Amy Kirschenbaum Swers currently serves as Senior Manager for Global Programs at the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA), U.S. government foreign assistance agency supporting sustainable infrastructure development in emerging markets. In this role, she is responsible for a range of strategic planning, development policy, management, and programming responsibilities, including covering the Latin America portfolio for the Agency’s Global Procurement Initiative. Previously, she served as Country Manager for Brazil, covering the energy and environmental sectors.
Amy has deep experience working across the private, public, and nonprofit sectors. She has served as a bridge and translator – whether between business units, sectors, or countries. She has deep international development experience, having held leadership roles at the Millennium Challenge Corporation and Inter-American Foundation, and has private sector experience working for Fortune 500 biotech and telecommunications companies. As an independent consultant, she has also provided strategic advisory services to USAID’s Center for Transformational Partnerships in the Global Development Lab and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
Amy earned dual Master’s degrees from the University of Texas-Austin in public policy and Latin American studies and a B.A. from Yale University. Fluent in Spanish and Portuguese, Amy has lived in six Latin American and European countries, and received a Fulbright fellowship to carry out graduate fieldwork in Brazil and the Southern Cone. Passionate about “welcoming the stranger,” Amy previously volunteered on the Development Committee for Casa de Maryland and is excited to join Upwardly Global’s DC Leadership Council.