Sonali Korde is the MD Anderson Visiting Fellow at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy, specializing in humanitarian affairs, international development, global health, and foreign policy. She is also a senior Middle East advisor for All Hands and Hearts, a humanitarian NGO, and serves as an adjunct clinical instructor of the Baylor College of Medicine’s Center for Global Surgery, with focus on mentorship and guidance for the Global Surgery Advocacy and Policy Fellowship.  Korde also serves on the advisory councils of two NGOs, specializing in health and humanitarian assistance. She has extensive experience working in Africa and the Middle East on humanitarian issues, conflict, and complex crises. Korde also has a strong background in global health, having worked on the front lines in Africa to combat infectious disease threats, such as malaria and Ebola.

Previously, she served as assistant to the administrator and led USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, overseeing efforts to save lives, alleviate human suffering, and coordinate the U.S. government’s international disaster response. She also served as deputy special envoy for Middle East humanitarian issues, playing a key role in U.S. diplomatic efforts to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza following the outbreak of war on Oct. 7, 2023.

Korde also held the position of acting deputy assistant administrator at USAID’s Bureau for Legislative and Public Affairs, where she managed strategic engagement with the U.S. Congress, negotiating legislative and budget issues related to foreign policy and international development. She previously served on the National Security Council (NSC) staff as director of Global Health and Development, where she supported the interagency Ebola response in West Africa, addressed emerging infectious disease threats such as MERS and Zika, and played a key role in launching the Global Health Security Agenda.

Before joining the NSC, Korde was a foreign affairs fellow in the office of Congresswoman Nita Lowey, ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee and Subcommittee for State and Foreign Operations. She achieved the rank of Senior Executive Service in the U.S. government’s civil service and holds an M.A. in international affairs from Yale University and a B.S. in economics from New York University.