undercut by Russian interference, this was a pivotal moment for Moldova, and it laid the groundwork for the incredible progress we’ve seen in recent years.
It was also a pivotal moment in Jeff’s life: because it was in this posting, in the year 2010, where Jeff first met Elena. And now, the backstory here is very, very complicated; I had to extract it using coercive methods in the office, but suffice it to say that a cafe was involved. Beautiful Moldovan summer day, I think. And what has happened in cementing Jeff’s relationship with Moldova is that a beautiful romance flourished. Elena swept Jeff off his feet in rapid order, and the two were married the next year. Both their children were born during Jeff’s tour in Moldova, and have become true “third culture kids” after a decade of traversing the globe with their talented, globally minded parents – both of whom built meaningful careers as accomplished public servants in the U.S. government. I am looking forward to making sure that Elena’s talents are unleashed in this posting, which is always challenging for high power foreign service officers to land assignments worthy of all their skills.
The Foreign Service next took Jeff and the family to Côte d’Ivoire, where Jeff served as the USAID Representative, leading our flagship PEPFAR program, guiding the country’s democracy and economic growth activities through a period of expansion, and playing a key role in strengthening our relationship with the government there. Jeff also established warm and trusting relationships with his colleagues, building a community with the help of his famous cooking skills. One colleague reflected, “Jeff is a problem-solver, a do-it-yourself kind of guy, and a great cook.” He shared a piece of advice that I hope our colleagues joining us from Moldova will heed: “No matter where in the world they are, if he and Elena invite you for dinner, say yes!”
Jeff then transitioned into the role of Mission Director for Guinea and Sierra Leone, where colleagues described him as having “a way of opening worlds,” bringing people together (often over a great meal), bridging cultural differences, and paving the way for collaboration. And when disagreements arise, Jeff maintains that same open spirit. One colleague reflected on a time she disagreed with a decision Jeff’s office made – Elena is nodding, that's a good sign. She still remembers the way Jeff listened to her point of view, validated point of view, asked good questions, and helped guide them toward a solution that left everyone feeling satisfied and understood. “That is something that can only be achieved by the kind of leader who inspires real trust,” and she reflected, “Jeff is that person.”
Returning to the United States after 16 years of overseas assignments, Jeff studied at the National War College, where he researched the great power competition in the Horn of Africa. After completing his studies, Jeff took up his current role as the Director of the Office of Africa in USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, not an easy assignment, at not an easy time, from the historic food crisis across the Horn of Africa, to the conflicts in Ethiopia and Sudan. After leading the response to some of the toughest crises on the planet, Jeff is prepared for anything his next assignment will throw at him.
He is embarking on a new journey, to an old post, during a new era. And we know just how momentous this assignment is: for the United States and above all for the people of Moldova. Moldova is again at a critical inflection point. There is monumental pressure and challenges stemming from Russia interference and Russia’s war on Ukraine. The last thing Russia wants to see is integration into Europe that the United States has backed Moldova to pursue.
Moldovans have shown great resilience in the face of Putin’s aggression. They have generously hosted more than 100,000 Ukrainian refugees – more per capita than any other European country – even as Vladmir Putin limits their gas supplies and funding politicians who seek to keep Moldova firmly within Moscow’s orbit.
Despite these challenges, President Sandu is leading an extraordinary charge toward democratic reform, economic growth and reorientation toward western markets, and she is also pursuing with USAID support energy independence and diversification.
Just as was true a decade ago, this progress is far from secure: we have learned from recent history how fragile it can be, it must be protected and nurtured in the years ahead. But the climate is different now than it was in the 2010’s: there are greater resources that are being invested, there is broader political will to sustain these hard won democratic and economic gains. One thing that is not different, that has been a throughline in USAID’s work in Moldova for a long time, is the incredible ingenuity and iron will of our foreign service nationals (FSN) of Moldovans who constitute USAID’s Mission year in and year out. They are world class leaders, and we are so grateful to them. And I know that Jeff will go out of his way to find various new ways to empower them and to unleash their talents. One of the things he said to me when we met just before this swearing-in ceremony was that all of his assignments, his Moldovan FSNs are the cream of the crop. I am really excited for you to lead this team.
Others have spoken of USAID’s contributions but I think it bears repeating: supporting Moldovan goods and access to new markets, helping industries and business be more competitive, strengthening local governance, building that local society – again those checks and balances no matter who the government is, checks and balances are necessary for us and those institutions have been build with USAID’s support. Twenty-five years ago two-thirds of Moldovan exports went to Russia; today more than two-thirds of Moldovan exports go to Western markets. And that those trendlines are only going to continue, and that, we hope with time, will end the brain drain and will draw people back to Moldova to make their contributions back at home. And I can think of no one better than Jeff to stand with the Moldovan people as they advance toward a peaceful, stable, and prosperous future.
Just coming back to something the Ambassador said before I make this official, he said, “freeing Moldova from the grip of Russian interference,” which absolutely is something that USAID has contributed to and the United States contributed to. One word that comes to mind when I think of Moldova is dignity. The promotion dignity: individual dignity and the human rights of the citizens to choose for themselves the course that they want to pursue; national dignity the idea of being free of foreign interference, the idea of being free to pursue an independent course and economic dignity, ensuring that every Moldovan who grows up has the ability to find a livelihood, and a life, and the kind prosperity the people of Moldova deserve. So this is what Jeff is there to promote, working with a tremendous American ambassador, and tremendous partners across the Moldovan society. I can think of no one better than Jeff to stand with the Moldovan people as they continue their journey to prosperity, peace and democracy.