Global: An Extraordinary Guide for Ordinary Heroes

Lyla Bashan is a Foreign Service Officer with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Lyla is currently serving in Armenia as the Director of USAID's Sustainable Development Office. This office covers all of USAID's programs in Armenia, which are in the sectors of economic growth, democracy and governance, health and social reform. Directly before Armenia, Lyla served in Washington, DC in the Bureau for Europe and Eurasia and also in the Office of Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment. She has also served in Tajikistan as the Team Leader for Democracy and Governance, Health and Education. Her first USAID tour was in Guatemala as a Democracy and Governance Officer. Prior to joining the USAID Foreign Service, Lyla was a Civil Servant at the Department of State. There she served as the Conflict Prevention Officer for Sub-Saharan Africa in the Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization. Before that, she assisted in undertaking one of the US Government's largest foreign assistance reforms by helping to start the Office of the Director of US Foreign Assistance. Once the reforms were initiated and the office established, she served in the office as the Country Coordinator for West Africa. Prior to joining the US Government, Lyla worked for several non-governmental organizations, including Mercy Corps and InterAction. She has an MA in International Peace and Conflict Resolution from American University and a BA in International Affairs from Lewis and Clark College.