1
00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,640
Speaker 1: Native Land Pod is a production of iHeartRadio in partnership

2
00:00:03,640 --> 00:00:11,400
Speaker 1: with Reason Choice Media. Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Hello everybody,

3
00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:15,240
Speaker 1: Welcome home, y'all. This is Angela Raie with Native Lamppod.

4
00:00:15,840 --> 00:00:20,239
Speaker 1: Every Tuesday, I do a solo podcast, and that is

5
00:00:20,239 --> 00:00:21,120
Speaker 1: what we're doing today.

6
00:00:21,200 --> 00:00:21,320
Speaker 2: Now.

7
00:00:21,360 --> 00:00:24,320
Speaker 1: I wish I were coming to you on better terms,

8
00:00:24,360 --> 00:00:27,840
Speaker 1: but as you all know, there is so so much

9
00:00:27,920 --> 00:00:31,320
Speaker 1: going on throughout the world and of course on these

10
00:00:31,560 --> 00:00:34,440
Speaker 1: shores of these United States, and so what we're talking

11
00:00:34,479 --> 00:00:36,400
Speaker 1: about today is I know many of you all were

12
00:00:36,440 --> 00:00:38,280
Speaker 1: recalled just a few weeks ago we talked about the

13
00:00:38,320 --> 00:00:42,200
Speaker 1: federal funding freeze. We know that there was a temporary

14
00:00:42,240 --> 00:00:46,960
Speaker 1: pause of agency grants, loans and other financial assistance programs,

15
00:00:47,600 --> 00:00:52,040
Speaker 1: as issued in a January twenty seventh memo from OMB

16
00:00:52,120 --> 00:00:54,720
Speaker 1: from the acting director at the time. Since then, the

17
00:00:54,800 --> 00:00:59,280
Speaker 1: man who wrote the OMB portion of the memo in

18
00:00:59,560 --> 00:01:02,080
Speaker 1: Project twenty five has been sworn in. His name is

19
00:01:02,160 --> 00:01:05,480
Speaker 1: Russell Balt. He is now the director of O and

20
00:01:05,560 --> 00:01:09,720
Speaker 1: B and he has not stopped on these temporary pausings

21
00:01:09,880 --> 00:01:14,959
Speaker 1: of grants, loans and federal funds, including firing and laying

22
00:01:15,000 --> 00:01:18,520
Speaker 1: off federal workers who work every single day with our

23
00:01:18,560 --> 00:01:22,440
Speaker 1: taxpayer dollars right to make life much easier for us

24
00:01:22,480 --> 00:01:26,200
Speaker 1: here on these shores and those abroad. And so I

25
00:01:26,319 --> 00:01:29,920
Speaker 1: wanted to just dive into the many ways in which

26
00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:33,240
Speaker 1: folks have been hurt so far. You guys, we are

27
00:01:33,280 --> 00:01:36,360
Speaker 1: twenty eight days into this administration and it feels like

28
00:01:36,520 --> 00:01:39,440
Speaker 1: a month of Sundays. It feels like it is a

29
00:01:39,520 --> 00:01:44,839
Speaker 1: NonStop flow of trauma, of tragedy, and we are still

30
00:01:44,840 --> 00:01:46,959
Speaker 1: looking for the triumph, but we're gonna hold on to hope.

31
00:01:47,040 --> 00:01:50,680
Speaker 1: So today we're gonna talk to three people who are

32
00:01:50,720 --> 00:01:56,840
Speaker 1: either government employees, have been funded through government by contracts,

33
00:01:57,040 --> 00:01:59,960
Speaker 1: or from grants. And I want you all to hear

34
00:02:00,160 --> 00:02:04,040
Speaker 1: these very human stories so that you understand what is

35
00:02:04,080 --> 00:02:06,840
Speaker 1: at stake. I think what we have gotten accustomed to

36
00:02:07,280 --> 00:02:11,360
Speaker 1: is hearing stories on the gram, seeing people do an

37
00:02:11,400 --> 00:02:15,760
Speaker 1: instructional on TikTok, and we divorce ourselves from the empathy

38
00:02:15,840 --> 00:02:20,120
Speaker 1: and the compassion needed as humans to really ensure policy change.

