Deputy Assistant Administrator Sarah Gesiriech oversees DDI’s Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Hub, the Inclusive Development Hub, and serves as USAID’s U.S. Government Special Advisor on Children in Adversity. As Special Advisor, she fulfills the legislative mandate set forth in Public Law 109-95: The Assistance for Orphans and Other Vulnerable Children in Developing Countries Act of 2005, which calls for a coordinated, comprehensive, and effective response on the part of the U.S. Government to the world’s most vulnerable children.
 
Ms. Gesiriech also serves as the Agency’s Senior Coordinator for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment. In this position, she oversees programs focused on women’s economic empowerment, reducing gender disparities and gender-based violence, and on increasing the capacity of women and girls to realize their rights, determine their life outcomes, and influence decision-making.
 
Ms. Gesiriech has worked in the field of child and family protection for 25 years in both the public and private sectors. Most recently, she served as Executive Director for the Faith to Action Initiative. She also consulted on global women's empowerment initiatives. Ms. Gesiriech has a long history of government service. She was a member of the White House Domestic Policy Council informing child protection policy and program decisions. As the education adviser to the Office of the First Lady at the U.S. Department of Education, she acted as senior advisor and primary liaison for domestic and international education policy issues and events. She was also director of the Department's International Affairs Office. Prior to that, she served at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, assisting the secretary in policy development for child and family services, youth development, and trafficking in persons. Ms. Gesiriech has also worked on Capitol Hill as a senior advisor to U.S. Senator Charles Grassley on child welfare, health care, and foreign affairs.