Paloma Adams-Allen served in the Biden-Harris Administration as the United States Agency for International Development’s Chief Operating Officer and its first Deputy Administrator for Management and Resources. As second in command, she was responsible for the overall management and day-to-day operations of an agency working in over 100 countries. Paloma also led USAID’s ambitious internal reform agenda designed to drive progress beyond programs, including growing and strengthening the global workforce, advancing workforce and programmatic equity, slashing administrative and programmatic burdens, modernizing private sector engagement, streamlining operations and policies to spur locally-led development, opening up to non-traditional partners, and transitioning to a more hybrid workplace. She also served on the President’s Management Council, a group of senior government officials that advise the President and Office of Management and Budget on executive branch reform. Prior to joining the Administration, Paloma was the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Inter-American Foundation where she secured its largest budget increase in twenty years, modernized operations and partnerships, and expanded grantmaking into new regions and sectors. Before the IAF, Paloma served as Senior Director for global private sector partnerships at Winrock International, at the Organization of American States in several development policy and programming roles, at the Coudert Brothers law firm, and the advocacy organization Caribbean-Central American Action. She also served in the Obama-Biden Administration as Deputy Assistant Administrator and Senior Advisor in USAID’s Latin America and Caribbean Bureau. Ms. Adams-Allen, who spent her childhood between rural Jamaica and New England, earned a JD from Georgetown University Law Center, a Bachelor of Arts in Development Studies from Brown University, and a Masters in International Affairs from Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies. An avid hiker and gardener, she lives in Washington, D.C. with her husband, two awesome daughters, and an energetic puppy.