USAID's Gutting and The Future of International Aid: Ambassador Erin Mckee

This week, Kelly talks with former assistant administrator of USAID, Erin McKee, in light of the department’s gutting in recent months. She is now serving as the CEO of Nova Ukraina, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing humanitarian aid to the people of Ukraine and raising awareness about Ukraine in the United States and throughout the world.

Erin McKee is a career US diplomat who served as assistant administrator of the US Agency for International Development for Europe and Eurasia from 2022 to 2025. She also served as the United States ambassador to Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and Vanuatu from 2019 to 2022 under both Presidents Trump and Biden. Her long career in USAID has spanned missions in Kazakhstan, Iraq, Peru, Bolivia, Israel, and Russia, and as Mission Director in Indonesia.

Read more about Erin's work with Nova Ukraine here: https://novaukraine.org/category/press/

The opinions expressed in this conversation are strictly those of the participants and do not represent the views of Georgetown University or any government entity.

Produced by Abdalla Nasef and Freddie Mallinson. 

Recorded on August 28, 2025. Diplomatic Immunity, a podcast from the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University, brings you frank and candid conversations with experts on the issues facing diplomats and national security decision-makers around the world.

Funding support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York.

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