Veena Reddy Sworn In As USAID's First Indian-American Mission Director

US Agency for International Development (USAID) on Monday named the first Indian-American - Veena Reddy - as its Mission Director.

"Today, Veena Reddy was sworn-in as our new Mission Director. She will be the first Indian-American to lead USAID-India, representing the best of both countries, and aims to bolster US-India's development partnership leveraging her unique experiences and leadership," tweeted USAID.

"Best wishes, Veena USAID-India. India-USAID partnership has the potential to make a difference to the lives of people not only in India and US, but across the world!" tweeted India's Ambassador to the United States Taranjit Singh Sandhu.

Veena Reddy, a Foreign Service Officer with the US Agency for International Development, is USAID/Cambodia's Mission Director.

She arrived in Cambodia in August 2017 and currently oversees a staff of 75 as well as USAID programs in the food security, environment, health, education, child protection, and democracy and governance sectors.

She has served as Deputy Mission Director in Haiti, where she oversaw post-earthquake reconstruction efforts, elections support, economic growth, food security interventions, hurricane response, and the development of a new strategy.

Prior to this posting, she served in Washington as an Assistant General Counsel, covering legal matters for USAID's programs in Asia, Middle East, and Afghanistan, and Pakistan. She has also served in USAID missions in Pakistan, the Central Asian Republics, and Central America.

Ms Reddy was a corporate attorney at Rogers & Wells in New York and at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer and Feld in London and Los Angeles.

She holds a Juris Doctorate (JD) from Columbia University School of Law and an MA and BA degrees from the University of Chicago. She is a member of the New York and California bars.