Thank you for welcoming me.

As you know, I just joined the USAID family. It is an immense honor—not only because of the incredible results that our Agency has achieved over the past 50 years…

…but because of the critical importance of development in an increasingly dynamic and unpredictable world.

That’s why it is also a tremendous honor to be with all of you today—because we have not and do not do this work alone.

Working hand-in-hand with all of you is essential to achieving our Agency’s mission of ending extreme poverty and promoting resilient, democratic societies. 

You know, one of the most common questions I’ve received over the past few weeks is, “After more than 30 years in the Army, why did you come to USAID?”

To me, the answer is simple. Having deployed across the world, I’ve seen how the United States’ development efforts represent the vanguard of our national and economic security.

Because time and again, we’ve seen the intersection of extreme ideology, extreme poverty, and extreme climate routinely push millions of people to the edge of survival, and challenge our collective security.

And every day, more than a billion people who live in extreme poverty are forced to make daily choices among food, medicine, housing, and education.

Faced with such dire circumstances, children are pulled from school to work in the fields; girls are sold into marriage; and young men seek some level of comfort in extremism.

It happens in country after country. And the consequences are absolutely dire.

Where we see girls kidnapped from school, we also see violent groups threatening the stability of an entire country.

Where famine threatens, we also see leaders fan the flames of conflict, sending farmers fleeing from their homes and fields in the middle of the planting season.

And where mothers often die in the midst of giving life, we see promising economies tumble back into centuries past.

In order to confront these realities, we are focusing—as an Agency—with renewed energy on answering President Obama’s call to end extreme poverty in the next two decades, and unlock a virtual cycle of growth and opportunity.

In doing so, we are taking aim at the greatest threats of our time without having to fire a single shot!

What’s more, our development legacy is a strategy grounded in a history of success.

Take South Korea. Once an aid recipient, is it now our sixth-largest trading partner. And a contributing donor nation.

Or Brazil. 40 years ago, USAID rushed in to fight a food crisis and save millions of people from starvation. Today, Brazil is one of the world’s largest agricultural producers, and the seventh-largest economy.  It too now is a donor nation.

Or Europe—which we built up in the aftermath of World War II under the Marshall plan, and now constitutes some of our strongest allies.  Many of which are steadfast donor nations.

Simply put, at USAID, I see my personal opportunity to make a real, lasting contribution to this extraordinary legacy of success—and to the extraordinary efforts already under way. 

And because on the whole, our work is about adding value to the world—and as the rest of the developing world rises to a higher standard, strengthening the welfare of the American people.

It is a story I witnessed firsthand in Tanzania, where I spent the past four years as Ambassador.

I saw how—as a result of our development efforts—girls and boys go to sleep every night with their bellies full of nutritious foods that fuel their minds as much as their bodies.

These children go to school every day—free from the daily terror of being sold off as child brides or conscripted as child soldiers.

And, they turn on the lights when they get home—with energy sourced from wind farms and geo-thermal stations.

As they survive and thrive, birth rates go down and countries experience a demographic dividend that creates jobs and spurs economic progress.

But perhaps even more important than the results we deliver is the process that got us there.

On Zanzibar, for instance, malaria used to affect nearly 50 percent of all people. Thanks to our efforts, we’ve driven malaria rates down to less than one percent. (And holding steady for the past 4 years now).

This kind of success was made possible because of a focus on innovation, collaboration, and teamwork.

It took the work of several different partners—from USAID, to local leaders, to our implementing partners—to tailor cutting-edge solutions that created a sustainable and enduring impact.

This is a lesson I learned over and over during my time in Tanzania— reminding me everyday of the importance of partnership, setting clear goals, and thinking creatively.

And I will bring that same set of values to my work here at USAID.

That’s why my focus will be on one core discipline: namely management.

I’ll work to make our partnerships more nimble, creative, and effective.

And I’ll work to ensure our Agency’s operations are as efficient and consistent as possible, so that we’re good stewards of the precious resources entrusted to us by the American people.

A key part of that effort is institutionalizing the reforms Administrator Shah has made under President Obama’s leadership.

Over the past four years, we’ve rebuilt our policy and budget capabilities…

…adopted a rigorous approach to evaluation and transparency…

…hired more than 1,100 new staff…

…and prioritized a strong focus on partnering that has enabled us to achieve outstanding results.

This has empowered our Agency to launch groundbreaking programs that are lifting the world’s most vulnerable families from the tragic cycle of extreme poverty.

Through Power Africa, we’re working to bring electricity to at least 60 million households and businesses across sub-Saharan Africa. That’s equivalent to expanding power to all of California and Texas combined.

Through Feed the Future, we’ve helped 7 million farmers boost their harvests with new technologies and management practices, and improved nutrition for more than 12 million children—all in the past year alone.

And through the U.S. Global Development Lab, we’ve received 10,000 applicants for our innovation competitions—and nearly 70 percent of them have never worked with us before.

These successes are only possible because we are embracing a new model of development—one grounded in innovation, responsive leadership, and public-private partnerships.

This approach is a recognition that we stand at an incredible moment in development—as new tools and opportunities have made it possible to achieve progress that was simply unimaginable in the past.

Today, growing private capital flows serves as the engine of growth and opportunity worldwide.

New technologies—like mobile phones for farmers and health workers—have transformed the lives of billions of people in some of the most remote corners of the world.

And, new partnerships with firms and universities have reshaped the field of development—enabling us to work on a far greater scale than ever before.

But, if we hope to seize this moment—and bring an end to extreme poverty—we will need your help in driving this new model forward in every place we work.

Today, we’re already seeing what’s possible when we work alongside our implementing partners to do just that.

We’re working with DAI to build prosthetic limbs in the field using 3-D printing technology.

We’re working with Chemonics in El Salvador to create technologies that help small holder farmers preserve high-value crops and ship them efficiently to local food processors.

And, we’re working with Freedom Consulting to run our Geo-Center—empowering thousands of innovators to create precise maps of everything from drought in Mali, to disaster relief in the Philippines.

These are just a few examples of the scores of creative new partnerships we’re forming with all of you.

And they underscore how innovation is transforming not only the ways we can work together, but the results we can deliver.

But we need to keep moving forward.  

We need to continue to open our doors to scientists, engineers, and innovators around the world to define the challenges, test our ideas, and scale the solutions.

We need to measure success differently.  Mentor local organizations and companies. Build sustainable markets.

And we need to work every day to ensure that our efforts will be replaced by those of strong institutions, vibrant private sectors, and thriving civil societies.

We look to you to serve as champions of this new way of working. Your partnership is essential to building enduring progress in the world’s most vulnerable communities.

As you do, you’ll be creating opportunities abroad in the markets of the future—even as you help build the pathways out of poverty for millions of people around the world.

And we look forward to continuing to serve with you as partners in answering President Obama’s call to action and end extreme poverty forever.

After all, there’s a good reason that our new mission statement starts with two words: “We Partner.” We take that very seriously.

Because together, we can deliver the best, most sustainable development results possible—for our beneficiaries, for our partner countries, and for the United States of America.

Thank you again for welcoming me to your family of kindred spirits. I will do everything in my power to maintain our excellent partnership and I look forward to meeting with the Executive Advisory Board next month.