Agency issued more than $34 million in contracts and grants contributing to Colorado’s economy this past year
Hundreds of CEOs and staffers from Colorado-based organizations with live-saving, humanitarian missions gathered in a Five Points office space this week to weep, vent and strategize.
On Tuesday, employees in the international development field convened at the Posner Center for International Development to commiserate in light of the Trump administration’s and Elon Musk’s dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development, the federal agency many humanitarian aid programs relied on to fund their work.
“This is going to have a huge effect on the Denver and Colorado economy because it’s not just about the nonprofits and people who work there,” said Jamie Hansen, building director for the Posner Center. “We’re talking about the contractors and all the workers on all these projects. I have a board member whose organizations haven’t gotten paid for work they’ve already done.”
USAID oversees humanitarian, development and security programs in about 120 countries. Trump, Musk and Congressional Republicans have targeted the U.S. foreign assistance program with accusations of waste and advancing liberal social programs.
The U.S. spends less than 1% of its budget on foreign assistance.
In a matter of weeks, USAID faced stop-work orders, mass firings, furloughs and a downed website while the programs the agency supported across the globe have abruptly halted. USAID workers described being abandoned overseas amid political violence. MORE