Samantha Power

Samantha Power is a prominent American journalist, diplomat, and government official currently serving as the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). She was previously the 28th United States Ambassador to the United Nations from 2013 to 2017. Samantha is a member of the Democratic Party.

Her contributions to the cause of genocide prevention were highlighted in the 2014 documentary Watchers of the Sky. She won the Pulitzer Prize in 2003 for her book A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide, which is a study of the U.S. foreign policy response to genocide. She has also been awarded the 2015 Barnard Medal of Distinction and the 2016 Henry A. Kissinger Prize.

As the USAID Administrator, Samantha is responsible for leading the world's premier international development agency and its global staff of over 10,000 people. She is focused on helping the United States respond to four interconnected challenges: the COVID-19 pandemic and the development gains it has imperiled, climate change, conflict and humanitarian crises, and democratic backsliding. Samantha is also the first USAID Administrator to be a member of the National Security Council, where she ensures that development plays a critical role in America's responses to a range of economic, humanitarian, and geopolitical issues.

Prior to joining the Biden-Harris Administration, Samantha was a professor of the practice of global leadership and public policy at Harvard Kennedy School and the William D. Zabel Professor of Practice in Human Rights at Harvard Law School. She served as the US Permanent Representative to the United Nations from 2013 to 2017, where she rallied countries to combat the Ebola epidemic, ratify the Paris climate agreement, and develop new international law to cripple ISIS's financial networks. Samantha worked to negotiate and implement the ambitious Sustainable Development Goals, helped catalyze bold international commitments to care for refugees, and advocated to secure the release of political prisoners, defend civil society from growing repression, and protect the rights of women and girls.

Samantha was the founding executive director of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School and has been recognized as one of Time's "100 Most Influential People," one of Foreign Policy's "Top 100 Global Thinkers," and by Forbes as one of the "World's 100 Most Powerful Women." Power is also an author and editor of multiple books and earned a B.A. from Yale University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.

An immigrant from Ireland, Samantha began her career as a war correspondent in Bosnia, and went on to report from places including Kosovo, Rwanda, Sudan, and Zimbabwe. 

Samantha was the Anna Lindh Professor of the Practice of Global Leadership and Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School and the William D. Zabel Professor of Practice in Human Rights at Harvard Law School. From 2013 to 2017, Samantha served in the Obama-Biden Administration as the 28th US Permanent Representative to the United Nations. 

During her time at the UN, Samantha rallied countries to combat the Ebola epidemic, ratify the Paris climate agreement, and develop new international law to cripple ISIS’s financial networks. She worked to negotiate and implement the ambitious Sustainable Development Goals, helped catalyze bold international commitments to care for refugees, and advocated to secure the release of political prisoners, defend civil society from growing repression, and protect the rights of women and girls. 

From 2009 to 2013, Samantha worked on the National Security Council as Special Assistant to the President for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights. 

Samantha was sworn into office as the 19th Administrator of USAID on May 3, 2021. She was the founding executive director of the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School and has been recognized as one of Time’s “100 Most Influential People,” one of Foreign Policy’s “Top 100 Global Thinkers,” and by Forbes as one of the “World’s 100 Most Powerful Women.”

Published Work

Power’s book “A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide" won the Pulitzer Prize in 2003. She is also the author of the New York Times bestsellers "Chasing the Flame: One Man's Fight to Save the World" and "The Education of an Idealist: A Memoir."

In leading the world’s premier international development agency and its global staff of over 10,000 people, Samantha focusses on helping the United States respond to four interconnected challenges: the COVID-19 pandemic and the development gains it has imperiled; climate change; conflict and humanitarian crises; and democratic backsliding. 

Samantha also ensures that USAID enhances its longstanding leadership in areas including food security, education, women’s empowerment, and global health. Additionally, she is the first USAID Administrator to be a member of the National Security Council, where she ensures that development plays a critical role in America’s responses to a range of economic, humanitarian, and geopolitical issues.