I SAID MY PIECE with Peace:
The Recipe for the Unthinkable: 1 cup of bruised ego. 1 cup of hate. 1 cup of ignorance. A generous helping of cruelty. A dash of complete disregard for human consequences. Unlimited amount of ‘burn it all down.’
Mix all ingredients together and you have the deliberate destruction of decades of life-saving work, irrevocable broken trust, and soft power diminished to zero. Additional seasonings: 10,000+ careers shattered and feelings of hopelessness and rage that are unimaginable.
My stomach dropped. My heart sank. My hope was shaken.
This book is a firsthand account of what it means to lead through institutional collapse.
It is about:
• leadership under pressure
• the human cost of policy decisions
• the weight of responsibility in moments of uncertainty
• and the resilience required to rebuild
This is not a theoretical reflection.
It is lived experience.
When everything falls apart, leadership is no longer about position. It is about presence.
The Book
I Said My Piece with Peace
Inside USAID’s Final Days — A Testament of Leadership When Everything Falls Apart
Author:
Keisha Effiom
Imprint:
Unmuted Press
Published:
2024
On July 18, 2024, Keisha Lanai Effiom was sworn in as USAID Mission Director for Rwanda and Burundi — one of only eight African-American women in history to hold this position worldwide.
She had plans. Bold, beautiful partnerships that would transform communities for generations.
Five months later, she was handed an impossible deadline: dismantle two USAID missions, transition hundreds of staff, and relocate her family, while the institution she had served for 18 years was demolished around her.
This is the rare firsthand account of USAID’s unprecedented closure. Told by the leader who fought for her people while her own benefits were delayed. Who maintained transparency when chaos reigned. Who stood in the wreckage and chose integrity over survival.
From navigating a Marburg outbreak response to confronting the “non-plan” that shattered thousands of lives… from betrayal by those she had protected to standing ovations amidst the ruins… Effiom documents with unflinching honesty what happens when soft power is sacrificed for political theater, and what it truly means to lead when everything falls apart.
I Said My Piece with Peace is not just a memoir. It is a testament to servant leadership, a chronicle of institutional collapse, and a love letter to every public servant who gave everything, and kept giving even when the institution stopped giving back.
Essential reading for anyone called to lead with integrity, doing what’s right, even when no one is looking, even when the institution fails, even when the personal cost is high.
When giants fall, the servants remain.
What Readers Are Saying
Join the growing community of readers moved by this powerful story of leadership and resilience.
“Ms. Effiom presents a rare glimpse into the struggles a leader faces when trying to balance conviction and values against a set of declining odds during a traumatic phase in US Foreign Service. Finally we get a memoir that is both raw and honest about the true emotional cost of being a servant leader during formidable challenges… At a time when the world is seeing the effects of an ‘ends justifying the means’ approach to global strategy, Ms. Effiom presents us with her ‘means justifying the end’ alternative. This is guidance that sounds moral, but Ms. Effiom shows us that a moral approach is no less strong than a top-down hierarchical leadership approach, and one that is far more difficult to execute, but also far more rewarding in the end. I had the rare privilege of working with Ms. Effiom during this phase she presents here, and seeing this approach in action is inspiring.“
Benjamin Lawrence
First Official Review • LinkedIn
“Profound. Powerful. Personal. Inspiring. To the point of tears. The term ‘servant leadership’ can seem to imply a strategy or a deliberate effort to accommodate while leading. I think — for you — it’s an inescapable way of seeing people, and the world, and the future. I am not sure giants fell. A large agency was disassembled by ‘small men who wanted to feel large’ — and we have seen that USAID was just the first of many ignorant moves they would make. But real giants don’t need anything or anyone else to feel small. They develop ideas and people who expand, who grow, who take the torch and run further. It is my, (by which I mean our) honor to count you as friend and family. This is the beginning.”
Rex Hauck
Author & Leadership Expert
“Wow! What an incredibly honest telling of your experiences during the destruction of USAID, and your description of how the Administration’s chaos tore at the fabric of teams and tested leaders was eerily familiar and powerfully told! It made me mad and sad all over again!“
Nicholas Enrich
Former Acting Assistant Administrator for Global Health, USAID
“Thank you for sharing such a raw and unvarnished account of leadership in the midst of dismantling not just an agency, but something far more profound in American history. Every former USAID colleague, and those who partnered with us, should read this. There is a piece of all of us in it, and it offers both reflection and quiet inspiration for what comes next. I look forward to continuing the journey with you. I, too, am not finished.”
Maura
Former Deputy Assistant Administrator, USAID
I couldn’t put it down. I needed to stop three times on account of tearing up. A truly strong, raw leadership memoir on the difficulties of being a servant leader through a formidable and traumatic crisis. When I finished it felt like I just got back from a trip to Kigali. My favorite parts were your recipes — a truly creative gem. You have a gift. I am ordering a copy for my 72-year-old mother. We are anxiously awaiting your next one.
Reader
Power-Read in 2 Days
“I just downloaded your book, started reading, and sent notices to family and friends to do the same. Your voice comes through — clear and true. With every word, I feel as if you are sitting in my Dakar apartment sharing your story with me. All my love to you and the extended USAID family.”
Reader
Dakar, Senegal
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