39
00:02:20,320 --> 00:02:22,440
Speaker 1: So today I want you to hear from folks who

40
00:02:22,440 --> 00:02:25,440
Speaker 1: are directly impacted. First, I'm going to bring into this

41
00:02:25,480 --> 00:02:29,800
Speaker 1: conversation Miss User, who is in the DMV area. She

42
00:02:30,120 --> 00:02:34,639
Speaker 1: is the former Operations Assistant at International Organization for Migration

43
00:02:35,440 --> 00:02:39,680
Speaker 1: under the United States Refugee Admissions Program also known as

44
00:02:39,760 --> 00:02:43,640
Speaker 1: us RAP, which is an inter agency entity that was

45
00:02:44,520 --> 00:02:49,359
Speaker 1: supported by HHS, State and so many others in its

46
00:02:49,400 --> 00:02:51,280
Speaker 1: work with United Nations. So we're going to bring in

47
00:02:51,320 --> 00:02:53,600
Speaker 1: misuser first and let's have this conversation.

48
00:02:54,720 --> 00:02:56,040
Speaker 3: Hi, thank you for having me.

49
00:02:56,280 --> 00:02:58,520
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for being here. I am so

50
00:02:58,680 --> 00:03:01,880
Speaker 1: sorry about what you've ex experience. I want our listeners

51
00:03:01,880 --> 00:03:04,520
Speaker 1: and the folks who are tuned into YouTube today just

52
00:03:04,560 --> 00:03:08,119
Speaker 1: to hear from you about what your experience was. When

53
00:03:08,120 --> 00:03:11,760
Speaker 1: did you learn of the funding for your program being cut?

54
00:03:11,960 --> 00:03:15,080
Speaker 1: How many people were impacted, and how are you feeling now.

55
00:03:17,600 --> 00:03:21,160
Speaker 3: I think I actually kind of knew when Trump got

56
00:03:21,160 --> 00:03:24,519
Speaker 3: elected that there was a possibility that my program was

57
00:03:24,560 --> 00:03:26,919
Speaker 3: going to be downsized, But I don't think any of

58
00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:29,320
Speaker 3: us imagined for him to completely cut it. I think

59
00:03:29,320 --> 00:03:33,760
Speaker 3: we all knew downsizing was coming across all US funding

60
00:03:33,760 --> 00:03:36,520
Speaker 3: because that is what happened last time, but we none

61
00:03:36,560 --> 00:03:38,840
Speaker 3: of us expected him to come in and just stop

62
00:03:38,880 --> 00:03:43,200
Speaker 3: the funding. So and I think it makes it worse

63
00:03:43,240 --> 00:03:45,480
Speaker 3: because it's like he's not stopping the funding for my program,

64
00:03:45,520 --> 00:03:49,400
Speaker 3: only he just he paused, everything humanitarian world is in

65
00:03:49,480 --> 00:03:52,960
Speaker 3: shambles right now. The only way to find a job

66
00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:54,960
Speaker 3: is for me to switch careers. And I think for

67
00:03:55,040 --> 00:03:57,640
Speaker 3: me that's really challenging because it's like, I don't do

68
00:03:57,680 --> 00:03:59,160
Speaker 3: this for the money. I love the work I do.

69
00:03:59,240 --> 00:04:01,640
Speaker 3: I love working with people. I love working with the refugees.

70
00:04:02,160 --> 00:04:05,520
Speaker 3: So to have this person come in and just take

71
00:04:05,560 --> 00:04:08,840
Speaker 3: it away. I've spent so long just trying to get

72
00:04:08,840 --> 00:04:12,720
Speaker 3: into this field and getting into the federal workforce or

73
00:04:13,160 --> 00:04:16,680
Speaker 3: international development or humanitan world. It's already hard as it is,

74
00:04:17,320 --> 00:04:19,680
Speaker 3: so for somebody to make it in, especially somebody like

75
00:04:19,720 --> 00:04:22,920
Speaker 3: me who's like Muslim, black and I'm a woman, it's

76
00:04:22,960 --> 00:04:27,080
Speaker 3: just it's like really saddening, and I'm also really angry

77
00:04:27,120 --> 00:04:28,479
Speaker 3: at the same time because I feel like it's just

78
00:04:28,520 --> 00:04:30,120
Speaker 3: been taken away from under me.

