Gates Foundation Executive Becomes Head of USAID

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Last week, President Obama named Dr. Rajiv Shah to head America’s US Agency for International Development (USAID). Rajiv J Shah, a medical doctor and health economist now at the Agriculture Department for six months and previously an executive with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, will head an important agency whose power has eroded seriously in the Bush Administration.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has placed development as a core part of her foreign policy agenda and has publicly expressed total frustration over finding a 10 months process of finding a high quality leader who could survive the exhaustive confirmation process.

“USAID is a damaged agency that must take on institutional strengthening as a first order of business,” says Thomas Carothers, director of the Democracy and Rule of Law Program at the Carnegie Institute for International Peace in Washington. via ABC news

Because Dr. Shah is 36 Carothers suggests that he will bring fresh viewpoints to the position and a portfolio of skills, yet “does not have the gravitas to suggest the president intends to upgrade USAID to a cabinet-level agency.”

Dr. Shah has previously been confirmed by Congress, and it’s expected that he should be approved quickly. To say that the new head of USAID walks into an agency under fire is an understatement. With family roots in India, Dr. Shah’s the first person of color to head USAID.

Gates Foundation Becomes Bond Guarantor for Houston Charter Schools

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The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation unveiled a new financial guarantee instrument to assist high-performing charter schools in Houston.

Bill & Melinda Gates at the KIPP School, Houston, TexasCharter schools are granted more freedom in curriculum and hiring but typically receive significantly less public funding than conventional district public schools. With no state funding for capital expenses and an inability to issue voter-approved general obligation bonds, charter schools can’t borrow money on favorable terms.

The Gates Foundation’s investment will allow KIPP Houston to obtain favorable borrowing terms, saving an estimated $10 million over the 35-year life of the bonds, said the charter network’s founder Mike Feinberg. It will also allow the Gates Foundation - whose assets declinedn by about 20% in 2008 - to use their balance sheet to support the causes they care about without having to give the money away. via Wall Street Journal

The first bond guarantees will advance Houston’s Knowledge Is Power Program, or KIPP, to help its schools secure funding in tax-exempt bonds. The financing is aimed at expanding student enrollment from 4,500 in 15 schools to 21,000 students in 42 schools in the next decade.

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Irina Bokova First Woman to Head UNESCO

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Bulgaria’s Bokova is new UNESCO Director GeneralBeyond the Veil| Irina Bokova, Bulgaria’s ambassador to France and UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, narrowly defeated the Egyptian culture minister on Tuesday night to become the first woman to lead Unesco.

Bokova is an expert in arms control and a 57-year-old mother with two grown children who is a fervent advocate of political pluralism and European integration.

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