USAID Afghanistan Leadership in Washington D.C.

William Hammink - Assistant to the Administrator

Jason Foley - Deputy Assistant to the Administrator

Joakim Parker - Deputy Assistant to the Administrator

Hugo Llorens, Special Chargé d’Affaires

Term of Appointment: 12/2016 to present

Ambassador Hugo Llorens is the Special Chargé d’Affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, where he leads the largest Embassy in the world with a multi-billion dollar budget, and a combined staff of 3,000 U.S. local and Third Country employees representing 19 U.S. government agencies. From October 2013 to 2016 he served as Principal Officer of the U.S. Consulate General in Sydney, Australia, where he directed the operations of the oldest diplomatic mission in the Asia Pacific region (established in 1836). Previously Ambassador Hugo Llorens was the Assistant Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul from May 2012 to June a 2013. In that position, he served as the Chief Operating Officer of the largest Embassy in the world with a combined staff of 3,000 U.S. local and Third Country employees representing 19 U.S. government agencies. Prior to his assignment in Afghanistan, Llorens was Ambassador-in-Residence and a faculty advisor at the National War College in Fort McNair Washington DC. 

Llorens served as U.S. Ambassador to Honduras from September 2008 to July 2011. Before his nomination and confirmation as Ambassador, he served for two years as the Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) at the American Embassy in Madrid, where he took up his duties on September 1, 2006. Ambassador Llorens was also Deputy Chief of Mission at the American Embassy in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he served for three years from August 2003 until July 2006.

From 2002-2003, Mr. Llorens was Director of Andean Affairs at the NSC, where he was the principal advisor to the President and National Security Advisor on issues pertaining to Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador. Prior to the NSC, he served for three years as Principal Officer at the Consulate General in Vancouver, Canada. In Vancouver, he created a novel multi-agency “Law Enforcement Hub” that included the opening of FBI, ATF, U.S. Customs, Secret Service, and Regional Security offices to work with Canadian counterparts on counterterrorism and international crime investigations.

From 1997-1999, Mr. Llorens was Deputy Director of the Office of Economic Policy in the Bureau of Inter-American Affairs where he helped launch the FTAA negotiations in 1998. As a 30-year veteran, he has served in economic, commercial, and consular positions in Tegucigalpa, La Paz, Asunción, San Salvador, and Manila.

Mr. Llorens received his Master of Science in National Security Studies, National War College in 1997; Master of Arts in Economics, University of Kent at Canterbury, England in 1980; and Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University in 1977.

Mr. Llorens has earned numerous awards for distinguished performance, including eight Superior Honor and five Meritorious Honor Awards. He is a past recipient of the Cobb Award for excellence in the promotion of U.S. business, was runner-up for the Saltzman Award for distinguished performance in advancing U.S. international economic interests, and was nominated for the James Baker Award for superior performance by a Deputy Chief of Mission. He speaks Spanish, Tagalog, and some French.

He is married to Lisett Aparicio Llorens, and they have two sons, Andrew 26 and Dirk 24.

Visit the website of the Embassy of the United States in Kabul, Afghanistan

USAID Mission Director Herbert Smith

Term of Appointment: 9/2015 to present

On September 3, 2015, Herbert Smith was sworn in as Mission Director to Afghanistan.

Mr. Smith most recently served as USAID’s Mission Director in Yemen and as Acting Mission Director in USAID/Haiti.

Mr. Smith has been with USAID since 1979 serving in both Washington in the Office of Food for Peace (USAID/FFP) and in numerous overseas posts including Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Indonesia and Lebanon. From 2007-2008, Mr. Smith served as the Deputy Team Leader of the Provincial Reconstruction Team in Fallujah for USAID/Iraq and from 2008-2010, he was the Director of USAID/Afghanistan's Office of Provincial Reconstruction Teams, where he was responsible for 150 American Officers working on Provincial Reconstruction Teams throughout the country.

Mr. Smith has an M.A. in international affairs from American University, and a B.A. in political science from the University of Delaware. He served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Senegal from 1976 to 1978. He is married to Sarah, and father to Christian and Andrew. Mr. Smith is a native of Delaware and has a permanent home there in Ocean View.

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USAID Deputy Mission Director Tamra Halmrast-Sanchez

Term of Appointment: 09/2015 to present

Ms. Halmrast-Sanchez has over 30 years of experience in international development and humanitarian assistance. Over the course of her career with USAID, Ms. Halmrast-Sanchez has worked throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Currently, she serves as the Deputy Mission Director for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Mission in Afghanistan. 

Prior to joining USAID/Afghanistan, Ms. Halmrast-Sanchez served as the USAID/Yemen Technical Officer Director/ Deputy Director (2013-2015) and Director of the USAID Office of American Schools and Hospitals Abroad from 2011-2013. From 2008-2009, she was a member of the U.S. Government Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT), and from 2009-2011, as the Director for PRTs. From 1999 to 2004, she served as the Deputy Director of the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance. Ms. Halmrast-Sanchez led several Disaster Assistance Response Teams (DART), including responses to Hurricane Mitch in Honduras (1998), civil strife in Kosovo (1999), famine in Ethiopia (2000), and the earthquake in Bam, Iran (2004). She was the USAID Director for Operations for the responses to the 2005 earthquake in Pakistan and the 2007 conflict in Lebanon.

Ms. Halmrast-Sanchez started her career as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Guatemala (1984-1986). She received a Bachelor of Science degree in education from Valley City State University in North Dakota (1983) and a Master’s degree from the National Defense University Industrial College of the Armed Forces (2005).

USAID Deputy Mission Director Michael R. McCord

Term of Appointment: 10/2016 to present

Michael R. McCord arrived in October 2016 as Deputy Mission Director, overseeing the Mission’s Infrastructure and Economic Growth portfolios as well as the Office of Acquisition and Assistance and the Office of Program and Project Design.  Mr. McCord also chairs the Mission’s Fraud and Counter-Terrorism Vetting Program and the Mission Environmental Working Group.

A career Foreign Service Officer, Mr. McCord’s previous assignments include Supervisory Program Officer in South Africa, Supervisory Program Officer in South Sudan, Stabilization Unit Director in Afghanistan, Supervisory Program Officer in Zambia, and Project Development Officer in Ethiopia.  He also served as a USAID Democracy Fellow in Eritrea.  Prior to joining USAID, Mr. McCord managed democracy and governance and humanitarian relief activities, beginning in 1993 with the conflict in Rwanda.  He is a U.S. Army veteran, with both active and reserve service, including mobilization to Afghanistan from 2002-2003.

Mr. McCord has a J.D. from the University of Oregon and a B.A. in Economics from San Diego State University.