Adieu CGD, Hello MCC

I’ve been out of school for longer than I’d like to admit, but September still feels like the start of the new year to me. When it rolls around this time, I'll be starting a new position at the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) as a senior policy adviser in the department of policy and evaluation. I'm excited—and might even have some back-to-school jitters—about the opportunity to work alongside the MCC staff on the future of the MCC in US development policy. But it's incredibly hard to leave CGD, where I have had the privilege and the honor to work since 2006, leading its policy outreach and later building on the success of the MCC Monitor and Rethinking US Foreign Assistance Initiative.

Both of my CGD roles required me to be an outside-insider who understood the challenges and incentives of those working on development policy on the inside (either within the US government or on Capitol Hill) but knew how to think, work and communicate research and ideas from an independent, outside perspective.

My new job at MCC will be a role-reversal: I'll have the opportunity to bring the outside perspective in. I'll be taking everything I've learned from my colleagues about rigorous research, savvy communications and collaboration with a wide range of advocates, technical experts and others to turn development ideas into action. And I hope you'll help me hold onto the outsider perspective as long as possible by keeping in touch, sharing your advice and ideas, and offering constructive criticism along the way.

I will also be looking for ideas and input from CGD's Rethinking US Foreign Assistance Initiative, which will be led by CGD senior fellow and new program director Ben Leo after my departure. You'll be hearing lots more from him in the days ahead and I hope you’ll help him feel as welcome as I did when I took over the program. So for now: adieu CGD, hello MCC!