Leslie Reed began her tour as USAID Mission Director for Egypt in August 2020, after having served as Mission Director in several other countries. Most recently, she completed a year-long tour as Mission Director in South Sudan, where she led the development of the mission’s new Country Development Cooperation Strategy, approved the establishment of a new FSN Advisory Leadership Council and collaborated with the mission’s humanitarian assistance team to respond to historic floods, rising food insecurity and COVID-19. She served as Mission Director for Ethiopia from 2016 to 2019, where she led a major effort to support the reform efforts of the new Prime Minister, the development of the Mission’s new Country Development Cooperation Strategy, and responses to several humanitarian crises. As Mission Director for Uganda from 2012–2016, Ms. Reed pioneered the Mission of Leaders Program that received agency-wide accolades for empowering staff to lead at all levels, resulting in greater development results.

Ms. Reed also served as Deputy Regional Mission Director for USAID's Southern African Mission, as USAID’s Assistant General Counsel for Africa in Washington D.C., and as a Foreign Service regional legal advisor in Lima, Peru, and Accra, Ghana.

Before joining USAID, Ms. Reed was a senior project finance officer and assistant general counsel for the Export-Import Bank of the United States and an associate with the law firm of Morrison & Foerster in Los Angeles.

Ms. Reed is a graduate of UCLA School of Law and the University of California, San Diego.