Names: Lynne Weil from USAID to State
The head of public affairs at the U.S. Agency for International Development leaves the agency today to join the public diplomacy shop in Foggy Bottom. Lynne Weil, who started as the top spokesperson for USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah in March, turns over the press shop to her deputy Lars Anderson, who is also in charge ...
The head of public affairs at the U.S. Agency for International Development leaves the agency today to join the public diplomacy shop in Foggy Bottom.
The head of public affairs at the U.S. Agency for International Development leaves the agency today to join the public diplomacy shop in Foggy Bottom.
Lynne Weil, who started as the top spokesperson for USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah in March, turns over the press shop to her deputy Lars Anderson, who is also in charge of communications matters involving Afghanistan and Pakistan. No word yet if Anderson will get the job permanently or if Shah will seek a full time replacement for Weil.
Weil is taking a new post as senior advisor to Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy Judith McHale. Weil will have a wide portfolio there, including outreach to Congress and working with intra-government interlocutors at agencies such as the Broadcasting Board of Governors and the Government Accountability Office.
That should be a good fit for Weil, who worked on Capitol Hill as the communications director for House Foreign Affairs committee chairman Howard Berman (D-CA) before moving over to USAID. Weil also worked for the late Rep. Tom Lantos, former Sen. Joe Biden, and was a reporter for some 15 years.
"It has been very satisfying to be part of USAID at such a pivotal moment in its history; this is an exciting, transformative time, and even better times are ahead for this amazing agency," Weil wrote in a farewell e-mail to colleagues. "The extraordinary, varied and inspiring work done here in partnership with people around the globe will bring about a better future for us all. Serving with them in support of this cause has been an honor."
Josh Rogin covers national security and foreign policy and writes the daily Web column The Cable. His column appears bi-weekly in the print edition of The Washington Post. He can be reached for comments or tips at josh.rogin@foreignpolicy.com.
Previously, Josh covered defense and foreign policy as a staff writer for Congressional Quarterly, writing extensively on Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantánamo Bay, U.S.-Asia relations, defense budgeting and appropriations, and the defense lobbying and contracting industries. Prior to that, he covered military modernization, cyber warfare, space, and missile defense for Federal Computer Week Magazine. He has also served as Pentagon Staff Reporter for the Asahi Shimbun, Japan's leading daily newspaper, in its Washington, D.C., bureau, where he reported on U.S.-Japan relations, Chinese military modernization, the North Korean nuclear crisis, and more.
A graduate of George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs, Josh lived in Yokohama, Japan, and studied at Tokyo's Sophia University. He speaks conversational Japanese and has reported from the region. He has also worked at the House International Relations Committee, the Embassy of Japan, and the Brookings Institution.
Josh's reporting has been featured on CNN, MSNBC, C-Span, CBS, ABC, NPR, WTOP, and several other outlets. He was a 2008-2009 National Press Foundation's Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellow, 2009 military reporting fellow with the Knight Center for Specialized Journalism and the 2011 recipient of the InterAction Award for Excellence in International Reporting. He hails from Philadelphia and lives in Washington, D.C. Twitter: @joshrogin
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