Bob Leavitt serves as USAID’s Chief Human Capital Officer in the Office of Human Capital and Talent Management (HCTM).  Mr. Leavitt has 25 years’ experience managing humanitarian and development assistance programs and national security policies.
 
Mr. Leavitt previously served as Deputy Assistant Administrator in the Bureau for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance.  From May 2016 until March 2017, Mr. Leavitt led the Agency’s Human Resource Transformation, which sought to best support our colleagues around the world as they advance the Agency’s mission.
 
From 2012 until 2014, Mr. Leavitt served as the USAID Executive Secretary and Senior Advisor for National Security Affairs, which followed his service as the Director of African Affairs at the National Security Council at the White House from 2009 to 2012.  At the National Security Council, Mr. Leavitt led interagency processes, often staffing the President’s meetings and calls with African heads of state. 

Mr. Leavitt joined USAID in 2001 as a Conflict Resolution specialist in the Bureau for Africa.  He provided technical, operational, and strategic support in shaping and implementing U.S. Government policies, strategies, and programs in conflict-affected countries in sub-Saharan Africa.  Mr. Leavitt served for a year and a half as the Agency’s lead representative to the Department of Defense for the initial planning and establishment of U.S. Africa Command.

Based in sub-Saharan Africa, Mr. Leavitt worked with Catholic Relief Services from 1994 through 2000 where he managed humanitarian and development programs, often during complex emergencies, in Angola, southern Sudan, northern Uganda, Ethiopia, and Liberia.

Mr. Leavitt attended the U.S. War College at the School of Advanced Military Studies at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, earning a Master of Advanced Military Arts and Sciences degree.  He holds a Master of International Affairs from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and a Bachelor of Arts in International Affairs and English from the University of New Hampshire.