79
00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:33,720
Speaker 1: And can you take a step back and talk a

80
00:04:33,760 --> 00:04:35,960
Speaker 1: little bit about you said it was hard for you

81
00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:39,080
Speaker 1: to break into this work. Give us an example of

82
00:04:39,120 --> 00:04:41,599
Speaker 1: your day to day or one of the highlights from

83
00:04:41,800 --> 00:04:44,000
Speaker 1: the type of work you were doing before the funding

84
00:04:44,040 --> 00:04:46,120
Speaker 1: stream was cut off by the Trump administration.

85
00:04:47,800 --> 00:04:50,520
Speaker 3: I think just working with the refugees and also my colleagues,

86
00:04:51,680 --> 00:04:54,120
Speaker 3: the office that I work in is very, very diverse,

87
00:04:54,120 --> 00:04:57,520
Speaker 3: which I love. So usually, like in other spaces that

88
00:04:57,560 --> 00:04:59,680
Speaker 3: I've worked in, I'm usually either the only black girl,

89
00:05:00,040 --> 00:05:02,479
Speaker 3: usually the only Muslim, or sometimes even the only girl.

90
00:05:03,040 --> 00:05:04,599
Speaker 3: So this was the one place where I felt like

91
00:05:05,360 --> 00:05:07,880
Speaker 3: all parts of me were accepted. And it's like I

92
00:05:07,960 --> 00:05:10,600
Speaker 3: work with people who enjoy the work they're doing. I'm

93
00:05:10,640 --> 00:05:13,880
Speaker 3: meeting new people every day. But also I think hearing

94
00:05:13,920 --> 00:05:17,920
Speaker 3: these refugee stories kind of helps me connect. I love

95
00:05:17,920 --> 00:05:19,360
Speaker 3: connecting with me and it helps me connect with them

96
00:05:19,360 --> 00:05:22,280
Speaker 3: because my parents immigrated here, so it's like I understand

97
00:05:22,320 --> 00:05:24,559
Speaker 3: the challenges of coming to a new world and having

98
00:05:24,600 --> 00:05:27,880
Speaker 3: to relearn everything and like being torn away from your family.

99
00:05:28,080 --> 00:05:30,520
Speaker 3: And I think having this funding taken away, I think

100
00:05:30,560 --> 00:05:33,280
Speaker 3: it breaks my heart because it's like these families are

101
00:05:33,279 --> 00:05:37,960
Speaker 3: now being torn apart, and it's just like we can't

102
00:05:37,960 --> 00:05:40,320
Speaker 3: do anything. We're not allowed to like answer the phones,

103
00:05:40,360 --> 00:05:43,720
Speaker 3: we can't answer emails. And at the same time as

104
00:05:43,760 --> 00:05:46,039
Speaker 3: I'm worrying for these refugees, I have to worry about

105
00:05:46,080 --> 00:05:48,560
Speaker 3: finding a job right and it's like I think I

106
00:05:48,600 --> 00:05:51,920
Speaker 3: struggle every day because it's like the workforce right.

107
00:05:51,839 --> 00:05:54,800
Speaker 1: Now is terrible, so it's on a snap just for

108
00:05:54,880 --> 00:05:58,680
Speaker 1: a moment. You're talking about receiving emails that you're not

109
00:05:58,760 --> 00:06:01,040
Speaker 1: able to respond to. Can you give us an example

110
00:06:01,080 --> 00:06:04,240
Speaker 1: of something that's come up where it's breaking your heart

111
00:06:04,320 --> 00:06:06,080
Speaker 1: to not be able to respond to the need of

112
00:06:06,120 --> 00:06:07,120
Speaker 1: a refugee family.

