Aler Grubbs’ fascination with the world and its interconnectedness drove her to pursue an international career dedicated to development and diplomacy. She is a Senior Foreign Service officer, and has worked for USAID since 2001 on long-term assignments in Nigeria, Egypt, Pakistan, Bosnia, South Sudan, Central Asia (Kazakhstan), and Washington, DC, as well as short-term assignments in El Salvador, Guatemala, Kenya, Morocco, Lebanon, East Timor, Bolivia, and Uzbekistan. In these different places, Aler has led USAID’s strategic planning, program analysis, project design and budgeting, coordination with other donors and host government, outreach and communications, monitoring and evaluation, and stabilization, counter-extremism, and humanitarian assistance. Aler approaches her work with curiosity, passion for development, informed decision-making, empowerment, teamwork, and collegiality. Her work has contributed to USAID’s achievements in improving stability in crisis situations, providing humanitarian assistance to displaced populations, improving education in conflict environments, catalyzing economic development and private enterprise in post-socialist transition economies, and connecting development with diplomatic efforts to achieve U.S. foreign policy goals.

Prior to joining USAID, Aler worked at the UN headquarters in Geneva; taught English in Central America and Germany; and worked at a local newspaper in Boulder, Colorado, writing about two of her interests – local music and mountain sports.

Aler speaks Spanish and German, and has basic knowledge of Arabic, Russian, and Serbo-Croatian. She has an M.A. in International Policy Studies from Monterey Institute of International Studies in California, and a B.A./Magna Cum Laude in Humanities from University of Colorado.