I Said My Piece with Peace: Inside USAID's Final Days: A Testament of Leadership When Everything Falls Apart

"I Said My Piece with Peace is a first-hand account of servant leadership and the importance of leading with grace during hardship and turmoil. A painful, but incredibly powerful, read." Samantha Power, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and former USAID AdministratorOn July 18, 2024, Keisha Lanai Effiom was sworn in as USAID Mission Director for Rwanda and Burundi, one of only eight African American women in history to hold this position worldwide.She had plans. Bold, beautiful partnerships that would transform communities for generations.Five months later, she was handed an impossible deadline: dismantle two USAID missions, transition hundreds of staff, and relocate her family, while the institution she had served for 18 years was demolished around her.This is the rare firsthand account of USAID's unprecedented closure. Told by the leader who fought for her people while her own benefits were delayed. Who maintained transparency when chaos reigned. Who stood in the wreckage and chose integrity over survival.From navigating a Marburg outbreak response to confronting the "non-plan" that shattered thousands of lives... from betrayal by those she had protected to standing ovations amidst the ruins... Effiom documents with unflinching honesty what happens when soft power is sacrificed for political theater, and what it truly means to lead when everything falls apart.I Said My Piece with Peace is not just a memoir. It is a testament to servant leadership, a chronicle of institutional collapse, and a love letter to every public servant who gave everything, and kept giving even when the institution stopped giving back.When giants fall, the servants remain.Essential reading for anyone called to lead with integrity, doing what's right, even when no one is looking, even when the institution fails, even when the personal cost is high. Read more