Erna Kerst

Erna Kerst became USAID's mission director in Kenya in October 2007. Prior to this posting, she served as the mission director in Southern Africa and in Haiti, and as deputy mission director for Bosnia-Herzegovina. Kerst served in Washington, D.C., as a member of the State Department’s Senior Seminar and as director of USAID’s Office of West African Affairs. She has also worked in Morocco, Niger and Peru.

Kerst holds the Foreign Service rank of minister counselor. Before joining USAID in 1985, her work included serving as a consultant in Mauritania, a health planner in Chad and a Peace Corps Volunteer in Chad. She holds a bachelor's from Brown University and a master’s in urban and regional planning from the University of Virginia.