After the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development earlier this year, one woman who was fired has found a new space for advocacy work.
“I was out of a job. And so during that period, I was quite in shock, depressed,” said Tina Balin, who is now a policy director at the Alliance for American Leadership.
She was walked out of her job at USAID earlier this year and said she was lost and, “trying to figure out what to do next with my life, because that was more than a job, it was a belief system.”
The Alliance for American Leadership is a bipartisan nonprofit that started in May as a response to the dismantling of USAID.
Executive Director Asher Moss said their goal is to, “pressure Congress to try to restore foreign aid programs.”
“What’s happening now is that people who have long understood the importance of these programs, both for American national security and how we’re viewed around the world, are finally getting the chance to talk with the American people openly about why these programs are critical,” he said.
They now have more than 700 advocates across all 50 states. Balin said she’s grateful for the opportunity to continue advocating for foreign policy.
“I’m happy to have a home here where I can continue to advocate for the need for foreign aid, and explaining why it is such an important issue for Americans — not just our role around the globe, but our (own) growth and prosperity,” she said.
Moss said the alliance is continuing to expand, and that people like Balin are making a difference for the organization.
“Now, it’s just about growing from there. And I think that’s going to be continuing to do our normal outreach, person to person, as well as growing our campus chapters. Just getting to see more people recognizing what the alliance is doing and why it’s important to work together across the aisle on an issue that we all care about as Americans,” he said.
Balin said the organization was put together at the right time. “Right away, I knew I had to be a part of this movement,” she said.