Devex Pro Insider: USAID workers get RIF’ed off, and are philanthropists funding projects ‘to death’?

It’s one thing to get fired. It’s quite another to get fired two, three times from the exact same job — which, as we’ve reported, is what happened to many USAID personnel who received multiple termination notices. Many direct hires, however, have remained on paid administrative leave throughout their agency’s swiftly executed gutting. But those days are coming to an end. Now that the Trump administration has submitted to Congress a plan to formally incorporate USAID into the State Department, RIFs are coming. Those stand for reductions in force — government-speak for being let go — and they’re going to hit almost all remaining USAID employees by either July 1 or Sept. 2, 2025, by which time the administration will have fully wound down the agency’s operations. Employees have the option to stay on until then to help with the shutdown, in effect facilitating the end of their own jobs. RIF notices have already started going out — except we’re hearing they probably should’ve gone through a fact-checker first. That’s because some USAID staff are receiving RIF notices riddled with errors, Reuters found, with one worker saying, “The only thing correct was my name." The inaccurate information — from start dates to salaries — matters because it impacts pensions and severance packages. Our reporters confirmed multiple RIF notices with errors as well, although one actually worked out in the recipient’s favor. Also in today’s edition: A storied international influencer steps down, kind of; a foundation leader blasts the philanthropic sector; and who’s getting Melinda French Gates’ millions. Coming up: Don’t miss our next event on Monday, featuring leading global development experts who will discuss the pros and cons of USAID’s merger with the State Department. Register now for the event. This is exclusively for Pro members. Anna Gawel Managing Editor Bits & Pieces Long time coming? Speaking of job departures — although this one is voluntary — Klaus Schwab, legendary founder of the World Economic Forum, held every year in Davos, Switzerland, is stepping down as chair of its board of trustees. Schwab, 87, did not give a timeline for his departure from the organization he founded over five decades ago, but WEF said in a statement to the Financial Times that the process should be done by January 2027. His departure comes in the wake of a board investigation prompted by a Wall Street Journal article last year that revealed allegations by employees of discrimination against women and Black people at the forum. WEF disputed the reporting, and Schwab denied the allegations against him. “Over these past months, we have taken time — time to pause, to listen, and to reflect,” Børge Brende, the forum’s CEO, said in the memo announcing a slew of other executive changes, as reported by WSJ. “This period of reflection has been grounded in a desire not just to do things differently, but to do them better.” Hitting a wall: Billionaire Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency’s frequently touted “wall of receipts,” proclaiming to show savings to U.S. taxpayers from canceled government programs, has been slammed for often canceling and fixing its own findings, with fact-checkers pointing out rampant inaccuracies. On the USAID front, it stopped publishing details about the agency’s contracts, stating only that they are “unavailable for legal reasons,” although it still lists a figure for them. Jeremy Konyndyk, president of Refugees International, posted a rebuttal to Musk’s claim that his critics can’t point to any cost savings by posting his own “wall of receipts” on Musk’s social media platform X. In the thread, Konyndyk pointed out specific line items cited by DOGE that violate the State Department’s guidance on protecting lifesaving activities, from UNICEF humanitarian nutrition programs in Ethiopia to HIV and tuberculosis services in Uganda. Reaction to the thread was mixed. “You're presenting facts as if they care,” one poster wrote. Another seemed to confirm that, posting: “Literally nothing you've shared benefits US citizens more than it costs.” An up-and-down affair: My colleague David Ainsworth, who was at the Skoll World Forum last week, tells me that the forum is normally one of the most upbeat places in the world. Perhaps that’s what you’d expect when you get 2,000 eager social entrepreneurs together. But this year, the optimism, unsurprisingly, was tempered by the U.S. funding cuts, which have affected many awardees. The big trends have also been what you'd expect: Philanthropists are slowly getting ready to give more; U.S. aid watchers are discussing how much funding will remain; leaders in the global south are discussing whether the changing order brings new opportunities; and NGOs are thinking about whether we need to talk to the public differently about aid. (By the way, the term “global south” was on its way out at Skoll, replaced by “majority world.”) Meanwhile, Darren Walker, outgoing president of the Ford Foundation, was among a raft of high-profile speakers at the closing plenary of Skoll, and he used his platform to offer a sermon on what he felt the philanthropic sector must do better. Walker painted a picture of frustration at the constraints he has had to work within. "For us, so much of it is about our boards," he began, in answer to one question, and then stopped, dead — evidently following the rule that if you don’t have anything nice to say, you shouldn’t say it at all. He also spoke about the need to pay attention to the people the sector serves. "The dirt roads of Africa are littered with the carcasses of development projects where we did not listen," he said. He called on his fellow foundations to give long-term, unrestricted funding. "We in the sector have project-funded to death certain organizations and sectors.” And he paid tribute, as a Black gay man, to the ancestors who had come before him and faced prejudice and difficulty. "It would be a dishonor for all of us who are in this room today to give up," he said. "I think about my ancestors and I get my ass to work." Convenient reasoning: Lawyer Robert Nichols, who’s often shared his insights with us in past Pro briefings, shared on