113
00:06:08,520 --> 00:06:11,200
Speaker 3: I think getting calls on the hotline. For the first

114
00:06:11,240 --> 00:06:13,359
Speaker 3: couple of days, we were receiving calls on the hot line.

115
00:06:13,760 --> 00:06:16,000
Speaker 3: And we do work with multiple agencies, and one of

116
00:06:16,040 --> 00:06:17,720
Speaker 3: the agencies, a lot of the agentries we work with,

117
00:06:17,720 --> 00:06:20,760
Speaker 3: our resettlement agencies, and the people that we work with,

118
00:06:20,920 --> 00:06:24,320
Speaker 3: they're all they were all fired within they order. When

119
00:06:24,320 --> 00:06:26,120
Speaker 3: in Friday Monday all of them are gone.

120
00:06:26,320 --> 00:06:27,200
Speaker 1: How many so.

121
00:06:29,120 --> 00:06:32,240
Speaker 3: There we work with about seven agencies and they think

122
00:06:32,279 --> 00:06:34,680
Speaker 3: about one thousand to two thousand people got fired there.

123
00:06:35,680 --> 00:06:38,960
Speaker 3: That was Monday. And I think I started to worry

124
00:06:38,960 --> 00:06:42,599
Speaker 3: because I'm like, I'm gonna get I'm gonna get cut.

125
00:06:42,640 --> 00:06:45,880
Speaker 3: It's just a matter of time of win. And you know,

126
00:06:45,920 --> 00:06:48,320
Speaker 3: I knew cuts were gonna come, but I didn't expect

127
00:06:48,839 --> 00:06:51,400
Speaker 3: all of us to get cut. Yeah, my company alone

128
00:06:51,400 --> 00:06:54,960
Speaker 3: fired three thousand people and we don't get we don't

129
00:06:55,000 --> 00:06:57,000
Speaker 3: really get severance. A lot of us don't get severance,

130
00:06:57,200 --> 00:07:00,000
Speaker 3: and because we work for the international organization, we all

131
00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:04,680
Speaker 3: so don'tet unemployment. So it's like once we got let go,

132
00:07:05,839 --> 00:07:08,600
Speaker 3: money stopped coming in, and obviously you need money to survive.

133
00:07:09,560 --> 00:07:12,440
Speaker 3: And it's already hard enough to see. And I think

134
00:07:12,480 --> 00:07:14,440
Speaker 3: every day I'm walking into apply for jobs, I'm also

135
00:07:14,480 --> 00:07:16,360
Speaker 3: seeing people say I got for a load, I got

136
00:07:16,440 --> 00:07:19,640
Speaker 3: let go, And it's so challenging because the workforce is

137
00:07:19,640 --> 00:07:22,480
Speaker 3: already terrible. So now I'm going against not only the

138
00:07:22,520 --> 00:07:24,680
Speaker 3: people who've let go under US RAP, but the people

139
00:07:24,720 --> 00:07:29,400
Speaker 3: who let go of USAID, Department of Education, people, government

140
00:07:29,400 --> 00:07:31,840
Speaker 3: workers who were on probation. And I think it just

141
00:07:31,880 --> 00:07:35,280
Speaker 3: really breaks my heart because it's like I'm questioning where

142
00:07:35,280 --> 00:07:38,400
Speaker 3: are our leaders? Because I see everybody coming together, all

143
00:07:38,440 --> 00:07:40,200
Speaker 3: of us are coming together, we're trying to help each other,

144
00:07:41,120 --> 00:07:41,760
Speaker 3: But where are.

145
00:07:41,680 --> 00:07:44,560
Speaker 1: Leaders When you're saying where are your leaders? What are

146
00:07:44,640 --> 00:07:47,920
Speaker 1: you asking leadership to do? And where are you looking

147
00:07:47,960 --> 00:07:49,520
Speaker 1: for leadership in this moment.

148
00:07:50,320 --> 00:07:52,040
Speaker 3: To step up to do something?

