Young and untested, USAID chief Shah steps into spotlight in Haiti relief efforts

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Shah steps into spotlight in Haiti relief efforts

WASHINGTON — Dr. Rajiv Shah had barely moved into his new office at the U.S. Agency for International Development when the devastating earthquake struck Haiti and President Barack Obama tapped the untested administrator as point man for relief efforts.

A medical doctor with a master’s degree in health economics, Shah is leading the government’s massive earthquake response, which encompasses several Cabinet departments and military branches, and has been largely responsible for briefing the president and senior officials on the progress. On Saturday, Shah traveled to Haiti with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to get a firsthand look at the devastation and the U.S. relief efforts.

Increasingly, the 36-year-old Shah has become the public face for the administration’s efforts in Haiti. Hours after the quake struck, Shah was booked on the network morning shows — the first time he’d ever done live television interviews. He rounded off the week with appearances on all five Sunday morning programs. And after a high-level White House meeting Tuesday, Shah briefed the news media.

But to say his transition has been quick would be an understatement.

Nominated in November and confirmed by the Senate a month later, Shah was sworn in Jan. 7, just five days before the 7-magnitude quake struck Haiti. He was thrust into his new role with nearly 100 political appointee positions remaining to be filled, a huge undertaking at an agency where that process had already been delayed during the 10 months it took Obama to nominate Shah.

The vacancies have effectively left Shah working without a safety net, relying on a handful of staffers who were with him during his confirmation and transition process and taking on many responsibilities that would otherwise fall to deputies.

Former USAID Administrator J. Brian Atwood, who coordinated the government’s response in 1998 when Hurricane Mitch devastated parts of Central America, said Shah is doing a “fantastic job,” given those circumstances.

“He’s in some ways establishing himself as force in Washington,” Atwood said.

Shah made not be a well-known name in Washington, but he has steadily been building a reputation in the development community, catching the eye of Clinton, who has been one of his biggest supporters since the earthquake.

As an executive at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Shah launched the foundation’s Global Development program, managing a $1.3 billion investment profile. Most recently, he served as an undersecretary at the Agriculture Department, overseeing more than 10,000 staff around the world. He traveled to Haiti last year to assess the country’s agriculture needs.

After his nomination, Shah told colleagues that the next three years would be crucial to the future of USAID, which has been weakened as its staff was cut and some of its functions were folded into the State Department. Shah sought advice from former development officials, including Atwood, whom he met with three times, and James Lee Witt, the former Federal Emergency Management Agency director who is credited with restoring the department’s reputation after a period of turmoil.

Many in the development community say Shah’s lead role in the Haiti response gives him an opportunity to have a similar impact on a battered USAID.

“This is his coming-out party,” said Joy Portella, communications director for Mercy Corps, an aid organization working in Haiti. “This will be largely what will define him and his reputation going forward.”