Devex Pro Insider: State Dept. staff face the three Rs, and a sit-down with Gates' CEO

It’s been a week of RIFs, rescissions, and Rigas. No, not Riga, Latvia — where incidentally my grandmother was born, and a beautiful capital to visit. I’m talking about Michael Rigas, U.S. deputy secretary of state for management and resources, who testified before lawmakers on Capitol Hill last week about the reorganization of the State Department. There were — unsurprisingly, in this heated partisan climate — some fireworks, with Rigas struggling to explain why the administration locked away enough food for 1.5 million children until it expired, and must now burn it. That same day, there was also lots of coffee being downed as senators stayed up all night to debate U.S. President Donald Trump’s $9 billion rescissions package to claw back previously approved funding, most of it foreign assistance. We’ve been covering the wall-to-wall congressional drama, with plenty of coffee ourselves. I hope you checked out my colleague Michael Igoe’s special Saturday newsletter yesterday, which will bring you up to speed on everything. If you missed it in your inbox, it’ll be on our website tomorrow. Coming up: In addition to several funding events this week, we’re going to have exclusive insights into the T. rex of philanthropy — the Gates Foundation, whose CEO Mark Suzman is joining us on July 23 for an in-depth discussion on the foundation’s recent $200 billion commitment and its 2045 sunset. We’re also taking your questions, so be sure to email them to us at editor@devex.com. Also in today’s edition: Bill Gates has a book suggestion, cellphones help people save, and Instagram posters bash the State Department. Bits and pieces Still going. Before we move on from the cuts, it’s worth taking a look at some of the faint silver linings in another fairly depressing week for aid advocates. The most high-profile of those was PEPFAR, America’s landmark global HIV/AIDS initiative, which was spared from the rescission guillotine. Less noticed, though, was global education, which faced fiscal 2026 budget cuts but made it through the House of Representatives relatively unscathed. It still has to pass the Senate, but as Giulia McPherson of the Global Campaign for Education-US tells us, after months of lobbying to preserve U.S. funding for international basic education, “we were happy to see it continues to have a place in U.S. foreign policy and remains a priority in U.S. foreign assistance.” Next steps. Beyond the fiscal machinations inside the Beltway — the traffic-clogged highway that encircles Washington, D.C. — last week, we also offered Devex Pro members a slew of practical advice on how to navigate what is still an incredibly bumpy road for aid. One of the topics we revisited was mergers and acquisitions, but this time, instead of focusing on for-profits, we turned to nonprofits, which are also being forced to rethink their business models in this era of belt-tightening. As Devex President and Editor-in-Chief Raj Kumar pointed out, historically, many nonprofits have merged during moments of weakness — and this moment certainly counts as one — but we offer tips on how to identify your organization’s strengths to map out next steps. And of course, we’ve continued our focus on philanthropy, another potential avenue of survival for aid organizations, with events on how one foundation is transforming national education systems, and how another foundation is testing a lean, trust-based approach, including crypto-curious partnerships. Range of emotions. My colleague Sara Jerving has a great piece on how, despite PEPFAR’s $400 million reprieve, the program is still a shell of its former self. She also happened to be at the International AIDS Society’s massive annual conference in Kigali, Rwanda, when, 7,200 miles away in D.C., senators took a rare stand against Trump’s aid cuts in the name of PEPFAR. But she tells me mixed emotions were pulsing throughout the Kigali conference center — from relief and celebration to exhaustion and confusion. Many people were not overly impressed by the news because PEPFAR has already been so battered down this year by U.S. aid cuts And although it was an important win, experts made it clear that the battle to maintain PEPFAR funding is far from over. “The administration can slow down spending. They can send another rescission package next year,” said Jirair Ratevosian of the Duke Global Health Institute. “We have to be ready to fight.” NYT disconnections. The New York Times has been hard at work chronicling the Trump administration’s cuts to, well, everything. Just check out Stephanie Nolen’s must-read piece about a South African medical research powerhouse decimated by Trump’s aid cuts. But maybe it’s thinking of shifting gears. During the International AIDS Society conference, Apoorva Mandavilli of The New York Times told the audience that “readers are done reading about what’s being cut … they don’t want to hear any more bad stories." Given Trump’s well-known desire to get himself on the front pages, maybe that means he might stop making cuts? Maybe? No, you say. Oh, well. TB continued. Bill Gates, who’s been urging members of Congress to preserve PEPFAR funding, regularly recommends books to his fans, and most recently, he gave a shoutout to author John Green. Green’s latest work, “Everything Is Tuberculosis,” is a departure from the popular young adult novels he’s more commonly known for, such as “The Fault in Our Stars.” “John makes the case that you can’t understand the past, or the world we live in today, without understanding TB. From its influence on fashion and furniture to its role in sparking World War I, TB has been everywhere,” Gates writes in his Bill’s Notes newsletter. “I’d call it one of the more compelling arguments I’ve read for why global health matters and why we need to keep