Denise Rollins

Denise Rollins recently rejoined USAID in March as the new Senior Coordinator for the Africa Ebola Unit after having retired in October 2014. She is overseeing the Africa Bureau’s response to one of the largest public health crises in the world. Prior to retiring, she served as USAID’s Acting Assistant Administrator for Asia overseeing USAID’s Asia Bureau portfolio covering 32 countries in Central Asia, South Asia, East Asia and the Pacific. The Bureau manages a complex portfolio of development programs of more than $1.2 billion. Ms. Rollins was a member of the U.S. Senior Foreign Service attaining the rank of Minister Counselor. Ms. Rollins has more than 25 years of international experience. Prior to her appointment to the Asia Bureau, Ms. Rollins was named in 2007 as USAID’s Mission Director in Bangladesh, where she provided executive leadership for four years to USAID’s largest development program in South Asia, implementing a $200 million assistance program in one of the United States’ most important partners in Asia. The Bangladesh program included programs in support of the President’s four initiatives – Global Health, Food Security, Global Climate Change, and Global Engagement – designed to improve maternal and child health, combat malnutrition, increase economic growth, foster democratic governance, tackle corruption, and respond to disasters and provide humanitarian assistance. Before her appointment in Bangladesh, Ms. Rollins served as USAID’s Deputy Mission Director in South Africa, where she oversaw development programs addressing health, education, local government service delivery, and private sector development, including USAID’s largest HIV/AIDS program in the world, funded under the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. She has also served in Ghana, Uganda, and Nigeria, three of USAID’s largest development programs in Africa, as well as in Jamaica. Before joining USAID, Ms. Rollins was the Senior Program Officer at the African-American Institute, Procurement Agent for Stronghold (Nigeria) Limited, a Nigerian trading company based in London, and Legislative Assistant for two members of the U.S. Congress. Ms. Rollins earned a Master of International Public Policy degree at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, majoring in international economics and finance, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics at Howard University. She is a native of Detroit, Michigan.