Dr. Ehdaie serves as Senior Advisor on women’s economic issues to the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs at the U.S. Department of.  She led in the conception and now the development of the Economic Bureau’s “Providing Opportunities for Women’s Economic Rise” (POWER) initiative.  She advises on U.S. policy and programs aimed at fostering women’s economic participation in the global economy, supporting entrepreneurship and sustainable economic growth.  Prior to joining the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs, Dr. Ehdaie worked in the Secretary’s Office of Global Food Security at the State Department.  She has a Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from the University of Virginia and completed her post-doctoral fellowship at the Gates Institute at Johns Hopkins University, .  She has worked overseas, including in Uganda and South Africa, leading on projects pertaining to women’s economic empowerment, international development, environmental and health issues.