investing in it,” he adds, noting that “amazingly,” Green managed to turn a book about TB into a #1 New York Times bestseller. Can you hear me now? More adults than ever in low- and middle-income countries have bank or other financial accounts, which has led to a surge in formal savings, according to the World Bank’s Global Findex 2025. Mobile-phone technology has played a key role in the growth, with 10% of adults in developing economies using a mobile-money account to save — a 5-percentage point increase from 2021. “Financial inclusion has the potential to improve lives and transform entire economies,” said World Bank Group President Ajay Banga. Tone deaf? The State Department’s official Instagram account recently featured a slick video on U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s trip to Malaysia and meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — all as the department was busy firing 1,300 of its own staff. The top comments weren’t exactly forgiving: “Didn’t y'all just fire like 10,000 people?” one Instagram user pointed out. “This is tacky. Read the room,” another wrote. Well, that’s something. Not all of USAID has been smashed into dust. Its Office of Inspector General just announced that it has created a new United Nations Accountability Office to ensure “transparency, oversight, and accountability” over U.S. foreign assistance implemented through U.N. agencies. “Our prior, longstanding work in this space has Ied to new statutory language, creative solutions for obtaining information from UN agencies related to U.S. funding, partnerships with UN inspectors general, and precedent-setting investigations of UN officials involved in fraud, sexual exploitation and abuse, and diversion of aid to terrorist organizations,” the OIG wrote on LinkedIn. WHO’s out. Speaking of the United Nations, Trump loves to bash it. His rhetoric is backed up by action, with the U.S. president proposing deep cuts to the world body in his fiscal 2026 budget. The right-leaning American Enterprise Institute is trying to help Trump sort through which U.N. entities to target, and which to spare, in a new tiered assessment. Among the factors it’s taken into account: current U.S. funding levels and the number of American nationals the organization employs; primary mission and activities; upcoming leadership elections; and brief accounts of U.S. and Chinese funding, interactions, and involvement with the organization. Among the “tier 1” U.N. organizations that significantly contribute to U.S. interests? The International Atomic Energy Agency, the World Food Programme, and the U.N. itself. At the bottom of the pile? The Food and Agriculture Organization, the U.N. Development Programme, and — no surprise to Devex readers — the World Health Organization. In memoriam The Center for Strategic and International Studies announced the passing of long-time Chief Communications Officer H. Andrew Schwartz. “For 20 years, Andrew directed the public presence of CSIS in a rapidly changing media environment,” wrote CSIS President and CEO John Hamre. “He brought a lively and incisive perspective to all our planning. He mentored young professionals and skillfully lifted up the work of senior scholars. And he kept CSIS staff apprised of breaking communication technologies and changing journalism dynamics.” “The CSIS community offers its deepest condolences to Andrew’s wife, Amy, his three sons, his extended family, and his many friends.” Moving on John “Dink” Dinkelman has become president of the American Foreign Service Association, succeeding Thomas Yazdgerdi, who served as president from 2023 to 2025. A member of the Senior U.S. Foreign Service, Dinkelman brings to the job nearly 40 years of experience working in the State Department. Most recently, he served as a diplomat-in-residence at Howard University in Washington, D.C. “In a sobering reflection of the moment, Dinkelman joins the ranks of those who received a reduction-in-force (RIF) notice from the Department of State,” AFSA stated in a release. “His assumption of AFSA presidency underscores both the personal and institutional stakes of the reorganization and workforce reductions across the department.” Tom Taylor has become president and CEO of the Bezos Earth Fund. “After I retired from Amazon, I followed the good advice to consider this as ‘Quarter 3’ of my life and looked for an opportunity that balanced my desire for both adventure and service,” he wrote on LinkedIn. “Leading the Bezos Earth Fund is this perfect opportunity.” Jesuit Refugee Service/USA announced that long-time fundraising and nonprofit leader Matt Terhune will be the organization’s new vice president of development. Terhune’s professional experience spans multiple sectors, including public health, medicine, social and behavioral sciences, journalism, and communication. Your week ahead In addition to our Gates discussion, we have three other must-watch events for Pro members this week: What’s the future of U.S. food and agriculture aid. This event, happening on July 21, features Dina Esposito, former head of USAID’s Bureau for Resilience, Environment, and Food Security; Stephanie Mercier, senior policy adviser at the Farm Journal Foundation; and DaNita Murray, executive director of South Dakota Corn. Save your spot now. An Australian foundation is ramping up funding for Africa — here’s what you need to know. This July 22 event explores how the Judith Neilson Foundation — a Sydney-based philanthropic organization that emphasizes strategic, long-term engagement — is stepping up its support to sub-Saharan Africa with a $10 million boost in 2025. Register now. How AI is transforming development roles — and how to adapt. On July 23, we will offer guidance on how professionals can stay ahead of the curve as AI becomes increasingly relevant to work tasks, both specialized and routine. Join this event.