Lives of Consequence
Mark Hannafin '90
Deputy Executive Secretary, U.S. Agency for International Development
Mark Hannafin, deputy executive secretary of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), spends his days promoting peace internationally. USAID, created in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy, administers foreign aid to civilians in need. Hannafin is also an adjunct professor at George Washington University's Elliot School of International Relations where he teaches graduate students about international conflict prevention.
In his role as deputy executive secretary, Hannafin oversees a team that coordinates USAID leadership correspondence with the White House, State Department, Congress and USAID bureaus and missions around the world. He staffs and advises the USAID administrator on national security issues and presidential priorities. Prior to becoming deputy executive secretary in 2011, Hannafin worked as a senior conflict adviser in the Office of Conflict Management and Mitigation in the USAID Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance for five years. In this role, he covered the Middle East, North Africa, West Africa, Sudan, Russia, the former Yugoslavia, the Caucasus and Central Asia and designed programs to stop or prevent violence.
Hannafin's list of experiences is extensive. He was a co-chair of the new USAID policy on youth in development and is the primary author of USAID's action plan for engaging diaspora in conflict and development activities. He led the USAID task team in planning for the Sudan referendum for self-determination. He has been a guest lecturer at American University, Georgetown University, the University of Wisconsin and guest presenter at the Woodrow Wilson Center, Carnegie Endowment for Peace and the U.S. Institute for Peace.
Prior to joining the USAID office in Washington, Hannafin was the conflict prevention officer for USAID/Central Asia in Almaty, Kazakhstan. He has lived and worked for more than 10 years in the former Soviet Union focusing on peace building, economic development, local governance, anti-trafficking in persons and political processes with USAID, the International Finance Corporation/World Bank and the International City Management Association. He learned Russian from his time overseas, at HWS and at Middlebury Summer School.
At Hobart, Hannafin graduated with a B.A. in English and was an active member of the Bartlett Theater. After graduating, he helped launch the internationally recognized magazine, Tricycle: The Buddhist Review in New York City. He went on to join the Peace Corps as a volunteer from 1993 to 1995 where he served as part of the first group of Peace Corps volunteers in the Kyrgyz Republic. Upon his return to the states, Hannafin attended The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University where he received a master's degree in law and diplomacy with a concentration in international finance and business, and Islamic civilizations. He lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife and two children.