Zeinah Salahi joined the Bureau for Asia in August 2023 as the Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator for Asia.
Before joining the Bureau, she served at the USAID/Kosovo mission, first as the Deputy Mission Director and then as the Mission Director in July 2021. Prior to Kosovo, Ms. Salahi served as Deputy Mission Director for USAID/Bangladesh, helping to formulate and implement the U.S. Government’s response to the Rohingya refugee crisis.
Ms. Salahi joined USAID as a Foreign Service Attorney, beginning her USAID tenure in the General Counsel’s Office in Washington. She then served in Egypt during the Arab Spring, in South Sudan shortly after the country's independence, and again in Egypt as a Resident Legal Officer.
Before joining USAID, Ms. Salahi worked as a corporate associate in New York with the law firm of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, and as a negotiations advisor for the Middle East peace process with Adam Smith International (2004-2009).
Ms. Salahi received her Bachelor’s degree in international relations from Boston University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.