ABOUT ME
I gave everything to a mission I believed in. And when it fell, I chose grace over bitterness — and truth over silence.
I spent 18 years at USAID. Eighteen years of leading in environments most people will never fully understand. Of navigating crisis, building systems, and believing deeply in the mission. And then it was gone. Not gradually. Not on my terms. Gone. While I was still leading. While people were still looking to me for answers. That kind of loss doesn’t come with closure. It comes with responsibility.
I held it together when everything around me was falling apart. And it cost something. It cost sleep. Stability. Certainty. It cost the version of myself that believed institutions would hold. But what it gave me was clarity.
Today, I am still in the arena. Through my work in global development and through The Imara Advisory Group, I continue to build, advise, and lead. And through my writing, I tell the truth about what leadership actually looks like—when it’s tested.
When everything you thought was permanent disappears, you are forced to answer a different question: Not what do you do—but who are you? I found my answer in the work that remained. In the people. In the purpose. In the responsibility to continue.
A Legacy of Service
I am a former United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Foreign Service Officer, servant leadership advocate, international development expert, and published author. A proud Howard University graduate, I spent 18 years with USAID serving across Sub-Saharan Africa, building partnerships, championing vulnerable communities, and leading with integrity at every level. My final role at USAID was Mission Director for Rwanda and Burundi, one of the highest-ranking positions for USAID overseas. I was one of only eight African American women to hold the position of USAID Mission Director worldwide.
In July 2024, I stood in a room full of the people who had believed in me my whole life and took my oath. I was ready. I had plans. Bold, beautiful plans.
Five months later, the agency I had given my career to was dismantled overnight.
No plan. No warning. No regard for the thousands of lives, staff, partners, beneficiaries, who depended on the work we had spent decades building. I was given five months to close two missions, transition over 100 staff, relocate my family, and figure out where home even was anymore.
I stayed. I fought. I advocated for my team. I led through chaos, betrayal, heartbreak and uncertainty, while facing my own uncertain future.
And I did it because that’s what servant leaders do. We don’t get to choose our battles. We show up for people, especially when it costs us.
What got me through? My faith, unwavering, unshakeable, the foundation of everything I am. My husband Vincent, my anchor in every storm. My children Vinnie and Zoe, braver than they believe and loved more than they know. My sistah friends, the women who held me up when I couldn’t hold myself. And grace. So much grace. For myself and for others.
Empowered women empower women. I have lived that truth in every room I have ever walked into and every person I have ever led.
I wrote this book because the story needed to be told. Because public servants deserve to be seen. Because every leader who has ever stood in the fire and chosen integrity over survival needs to know they are not alone.
I Said My Piece with Peace: Inside USAID’s Final Days: A Testament of Leadership When Everything Falls Apart is my debut memoir, published by Unmuted Press.
Key Highlights
19 Years
Of dedicated US government service
147 Staff
Led through USAID institutional closure
Mission Director
For Rwanda and Burundi
Howard University
Distinguished alumna
Servant Leader
Woman of faith and purpose
South Africa
Now based, global perspective
The Imara Advisory Group
Strategic consulting for organizations navigating complex challenges. Bringing the lessons of servant leadership to boards, executives, and teams worldwide.