149
00:07:52,200 --> 00:07:54,520
Speaker 1: But who I called? Who are who do you want

150
00:07:54,520 --> 00:07:54,920
Speaker 1: to do that?

151
00:07:55,000 --> 00:07:55,080
Speaker 3: Like?

152
00:07:55,080 --> 00:07:57,840
Speaker 1: Who are the people that Congress? Congress? Congress?

153
00:07:57,880 --> 00:07:59,760
Speaker 3: They need to step it up because this isn't just

154
00:07:59,800 --> 00:08:04,440
Speaker 3: affect us in the US, this affects people globally. The

155
00:08:04,480 --> 00:08:06,520
Speaker 3: companies that we work with have people all over there

156
00:08:06,560 --> 00:08:08,760
Speaker 3: in the world. So these people are being let go

157
00:08:08,840 --> 00:08:12,240
Speaker 3: all around the world. And as an American, I think

158
00:08:12,240 --> 00:08:14,880
Speaker 3: a part of me feels guilty because eventually I will

159
00:08:14,880 --> 00:08:17,160
Speaker 3: find a job and I will be okay. But that's

160
00:08:17,200 --> 00:08:19,200
Speaker 3: not the same thing for other people who might live

161
00:08:19,320 --> 00:08:24,440
Speaker 3: in Ghana or Sudan or Palestine or anywhere around the world.

162
00:08:24,600 --> 00:08:28,680
Speaker 3: And it's like these fundings they do save people's lives.

163
00:08:29,320 --> 00:08:32,480
Speaker 3: They provide medicine for people, they give educate access to education.

164
00:08:33,080 --> 00:08:35,400
Speaker 3: And I'm a big education advocate because I know I

165
00:08:35,400 --> 00:08:38,040
Speaker 3: wouldn't be here without my education, and so I think

166
00:08:38,040 --> 00:08:42,600
Speaker 3: it's really heartbreaking to see these people struggling and not

167
00:08:42,679 --> 00:08:45,480
Speaker 3: having access to their medicine. A lot of them potentially

168
00:08:45,480 --> 00:08:48,240
Speaker 3: could die. And I just feel like Congress is not

169
00:08:48,280 --> 00:08:52,120
Speaker 3: doing enough. They're not standing up, They're not doing anything,

170
00:08:52,960 --> 00:08:54,560
Speaker 3: and I just don't understand why.

171
00:08:55,160 --> 00:08:58,320
Speaker 1: Yeah, I thank you so much for your time and

172
00:08:58,360 --> 00:09:01,480
Speaker 1: for your story. I agree with you. We do need

173
00:09:01,520 --> 00:09:03,600
Speaker 1: Congress to step it up, but we also need to

174
00:09:03,640 --> 00:09:06,640
Speaker 1: make sure that we got the same heat for folks

175
00:09:06,640 --> 00:09:08,559
Speaker 1: on both sides of the aisle. The Republicans are in

176
00:09:08,600 --> 00:09:12,480
Speaker 1: the majority, and they are just being a rubber stamp

177
00:09:12,480 --> 00:09:15,520
Speaker 1: for everything that Trump administration is doing. So I'm hopeful

178
00:09:15,760 --> 00:09:18,160
Speaker 1: that there will be change and that somebody in the

179
00:09:18,160 --> 00:09:20,680
Speaker 1: Trump administration will comply with the corridor. But thank you

180
00:09:20,679 --> 00:09:23,240
Speaker 1: so much, mister, use your fair time, thank you for

181
00:09:23,280 --> 00:09:35,800
Speaker 1: having me, making me absolutely I want you all to

182
00:09:35,840 --> 00:09:37,840
Speaker 1: hear some of these stories some of us are reading

183
00:09:37,880 --> 00:09:43,120
Speaker 1: about different people, how they're being impacted, their families, who

184
00:09:43,120 --> 00:09:46,480
Speaker 1: they're responsible for financially, the kinds of work they did

185
00:09:46,559 --> 00:09:50,960
Speaker 1: within the federal government. We have our tentacles, the American people.

