At the helm of MCC, Alice Albright navigates storms, relishes the fight

This article is part of an occasional series Devex is producing this year to examine the Millennium Challenge Corporation as it marks its 20th year. In the past year Alice Albright has been drenched while inaugurating an electricity substation wearing her “silly little shoes,” met hopeful entrepreneurs in Sierra Leone, and endured countless travel delays in the name of representing the U.S. government in Timor Leste. But despite a hectic schedule, she relishes such opportunities to connect with local people and deepen the work and impact of the Millenium Challenge Corporation, the United States aid agency she leads. “The lesson that you learn in this kind of work is that we can never take for granted how important it is for countries like ours to engage internationally and particularly [in] the development spheres,” she told Devex. “It’s easy if you're sitting in Washington D.C., amidst the great fortune that we have here, to forget about why working in the global south is so important.” When Albright took the helm of MCC in February 2022, it was facing an identity crisis on the eve of its 20th anniversary. She was charged with leading the agency, which awards large grants to improve economic growth in nations with records of good governance, as it charted a new path. But it hasn’t always been a smooth journey. While some described Albright as warm and strategic, it’s clear that there is internal displeasure from employees, vexed at being asked to return to the office after months of working from home, as well as external challenges. MCC’s rankings on the federal employee survey rating agencies as a good place to work dropped dramatically in 2023, and employees formed a union in response to a return to office policy and other concerns. “Most people will tell you that Alice is a very direct and fair CEO,” Mahmoud Bah, who served as acting CEO before Albright, told Devex. “You know, her decisions are not always the most popular, but she sticks to her decisions.” When Albright began the job, she quickly identified challenges, including the income-based limitations on where the agency can work. She has since lobbied lawmakers to expand the pool of potential countries where the agency can operate and address what Bah called an “existential threat.” Albright seems to relish being “relentless” when making the case about why MCC is important and why the country expansion is necessary. Legislation that would allow it to work in some upper-middle-income countries is now under consideration in the U.S. Congress, but the challenge is getting it passed in a tough political environment. It’s not her first experience cajoling lawmakers. When she led the Global Partnership for Education from 2013 to 2022, she traveled the globe making the case for more funding and support for quality education to donor governments. And as chief financial and investment officer at Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance from 2001 to 2009, she did the same. “It's been very valuable to have the experience that I've had in advocating for international development around the world, and how different governments think about it, how our government thinks about it, what's the case you need to make,” she said. “I love arguing and advocating for money for international development, like bring it on, I totally love it.” When not traveling, Albright starts her mornings with some oatmeal at her desk, and those early hours are a good time to catch her to bend her ear, said Bah. And she’s got a few quirks, he added. She is known for having multiple tote bags wherever the job takes her and she always insists on carrying them herself. Her commitment to public service and civic engagement stretches back long before her professional career took off. Her mother was former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. Alice Albright grew up in Washington, D.C. and attended National Cathedral High School with her sisters. Her parents were divorced, so she formed part of a “powerful sisterhood,” Michelle Nunn, CEO of CARE, who attended high school with the Albright sisters, told Devex. “There was a lot of warmth in that family, a cultivation of a spirit of service and leadership and intellectual robustness,” she said. Albright said both her parents had a strong influence on her. They instilled a strong work ethic, an insatiable curiosity, and taught her never to take anything for granted. Helping people who aren’t as fortunate — like a child who isn’t in school or a woman in Sierra Leone who wants electricity to start a small business — is her “North Star” and drives her to keep fighting for the agency and its work, she said. At MCC, Albright is “extremely sensitive” to how partner countries are treated and driven by impact, Bah said. She is humble, a good listener, and “very clear about what she wants to achieve.”