The Foreign Service Journal, December 2019

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | DECEMBER 2019 51 50,000 people to flee the country. The political crisis resulted in an ordered departure for most American staff, including Mr. Works’ supervisor. Thrust into a high-profile leader- ship position, Mr. Works led two of the U.S. government’s frontline responses to the crisis. He assumed the management of USAID’s in- country democracy and emergency response programming, oversaw the office’s six staff members and managed the State Department’s “Lifeline” rapid response program, typically run by the embassy’s political section. As a junior officer saddled with complex responsibilities that are highly scrutinized, Mr. Works showed creative leadership that quickly became a crucial lifeline to civil society organizations, journalists, human rights defenders and emerging rural and Robert Works. COURTESYOFROBERTWORKS student leaders—many of whomwere attacked, jailed or killed by their own government. As a result of Mr. Works’ leadership, the U.S. government built trust with Nicaragua’s emerging leaders, strengthened their newly formed democratic movements and empowered journalists to hold the government accountable. Robert Works is a democracy, human rights and governance officer with USAID, currently serving as the elections team lead in Kabul, Afghanistan. Before Kabul, he served on a short-term assignment with USAID/Ukraine, where he worked on elections programming during the country’s historic presidential elections. Mr. Works was nominated for the Mark Palmer Award for the Advancement of Democracy for his work as a first-tour officer in Nicaragua, where he played a critical role in helping the U.S. government build trust with Nicaragua’s emerging youth leaders. From 2016 to 2017, Mr. Works was a Penn Kemble Fellow at the National Endowment for Democracy. In 2012, Robert earned a master's degree in philosophy at the University of Cambridge and is a 2010 graduate of the University of Louisville, where he was part of the McConnell Scholars Program. n