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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The most egregious is seeing US aid leaders go to NGO companies and make millions being a CEO, where they probably steered money to the company they planned to join![/quote]

You're going to have to back this up. [/quote]

Sure. The cleaner claim is not that every case proves corruption, but that there is a clear revolving door where senior USAID officials later move into top paid leadership roles at organizations already operating in the same aid ecosystem.

Dennis Vega left senior USAID leadership in Aug 2024 as Acting Deputy Administrator for Management and Resources, then became President and CEO of Pact that same month. Pact was already a longtime USAID implementing partner before he arrived.
https://sid-us.org/dennis-vega
https://www.pactworld.org/leadership/dennis-vega

Gayle Smith left as USAID Administrator in Jan 2017 and by March 2017 became CEO of the ONE Campaign, a major foreign aid advocacy group that lobbies on development spending and global aid priorities.
https://www.devex.com/news/one-campaign-announces-gayle-smith-as-ceo-89643

Jeremy Konyndyk held senior USAID humanitarian roles, then became President of Refugees International, a major advocacy organization influencing refugee and humanitarian policy.
https://www.refugeesinternational.org/statements-and-news/refugees-international-welcomes-new-president-jeremy-konyndyk/

Rajiv Shah went from USAID Administrator to President of the Rockefeller Foundation, one of the most powerful global development philanthropies.
https://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/profiles/rajiv-shah/

So yes, this absolutely happens. Whether any specific person "steered money" would require evidence, but the revolving door itself is real: people move from controlling aid priorities and relationships inside USAID to prestigious, highly compensated leadership jobs in the same foreign aid network.[/quote]

This response sounds like ChatGPT. [/quote]

are these not factual? follow these people they are going from administering aide money to NGOs then immediately joining those NGOs as leaders or ceos. wtf.[/quote]

You should review the resumes of the people on that list through the lens of professional development, career trajectory, and political appointments. You should also review how budgets and appropriations work, especially in the context of aid legislation, contracting laws, and regulations that govern post government employment at firms that contract with the government. Wtf, indeed. [/quote]

You should also review this through the lens of incentives, not just resumes.

Yes, people have career paths and yes, budgets and appropriations have layers of process. None of that erases the obvious concern when senior officials leave government and quickly land highly paid roles at organizations that benefit from the same aid ecosystem they just managed.

Saying it is legal is not much of a defense. Weak ethics rules often allow behavior the public still sees as wrong. There should be real cooling off periods before senior officials can join groups receiving grants, contracts, or policy advantages tied to their former agency.

And unlike many areas of government, foreign aid is often hard for taxpayers to measure in tangible terms. Roads, bridges, airports, and local infrastructure are visible. Even defense spending usually produces something concrete such as ships, aircraft, weapons systems, bases, technology, or readiness improvements. But much of the aid world runs through layers of NGOs, consultants, conferences, studies, and administrative overhead where results are difficult to verify and accountability is weaker.

That is exactly why the revolving door matters more here, not less. When outcomes are vague and money flows through intermediaries, trust becomes critical. Watching officials move straight from USAID into executive suites of organizations tied to that same funding stream makes the whole system look like a self-serving club, not public service.[/quote]

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