186
00:09:51,080 --> 00:09:54,600
Speaker 1: The American government has its tentacles in so many different

187
00:09:54,600 --> 00:09:59,520
Speaker 1: spaces across the globe. And I don't even really, I

188
00:09:59,520 --> 00:10:03,440
Speaker 1: don't know if we realize yet just how impactful these cuts,

189
00:10:03,720 --> 00:10:06,920
Speaker 1: these funding freezes really are. And so I want to

190
00:10:06,920 --> 00:10:10,679
Speaker 1: bring another person in who is a government contractor. His

191
00:10:10,760 --> 00:10:12,160
Speaker 1: name is Justin Rogers.

192
00:10:12,360 --> 00:10:12,920
Speaker 3: He is.

193
00:10:14,520 --> 00:10:18,839
Speaker 1: A former project associate with RTI International, and that work

194
00:10:18,920 --> 00:10:22,320
Speaker 1: they were doing fell within USA. I D and you

195
00:10:22,400 --> 00:10:26,559
Speaker 1: all have mostly probably heard about everything that was happening

196
00:10:26,600 --> 00:10:30,400
Speaker 1: at us AID and how expansive those cuts have been.

197
00:10:30,880 --> 00:10:33,560
Speaker 1: The lives that have been already lost in this short

198
00:10:33,559 --> 00:10:37,560
Speaker 1: time frame from cutting off the fundings figot, you know,

199
00:10:37,679 --> 00:10:40,160
Speaker 1: in places like the Philippines and others. So we're going

200
00:10:40,200 --> 00:10:44,960
Speaker 1: to bring in Justin now to talk about his story. Hi, Justin,

201
00:10:45,000 --> 00:10:45,480
Speaker 1: how are you?

202
00:10:46,440 --> 00:10:47,480
Speaker 2: Haianzel? Good?

203
00:10:47,600 --> 00:10:47,840
Speaker 3: Well?

204
00:10:47,920 --> 00:10:48,760
Speaker 2: Thanks for having me.

205
00:10:48,840 --> 00:10:50,720
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for being here. I know that

206
00:10:50,760 --> 00:10:54,800
Speaker 1: it takes courage. We're asking you all to step forward

207
00:10:54,880 --> 00:10:57,880
Speaker 1: and talk about what is happening in your world. When

208
00:10:57,880 --> 00:11:01,640
Speaker 1: did you learn about your fund's being cut off? And

209
00:11:02,360 --> 00:11:04,959
Speaker 1: what is the impact at your company and for you personally.

210
00:11:06,559 --> 00:11:12,440
Speaker 2: So our work started being impacted day one, honestly, January,

211
00:11:12,960 --> 00:11:16,160
Speaker 2: Martin Luther King day in the day after that, we

212
00:11:16,200 --> 00:11:19,920
Speaker 2: started receiving stock work orders, we started receiving notice that

213
00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:21,960
Speaker 2: we were not going to be able to pay certain

214
00:11:22,080 --> 00:11:26,800
Speaker 2: costs from a subcontractor. And then recently a few days ago,

215
00:11:27,080 --> 00:11:30,160
Speaker 2: I got a termination notice on one of my projects.

216
00:11:30,880 --> 00:11:34,360
Speaker 2: And so on Friday, we've been having these ongoing leadership

217
00:11:34,400 --> 00:11:37,360
Speaker 2: meetings in our leadership at first said we might reduce

218
00:11:37,920 --> 00:11:40,360
Speaker 2: hours that staff work, some of you will be for

219
00:11:40,480 --> 00:11:42,320
Speaker 2: load and come back. They were just looking at all

220
00:11:42,400 --> 00:11:45,920
Speaker 2: kinds of different options, and so on Friday, I received

221
00:11:45,920 --> 00:11:47,880
Speaker 2: the news that I was one of the three hundred

222
00:11:47,920 --> 00:11:49,959
Speaker 2: people for my department to be for load.

223
00:11:52,800 --> 00:11:56,120
Speaker 1: Were you surprised that you were for load?

