A career member of the U.S. Senior Foreign Service, Ramona M El Hamzaoui has been with USAID for 20 years. 

Before joining USAID/India as the Deputy Mission Director in July 2017, Ramona was posted in the Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where she served as USAID Deputy Mission Director. 

Prior to Ethiopia, Ramona served in Dhaka, Bangladesh, where she managed several presidential initiatives under the economic development portfolio.

Ramona’s USAID assignments include tours in Africa, Asia and Latin America. She served as Acting Mission Director and Program Office Director in Rabat, Morocco, and Agriculture Officer and Democracy Officer in Bogota, Colombia, focused on alternative development, human rights, local governance and access to justice programs.

Prior to joining USAID, Ramona worked for the U.S. Department of Agriculture in the International Cooperation/Research and Scientific Exchanges Division supporting Middle East Peace Process scientific exchange programs. She worked for five years as an associate Peace Corps director in Morocco managing agriculture, environment and veterinary programs. Her private sector experience includes work with an environmental consulting firm in Vermont and the International Programs Office at the University of Maine.

A native Vermonter, Ms. El Hamzaoui holds a Master’s Degree in wildlife conservation from the University of Maine where she concentrated on the economic valuation of natural resources.  Ms. El Hamzaoui speaks French, Spanish and Moroccan Arabic.