LinkedIn USAID’s just-released guidance on “Terminations for Convenience (T4C) for Implementing Partners.” It notes that, “It is the government’s right to completely or partially terminate a contractor's performance of work under a contract when it is in the government's interest to do so,” adding that the government possesses “broad discretion, within the bounds of good faith,” to terminate contracts; termination is not considered a breach of contract; and contractors are entitled to “limited” recovery costs. Wealth of information: Usually, the recipients of major donations from the likes of pioneering philanthropists such as Mackenzie Scott and Melinda French Gates don’t broadcast that they hit the mother lode. But Sabrina Habib — adviser for the Zera Fund and co-founder and chief exploration officer at Kidogo, the leading child care network in Kenya — proudly announced that French Gates had chosen her to distribute $20 million to organizations advancing women’s health and well-being. “And so, here we go… I’ll be sharing my experiences from the moment I got Melinda’s email as I go about this task of deploying $20M after years of being on the other side of the table,” she wrote on LinkedIn. “Transparency is something that I believe is missing from a lot of philanthropic transactions and relationships so I’m setting out to be radically transparent in opening up how and why I make decisions about where to give this money. My hope is that sharing in this way might change the way others give as well.” You can follow her journey here. What to wear: Want to support the various legal challenges underway to fight the U.S. Agency for International Development’s dismantling? You can at least look the part by buying a T-shirt whose proceeds partially go toward those lawsuits. According to the website, the “USAID Shield Shirts” feature an “alt version of the classic logo from the 1950s. The original branding of USAID, like the agency itself, was MANDATED BY CONGRESS. To let everyone know this assistance was 'From the American People'. They knew then, what is still obvious now: Foreign aid is not charity—but rather an investment in American interests.” One down, four left: Niger removed its candidate for the World Health Organization’s regional office for Africa, Dr. Boureima Hama Sambo. It's unclear why, my colleague Sara Jerving tells me. The race is now down to four candidates. African ministers of health and their representatives will meet on May 18 to vote. In memoriam Juma Volter Mwapachu, the immediate past president of the Society for International Development, or SID, passed away in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on March 28, 2025, at the age of 82. “Affectionately known as ‘JV’ to those who knew him, Ambassador Mwapachu was a dedicated member of SID and a key figure in the establishment of the SID Tanzania Chapter in the late 1980s,” the organization wrote in a tribute on LinkedIn. Mwapachu served as secretary-general of the East African Community from 2006 to 2011 and as Tanzania’s ambassador to France. Moving on Who’s in line to be the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations now that Elise Stefanik’s name has been withdrawn to maintain the U.S. House’s tightly held Republican-held majority? Last Monday, President Donald Trump told reporters he had several potential candidates in mind, including Richard Grenell, a former ambassador to Germany, and David Friedman, a former ambassador to Israel. He also said “maybe 30 other people” have expressed interest in the job, so it’s still very much a wait-and-see game. President and CEO of mothers2mothers, or m2m, Frank Beadle de Palomo is stepping down after 13 years of leadership. Chad Rathner, currently m2m’s chief operating officer, will become interim CEO. The transition will be effective as of April 30, 2025, and a search for a new permanent CEO will begin later in 2025. Matthieu Pegon has become the deputy CEO of Climate Investment Funds, or CIF, a multilateral climate fund delivering low-cost finance to over 80 low- and middle-income countries. He joins CIF from IDB Invest, where he headed up blended finance, overseeing the deployment of concessional resources in private sector investments. His appointment comes as the CIF Capital Markets Mechanism issued its first $500 million bond earlier this year. After nearly four years, Simba Tirima will be concluding his role as country representative for Médecins Sans Frontières in Nigeria on June 30, 2025. China has nominated Zou Jiayi, a former vice finance minister, as a candidate for the next president of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the Chinese Finance Ministry announced last week. AIIB is expected to elect its next president at an annual meeting in Beijing in June, according to Nikkei Asia. Zou, who would be the bank’s first female leader, is expected to replace Jin Liqun, the outgoing founding president, who will step down after finishing his second five-year term on Jan. 15, 2026. Up Next CGIAR Science Week. My colleague Ayenat Mersie will be attending CGIAR’s first-ever Science Week in Nairobi, Kenya, this week. The inaugural event for the world’s largest public agricultural innovation network was originally set for last July but was called off amid mass anti-tax protests in Kenya’s capital. Speakers for the rebooted gathering include CGIAR Executive Managing Director Ismahane Elouafi; Alice Ruhweza, the newly named president of AGRA; Johan Swinnen, director-general of the International Food Policy Research Institute; Martin Fregene, director of agriculture and agro-industry at the African Development Bank; and former heads of state from Guinea, Mauritius, and Nigeria. Expect big conversations on the future of agricultural research and whether global investment is keeping pace with funding needs for research and innovation. If you’re there, come say hi to Ayenat or drop her a line at ayenat.mersie@devex.com. April 7-12. Jobs of the week Your Pro membership includes access to the world’s largest global development job board. Here are some of the high-level opportunities currently available: • Spokesperson, NATO. • Counsel/Senior Counsel, Public Sector Operations, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. Or search for more opportunities now.