room was named Point Four. USAID’s first innovation counselor, Maura O’Neill, was instrumental in helping mobilize funds from members of Forward Global for our work. Requests from media poured in, and a team of former USAID communications experts gathered data, prepared us for interviews, and knocked down the relentless misinformation that tried to define USAID as a “criminal organization” full of “radical lunatics.” A LinkedIn group of more than 2,000 former USAID staff members came together to rescue data, websites, and other public documents before they disappeared. Mental health professionals mobilized to provide pro bono webinars and counseling services to the thousands who had suddenly lost not only their jobs, but their calling. We organized rallies and joined with AFSA for “clap outs” to honor our colleagues who were given just 15 minutes to pack up their offices and carry a lifetime of memories into the streets. A New Type of Service During those early days in 2025, a new type of service was born: community service to support the USAID staff and partners who had dedicated their professional lives to improving and saving the lives of others. As a USAID FSO who retired in 2017, I was free to jump in to help, but many of the emerging grassroots leaders who leapt into action to support colleagues had themselves just lost their jobs. Instead of retreating, they organized and created an array of “pop-up” groups to fight back and serve the development community across the globe. Many of these initiatives continue today, because just like in the disasters we responded to overseas, communities need support not just during the immediate crisis, but in rebuilding as well. We were fortunate to quickly secure the fiscal sponsorship of Forward Global, enabling us to raise funds to support AidTA’s efforts to provide counseling services, peer support, and data management. Donations by former USAID Administrators helped jump-start this initiative, along with funding from the Packard and Rockefeller foundations, which will end in 2026. Every three months our Point Four team assesses whether the alliance’s support is still needed, and each time we have found the need is still high. These results encourage us to continue our pro bono work as we raise funds for the broader AidTA efforts. For example, more than 2,200 practitioners are connected and actively contributing to rescuing six decades of USAID’s data and information, vital operational knowledge that might otherwise be lost—including contributions from former staff, Foreign Service Nationals, implementing partners, researchers, and technical specialists from across the development world. So far, our USAID Knowledge Rescue initiative has recovered more than 270,000 digital files of nonclassified documents, and 100 structured interviews of recently departed USAID staff were completed and transcribed, surfacing insights and lessons for the future of foreign assistance. This work resulted in the July 1 launch of the Development Knowledge Commons, which provides public access to records taken down when USAID was dismantled. USAID’s knowledge infrastructure wasn’t the only thing requiring immediate attention. Former USAID staff and partners needed urgent psychological support to weather the loss not only of their employment and livelihoods, but their life’s mission as international development professionals. On June 30, 2025, the last day for the majority of USAID staff, AidTA and USAID Administrators organized a global celebration of USAID service. The daylong THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2026 21 In February 2025, when terminated USAID professionals were given 15 minutes to pack up their offices and leave, former colleagues, members of the U.S. Foreign Service, advocates of foreign development and disaster assistance, and the foreign affairs community gathered outside the Ronald Reagan Building to honor their service. AID TRANSITION ALLIANCE
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