Kelly Sullivan joined USAGM in July 2021 to serve as the Chief of Staff for the agency’s CEO.
Most recently, Sullivan served as the Acting President of the Middle East Broadcasting Networks, Inc. (MBN), USAGM’s Arabic-language public service broadcaster that operates Alhurra television, Sawa radio, and both Pan-Arab and targeted digital and social media properties.
For more than a decade, Sullivan has been MBN’s Vice President for Administration & Finance/Treasurer leading MBN’s global management operations – specifically, through development and oversight of corporate finance, budget, procurement, administration, human resources, facilities, and security policies, planning, and operations. She provides strategic direction to support MBN operations at headquarters and its facilities in Washington, DC, Dubai, Cairo, Beirut, Erbil, Jerusalem, and posts throughout the Middle East.
Throughout her career, Sullivan has held both oversight and operational leadership positions managing resources, issues, and organizational change — primarily in the international affairs arena at the executive level. Prior to joining MBN in 2006, she worked with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in its inaugural years to expand its resource oversight function. As a Senior Intelligence Service officer, she assisted in analysis, development, and justification of U.S. intelligence community resource requirements.
Between 2000 and 2004, Sullivan was the Chief Financial Officer of the Broadcasting Board of Governors (now USAGM) during its first years as an independent U.S. government international affairs agency. As CFO, she successfully established the agency’s resource management infrastructure and worked with Congressional and Administration staff to address and resolve issues to support government and grantee broadcasts around the world.
Earlier in her career, Sullivan worked for nearly 10 years at the Office of Management and Budget focused on State Department and public diplomacy programs, held positions at the Department of State’s Office of Inspector General, and at the Department of Veterans Affairs. She began her career in the federal government as a Presidential Management Intern after earning an M.P.A. and a B.A. in Political Science and in Soviet Studies.