Denise Rollins, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Acting Assistant Administrator (AA) for Asia, will visit the Philippines June 6-11 to reinforce the U.S. Government’s commitment to the Partnership for Growth - a bilateral agreement with the Government of the Philippines (GPH) to achieve broad-based, inclusive and resilient growth in the country.

Accompanied by USAID/Philippines Mission Director Gloria D. Steele, AA Rollins will visit program sites and engage with local leaders and families that represent the wide scope of USAID’s work, from government officials, to business and community pioneers, to survivors of Typhoon Yolanda.

Ms. Rollins will first visit Cagayan de Oro City (CDO) to see ongoing developments under the U.S. Embassy Manila’s USAID Cities Development Initiative (CDI). USAID selected CDO, along with the cities of Batangas and IloIlo, as a pilot to ignite secondary cities as engines of economic growth.

CDI, as part of the U.S.-Philippines Partnership for Growth, seeks to promote economic development outside Metro Manila to disperse economic opportunities and enable the country to accelerate and sustain higher, broad-based inclusive growth. “We are working in partnership with local officials, the private sector and civil society to address concerns in education, health, energy, environment, economic growth and governance,” Director Steele said.

Next on the agenda, AA Rollins will visit Tacloban City, Leyte to formally launch USAID Rebuild, the U.S. Government’s rehabilitation and recovery program in Typhoon Yolanda-affected areas, particularly Leyte Province. USAID Rebuild, which will be implemented in partnership with the GPH, focuses on restoring access to education, health services and livelihood activities, as well as providing technical assistance to the GPH Office of the Presidential Assistant for Rehabilitation and Recovery. Rollins will also witness a USAID-supported twinning agreement for disaster risk reduction and management activities between the provinces of Albay and Leyte. USAID aims to assist the province build back better through programs that will enable communities to become more resilient to future disasters. Overall, U.S. Government support is estimated at approximately $142.5 million to help the people of the Philippines respond to, and recover from, the devastating effects of Typhoon Yolanda.

Lastly, in Manila, AA Rollins will lead events highlighting USAID’s increasing focus on science, technology, innovation, and partnerships. These activities are expected to help the country leapfrog stages of development and join the next generation of developing nations. Events will include a workshop to improve the use of mobile technology for development solutions, and the awarding of USAID grants to select local civil society organizations to carry-out innovative projects in targeted development areas.

Background:

Denise Rollins has served as USAID’s Acting Assistant Administrator for the Bureau for Asia since September 2013. Prior to that, Ms. Rollins served as Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator since July 2011. The Bureau manages a complex portfolio of development programs across 32 countries, supports 12 bilateral field missions and 2 regional missions. Ms. Rollins is responsible for overseeing USAID’s Asia portfolio which spans from the Central Asian Republics to the population-dense countries of South Asia to the diverse political economies of East Asia and the Pacific.

A member of the U.S. Senior Foreign Service, Ms. Rollins has more than 25 years of international experience. She was USAID’s Mission Director in Bangladesh, where she provided executive leadership for four years to USAID’s largest development program in South Asia.

She 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. She has also served in USAID posts Jamaica, Ghana, Uganda, and Nigeria.

Ms. Rollins holds a Master of International Public Policy degree from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Howard University. She is a native of Detroit, Michigan.