Bob Powers is a leader, politico, and former diplomat with twenty years of experience in Washington, D.C. This work includes his efforts in private industry, large corporations, government, and associations, and now at Bread for the World. He has built government affairs and sales operations from the ground up and successfully implemented new multilateral processes while serving as an appointee at USAID. He is passionate about issues revolving around food insecurity, hunger, and humanitarian efforts, both domestically and globally.
Powers has experience navigating industry and policy landscapes in Washington and internationally, with strong communications and public relations expertise. As an appointee at USAID, he served as the head of the delegation at G20 development negotiations, UNICEF board meetings at the United Nations-New York City, and as a senior diplomat at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development-Development Assistance Committee (OECD-DAC) in Paris. Powers also attended official diplomatic meetings in both South Korea and Japan.
Bob’s career accomplishments include serving as Deputy Assistant Administrator in the Bureau of Policy, Planning & Learning/USAID; Principal/CEO of Prairie Road (a government affairs and media consulting firm); Vice President of Government Relations at National Religious Broadcasters; Vice President of the Natural Foods Channel at Utzy Naturals; as well as a Senior Government Affairs Consultant to big tech, large corporations, broadcasters, and internet advertisers. His degree is in Broadcast Journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.