Professional Affiliation

Vice President for Global Operations, International Republican Institute

Expert Bio

Hallam Ferguson is Vice President for Global Operations at the International Republican Institute (IRI). He was a Public Policy Fellow at the Wilson Center. Previously he served as the Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) from 2017 to 2021. While at USAID, Ferguson managed the Middle East Bureau and led the effort to help religious minorities in Iraq and Syria recover from the ISIS genocide. Prior to joining USAID, Ferguson worked at the International Republican Institute from 2004 to 2017, conducting democracy and governance programming throughout the Middle East. While with IRI, Ferguson lived and worked in Afghanistan and Iraq, managed programs in closed societies, and finished his time there as the Director for the Middle East and North Africa. Ferguson holds a B.A. from Colby College and an M.A. from Georgetown University.

Expertise

• Democracy
• Governance
• Human Rights
• International Development
• Middle East and North Africa

Wilson Center Project

Development Reimagined: The Private Sector as Driver of Foreign Aid

Project Summary

Proving the effectiveness of foreign aid has proven maddeningly difficult despite decades of research and analysis. But one thing is certain: in nearly every case today, United States and other donor funds injected into an economy are dwarfed by the local economy itself, and in many cases are even outstripped by total foreign direct investment. In this larger macroeconomic context, the United States and other donors must learn to better align their efforts with the market-oriented incentives of the private sector in order to truly affect change and promote lasting prosperity. This project will seek to better understand the dynamic between foreign aid funding and the private sector, and develop actionable policy recommendations.