The Millenium Challenge Corp. new vice president for policy and international relations, Sheila Herrling, is a strong advocate for U.S. foreign assistance reform. In December, she suggested a “serious rethink” of the MCC model for graduating compact countries, threshold programs and delivery models.

MCC is currently reviewing all of these issues, and Herrling will be in a key position to influence reform.

Herrling has most recently managed the Center for Global Development’s Rethinking U.S. Foreign Assistance Program, which provides “information, dialogue and analysis on the progress and challenges in modernizing U.S. foreign assistance.” She wrote several blogs and papers on how U.S. foreign assistance may be improved in terms of mission, mandate and organizational structure.

Herrling’s new role with MCC was announced Friday, Jan. 29. It is the first of a half-dozen leadership positions Daniel Yohannes, the new MCC chief, plans to fill in the weeks ahead.

“I know Sheila will bring insightful leadership, energy and innovation to MCC,” Yohannes said in a statement.

MCC’s PIR department manages the annual selection of compact countries the evaluation of threshold program eligibility. It is in charge of developing and implementing the agency’s threshold programs, the latter in collaboration with the U.S. Agency for International Development. It manages independent evaluations of MCC programs and coordinates technical economic analyses in support of MCC’s engagement in its partner countries.

Herrling is a principal of the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network, which includes international development and foreign policy advocates, experts and practitioners as well private-sector organizations and private citizens. She sits on the board of One World U.S., a community of more than 1,600 organizations dedicated to promoting human rights and sustainable development.

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