Smith, as State Department Coordinator for Global COVID-19 Response and Health Security, speaks to the press alongside State Department spokesperson Ned Price in 2021
After college, Smith worked as a journalist for over 20 years, where she was based in Africa and wrote for publications like BBC News and the Financial Times.[6]
From 1998 to 2001, she was Special Assistant to President Bill Clinton and Senior Director for African Affairs at the U.S. National Security Council.[6][7]
In 2001, Smith became a Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress.[8] As part of this position, she worked on the Sustainable Security Project and co-founded the Enough Project, working as Co-Chair, as well as the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network. The ENOUGH Project was created to end genocide and crimes against humanity.[6]
From 2005 to 2007, Smith was the Chairman of the Working Group Chair on Global Poverty for the Clinton Global Initiative.[6]
In 2009, Smith joined the U.S. National Security Council, where she was Special Assistant to President Obama and Senior Director for Development and Democracy, where her focus was on global development and humanitarian assistance.
On April 30, 2015, President Obama announced his nomination of Smith to be the new administrator for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID),[9] to succeed Dr. Rajiv Shah, who resigned the post in February 2015.[10] Despite some opposition to her appointment,[11] and a delayed Senate confirmation,[12][13] Smith was confirmed on November 30, 2015.[14][15]
Smith has worked as a consultant to various non-governmental agencies like the Cooperation Canada (formerly the Canadian Council for International Cooperation), Dutch Interchurch Aid, Norwegian Church Relief, UNICEF, the World Bank, among others.
On March 5, 2021, it was announced that Smith would be the coordinator of the global COVID response and health security at the U.S. Department of State,[3] where she focused on COVID financing, capacity, and global efforts to distribute COVID vaccines equitably.[16] As part of this program, Smith worked on the 2021 COVAX Investment Opportunity, an approach to funding the World Health Organization's COVAX Facility, which provides vaccinations to low- and middle-income countries.[17] She returned to ONE on December 6, 2021.[18]
Smith, Gayle (22 December 2020). "To End a Global Pandemic, We Need Global Solutions: In My View". Development Co-operation Report 2020: Learning from Crises, Building Resilience. Development Co-operation Report. Paris: OECD Publishing: 47–49. doi:10.1787/20747721. ISBN978-92-64-48131-2.
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