“I’m feeding people, USAID is feeding people, the people of the United States are feeding people! It doesn’t get any more rewarding than that.” — John Abood, BSBA ’78
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The Center of a Big Moment
Asked to comment on the shifts in policies and goals he has seen over his 30-plus years with USAID — which have encompassed three Republican and, now, also three Democratic administrations — Abood pauses, then answers carefully. “Early in my career, USAID was involved in a lot of capital-intensive projects — dams and roads and buildings — and then during some of those years that changed to a real solid emphasis on human rights. Currently, it’s evolved into a policy of deeper coordination between development efforts, diplomacy efforts, and defense efforts globally, 28
bringing USAID into the forefront of a three-pronged approach to our national foreign policy.” Like the other alumni featured here, government service gives Abood a sense of having an impact on the life of the nation and, in his case, also the world. “There’s an immediacy to my work each and every day that allows me to fulfill my passion for enhancing the national security of the United States and bringing some relief to people who face a fragile existence.” He sums up simply: “That’s why I go to work every day. I don’t think there’s a better job out there.”
amara Fucile (MBA ’01) worked at the Government Accountability Office (GAO) for about five years, but then went back to school at McDonough with every intention of making the transition to the private sector. “Then I got lured back,” she says. When the Democrats took control of Congress in 2006, she got excited, but she did not see herself going back to the Hill, where she had worked before going to GAO. Then she bumped into an old colleague who twisted her arm ever so gently. “It’s a great time to be here,” the colleague told her. msb.georgetown.edu