Shereen Faraj serves as the Deputy Assistant Administrator in the Bureau for Planning, Learning and Resource Management (PLR) where she oversees the Office of Strategic and Program Planning (SPP), and coordinates the Bureau’s work on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility, and localization. Prior to the establishment of PLR, Ms. Faraj was the Deputy Assistant Administrator in the Bureau for Policy, Planning,and Learning (PPL).
Ms. Faraj previously served as the Chief of Operations (COO) for USAID’s COVID-19 Task Force, where she oversaw the operations, administration, and budget for the Agency’s overall COVID-19 pandemic response. Prior to her detail on the Task Force, she was Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator in the Bureau for Policy, Planning and Learning (PPL) where she provided leadership and oversight of Agency engagement with bilateral donors and multilateral organizations, promoted development finance and aid effectiveness and transparency, and oversaw the Bureau’s strategic communications. Ms. Faraj served as the U.S. Representative to the G20 Development Working Group (DWG) and has significant experience representing the United States in intergovernmental negotiations through the G7, G20, and OECD. Ms. Faraj also helped lead the U.S. Government’s Syria response as the Syria Desk Team Lead in USAID’s Middle East Bureau, including establishing and serving as the U.S. Representative on the Management Committee of the Syria Recovery Trust Fund (SRTF), a multi-donor financing mechanism focused on essential services inside Syria that is currently capitalized at over $300 million.
Prior to joining USAID, Ms. Faraj managed the development and implementation of anti-trafficking programs for the Middle East and South Asia at the U.S. Department of State and oversaw program and policy development for refugees, trafficking victims, and unaccompanied migrant children at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). During her tenure at HHS, in response to groundbreaking legislative mandates, she played a key role in the start up of a new federal division overseeing unaccompanied minors, which now serves over 40,000 children annually, and led efforts to design specialized federal programming for trafficked children in federal custody.
Ms. Faraj began her career as a mental health practitioner and manager for the non-profit sector. As a trained clinician, she holds a Master and Bachelor of Social Work from the University of Georgia.