2012 Congressional Budget Justification
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Board of directors and senior management
Members of the Board
Jack Leslie, Chairman
Jack Leslie is the chairman of Weber Shandwick, one of the world's leading public relations firms. Mr. Leslie is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, former Chairman of the Board of USA for UNHCR (the UN Refugee Agency) and a participant in UNHCR Missions to Afghanistan (1998), Kosovo (1999) and Tanzania (2001). He is a trustee of the Circumnavigators Foundation and is a director of various corporate boards.
Dr. John O. Agwunobi, Vice-Chairman
Dr. John Agwunobi is currently the Senior Vice President and President of Health & Wellness for Wal-Mart Stores Division, overseeing the company’s health and wellness business unit, which includes pharmacies, vision centers, and health care clinics. Prior to joining Wal-Mart, he was the Assistant Secretary for Health for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and an Admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. He has served as Florida’s Secretary of Health and as a pediatrician.
Mimi Alemayehou, Board Member 
Ms. Alemayehou serves as Executive Vice President of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation. Previously, she was the United States Executive Director at the African Development Bank, where she was responsible for executing Board decisions on behalf of the United States government. As the senior US Treasury official in Africa, she pushed for reforms to make the Bank more transparent and more engaged with outside stakeholders. Earlier, she founded Trade Links, LLC, a development consulting firm that worked with clients on emerging markets issues and promoting African exports under the African Growth and Opportunity Act. Earlier in her career she worked in the US Congress. Ms. Alemayehou is a naturalized US Citizen; she was born in Ethiopia and spent her early years in Kenya before immigrating to the United States.
Ward Brehm, Board Member
Ward Brehm is an entrepreneur and public servant, engaged in African humanitarian efforts and public speaking on African relief and development. In his professional life, he is Founder and Chairman of The Brehm Group, a Twin Cities, Minnesota-based insurance consulting firm. Previously, Mr. Brehm served as Chairman of the Board of USADF from 2004-2008. In 2008, he was the keynote speaker at the 2008 National Prayer Breakfast -- the first person from the business community to do so. That year, he also was awarded the Presidential Citizenship Medal, the country's second-highest civilian honor, for his work in Africa. He has authored two books on his experiences in Africa, Life Through A Different Lens and White Man Walking. He and his wife Kris live in Minneapolis, MN and have three adult children, Andy, Michael and Sarah.
Ambassador Johnnie Carson, Board Member
Ambassador Carson serves as the Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of African Affairs. Previously, he was the National Intelligence Officer for Africa at the National Intelligence Council and Senior Vice President of the National Defense University. Mr. Carson's 37+ year Foreign Service career includes ambassadorships to Kenya, Zimbabwe, and Uganda, and posts in Botswana, Mozambique, and Nigeria. Earlier, he was Staff Director for the Africa Subcommittee of the US House of Representatives and a Peace Corps volunteer in Tanzania. He has received several Superior Honor Awards from the State Department, a Meritorious Service Award from Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, and the Centers for Disease Control highest award, "Champion of Prevention Award," for his leadership in directing the US Government's HIV/AIDS prevention efforts in Kenya.
Julius E. Coles, Board Member
Julius E. Coles recently served as the President of Africare. Before assuming this position, Mr. Coles was the Director of Morehouse College’s Andrew Young Center for International Affairs from 1997 - 2002. He served as the Director of Howard University’s Ralph J. Bunche International Affairs Center from 1994 - 1997. Most of Mr. Coles’ 28 year career in Foreign Service was spent as a senior official with the United States Agency for International Development where he worked in Swaziland and Senegal, Liberia, Vietnam, Morocco, and Nepal.
Morgan M. Davis, Board Member
Morgan Davis currently serves on the Boards of Directors for Montpelier Re Holdings Ltd., OneBeacon Insurance Group, Ltd., and White Mountains Insurance Group, Ltd. Morgan is a member of the Board of Directors at the United States African Development Foundation, as well as a member of the internal Audit Committee.
Morgan is the former Chairman of the Board for Global Strategies for HIV Prevention and is a former member of the Faith Alive Foundation. It was Morgan's involvement with Global Strategies that brought him to Jos, Nigeria several times, where the organization worked diligently to improve the health care options for the region. Morgan resides in Southern California with his wife Sandy.
Executive Management
Lloyd O. Pierson, President
Lloyd O. Pierson is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the United States African Development Foundation and previously served on the Board of Directors from 2004-2006. In his previous position, he was nominated by the President and confirmed by the United States Senate as the Assistant Administrator for Africa at USAID. During his time as Assistant Administrator at USAID, he gave priority attention to the U.S. trade hubs and opened the hub in Dakar, Senegal. Prior to that, he was Chief of Staff/Chief of Operations for the Peace Corps and during a transition period served as Acting Worldwide Director of Peace Corps. He has been Peace Corps Country Director in Ghana, Botswana, Namibia and Swaziland, and was co-negotiator for the Peace Corps bilateral agreement allowing volunteers to enter Zimbabwe. Mr. Pierson has been a member of the United States delegation to the World Trade Organization talks in Hong Kong, head of the U.S. delegation to the inauguration of President Pohamba in Namibia, head of the U.S. Delegation to the Congo River Basin multi-lateral talks in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, and a member of the United States Presidential Delegation observing the election of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in Liberia. He was selected as the United States Representative to address the plenary closing session of the United Nations on international volunteerism.