Full Name
Marcia Wong
Job Title
Deputy Assistant to the Administrator
Company (Please input the full name of your organization)
USAID
Speaking At
Speaker Bio
Marcia Wong is a Deputy Assistant Administrator of USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA), the U.S. Government lead for international disaster response. With a mandate to save lives, alleviate human suffering, and reduce the impact of disasters, BHA monitors, mitigates, and responds to global hazards and humanitarian needs. The Bureau also promotes resilience by preparing communities for disasters before they strike, and by helping people recover and move beyond crises.
Prior to BHA, Ms. Wong was Head of Policy for the International Committee of the Red Cross/Regional Delegation for the US and Canada, where she led efforts to advance humanitarian policies which addressed conduct of hostilities and needs of people affected by conflict. She has over twenty-five years of experience with the U.S. Department of State, where she was a career member of the Senior Foreign Service. Her previous experience with USAID includes an assignment from State Department to the USAID Mission in North Macedonia, where she served as Economic Growth Director (and provided support to the USAID Mission in Kosovo). She served in USAID again in 2015 as a Senior Policy Advisor in the Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Affairs. Before joining USAID in 2013, she was the Intergovernmental Affairs Director at the U.S. Institute of Peace, and led the Civilian-Military Relations Working Group.
Over the course of her government career, Ms. Wong was an Associate Dean at the Foreign Service Institute, overseeing training for U.S. personnel assigned to Iraq and Afghanistan. She helped strengthen the State Department’s crisis response capacity, with the establishment of the Secretary's Office of Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Stabilization (now CSO), and served as its first Deputy, then Acting Coordinator. She also helped establish the Secretary’s Office for Foreign Assistance. Overseas assignments include Macedonia, Russia, and Japan. She has traveled extensively on short missions to the former Soviet Union, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Ms. Wong was also Deputy Executive Secretary to two Secretaries of State. Early in her State Department career, Ms. Wong focused on energy and security sector reforms. She was a MIT Seminar XXI Fellow (class of 2020), and holds B.A. degrees in International Relations and Political Science from Brown University.
Prior to BHA, Ms. Wong was Head of Policy for the International Committee of the Red Cross/Regional Delegation for the US and Canada, where she led efforts to advance humanitarian policies which addressed conduct of hostilities and needs of people affected by conflict. She has over twenty-five years of experience with the U.S. Department of State, where she was a career member of the Senior Foreign Service. Her previous experience with USAID includes an assignment from State Department to the USAID Mission in North Macedonia, where she served as Economic Growth Director (and provided support to the USAID Mission in Kosovo). She served in USAID again in 2015 as a Senior Policy Advisor in the Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Affairs. Before joining USAID in 2013, she was the Intergovernmental Affairs Director at the U.S. Institute of Peace, and led the Civilian-Military Relations Working Group.
Over the course of her government career, Ms. Wong was an Associate Dean at the Foreign Service Institute, overseeing training for U.S. personnel assigned to Iraq and Afghanistan. She helped strengthen the State Department’s crisis response capacity, with the establishment of the Secretary's Office of Post-Conflict Reconstruction and Stabilization (now CSO), and served as its first Deputy, then Acting Coordinator. She also helped establish the Secretary’s Office for Foreign Assistance. Overseas assignments include Macedonia, Russia, and Japan. She has traveled extensively on short missions to the former Soviet Union, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Ms. Wong was also Deputy Executive Secretary to two Secretaries of State. Early in her State Department career, Ms. Wong focused on energy and security sector reforms. She was a MIT Seminar XXI Fellow (class of 2020), and holds B.A. degrees in International Relations and Political Science from Brown University.
