BRAC USA

Background

BRAC USA (sometimes stylized in lowercase as “brac”) is the United States affiliate of BRAC, a large Bangladesh-based international development organization that focuses on issues associated with poverty, illiteracy, disease, and social conditions. Fazle Hasan Abed, formerly an executive in the oil industry, formed BRAC as a relief effort in 1972 in the wake of the Bangladesh War of Independence. Since its founding, the organization has expanded its activities to include educational, health care, civic, financial, and agricultural programs aiming to improve impoverished communities. In June 2007, BRAC USA (under the name “Brac Usa Inc.”) was registered as a charitable nonprofit organization in New York City. ^{1 2}

Activities

According to its 2024 Annual Report, BRAC USA largely acts to both engage in public relations efforts on behalf of and raise funds for BRAC International and its programs. ³

Funding

In its 2024 annual report, BRAC USA noted that its major partners and donors included Amnesty International, Bainum Family Foundation, Bezos Family Foundation, Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, Crown Family Philanthropies, Gates Foundation, Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, JSI King Philanthropies, LEGO Foundation, Livelihood Impact Fund, Living Goods, Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies, Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab, MetLife Foundation, Nasdaq, Nirapon, Open Society Foundations, Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, RTI International, Schwab Charitable Fund, U.S. Agency for International Development, Walmart, and the Wellspring Philanthropic Fund. ³

Leadership

Raymond C. Offenheiser was the chair of BRAC USA’s board of directors as of 2025 as well as the director of the University of Notre Dame’s McKenna Center for Human Development and Global Business, and member of that university’s faculty as a distinguished professor of practice in the Keough School of Global Affairs. Previously, Offenheiser was the president of Oxfam America, representative of the Ford Foundation in Bangladesh and the Andean and Southern Cone regions of South America, Obama administration appointee to represent civil society interests on the leadership council of the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition in Africa, and honorary president of Wetlands International, as well as a co-founder of the ONE Campaign, Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network, and Food Policy Action Network. Additionally, Offenheiser has served on the advisory boards of organizations including the World Economic Forum, Council on Foreign Relations, Aspen Institute, World Agricultural Forum, Gates Foundation, Clinton Global Initiative, Harvard Business School, Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Notre Dame Kellogg Institute for International Studies, and Cornell University. ^{4 5}

Dan Stoner is the chief operating officer of BRAC USA. Previously, he was the vice president for education and child protection at Save the Children, and worked at Plan International in locations including Nairobi, Quito, Tanzania, Bolivia, and Brazil. ⁶

Devin McLorg is the director of corporate and foundation partnerships at BRAC USA. Previously, she was the head of education at the Clinton Global Initiative and an employee at USAID’s Center for Education. ⁷

Mica Bevington is the director of communications and digital fundraising at BRAC USA. Previously, she was a senior writer and assistant editor at the London Business School and U.S. director of marketing and communications for Humanity and Inclusion (then known as Handicap International). ⁸