224
00:11:57,640 --> 00:12:01,680
Speaker 2: I wasn't surprised at all. I had seen it coming

225
00:12:01,960 --> 00:12:04,880
Speaker 2: and hearing. I think what surprised me the most how

226
00:12:04,920 --> 00:12:07,400
Speaker 2: faster king and when they said this was going to

227
00:12:07,400 --> 00:12:10,160
Speaker 2: be an aggressive one hundred days. It has been a

228
00:12:10,160 --> 00:12:13,360
Speaker 2: month of Sundays already and it hasn't been one hundred days.

229
00:12:13,400 --> 00:12:16,480
Speaker 2: So I can only imagine what they might be getting

230
00:12:16,520 --> 00:12:19,720
Speaker 2: to by day one hundred and what law or book

231
00:12:19,800 --> 00:12:23,480
Speaker 2: they're back there unraveling. I was very surprised that how

232
00:12:23,520 --> 00:12:26,240
Speaker 2: fast it came. I think it moved very quick. I

233
00:12:26,240 --> 00:12:29,640
Speaker 2: didn't expect it to come this quick. I thought to myself, Okay,

234
00:12:29,679 --> 00:12:32,440
Speaker 2: you have a good two maybe three months before things

235
00:12:32,440 --> 00:12:36,240
Speaker 2: start working its way through the judiciary system. But Trump

236
00:12:36,320 --> 00:12:39,199
Speaker 2: Trump worked fast and his administration they worked very quick.

237
00:12:40,880 --> 00:12:42,920
Speaker 2: But I was not surprised that my work was going

238
00:12:42,960 --> 00:12:46,199
Speaker 2: to come to it. And I felt like with Project

239
00:12:46,200 --> 00:12:48,760
Speaker 2: twenty twenty five being out there and the rhetoric that's

240
00:12:48,800 --> 00:12:51,400
Speaker 2: been out there about international development in the field I

241
00:12:51,480 --> 00:12:55,800
Speaker 2: work in, I saw shifts coming. And I know Republicans

242
00:12:55,880 --> 00:12:59,640
Speaker 2: are very big on localization, which is problematic in and

243
00:12:59,679 --> 00:13:04,120
Speaker 2: of its off because you can't have local organizations competing

244
00:13:04,120 --> 00:13:07,720
Speaker 2: when they don't even have the resources to compete. So again,

245
00:13:07,880 --> 00:13:09,520
Speaker 2: I definitely do see this trend coming.

246
00:13:09,679 --> 00:13:14,360
Speaker 1: When you describe the work that you were doing, how

247
00:13:14,400 --> 00:13:16,280
Speaker 1: would you describe it? What was the nature of the

248
00:13:16,320 --> 00:13:18,120
Speaker 1: work you all did with USAID?

249
00:13:20,520 --> 00:13:23,600
Speaker 2: The nature of the work was very It was very

250
00:13:23,679 --> 00:13:26,439
Speaker 2: much business like. So although I worked for a nonprofit,

251
00:13:26,880 --> 00:13:29,840
Speaker 2: USAID was our client and they were paying us to

252
00:13:29,840 --> 00:13:32,280
Speaker 2: go implement a project, So we had to abide by

253
00:13:32,320 --> 00:13:36,080
Speaker 2: their regulations, their stipulations, and we had different types of

254
00:13:36,120 --> 00:13:39,400
Speaker 2: contracts that we would work with them. Certain things on

255
00:13:39,440 --> 00:13:42,240
Speaker 2: a project we could build USA for, we couldn't build

256
00:13:42,280 --> 00:13:45,360
Speaker 2: them for. I will say we had a very decent

257
00:13:45,400 --> 00:13:47,199
Speaker 2: relationship to company with a client. We had a good

258
00:13:47,240 --> 00:13:50,760
Speaker 2: relationship because we we get tons of USA funded projects

259
00:13:51,120 --> 00:13:54,080
Speaker 2: via our organization versus other competitors.

260
00:13:54,760 --> 00:13:57,000
Speaker 1: But when you think about the type of work that

261
00:13:57,040 --> 00:13:59,880
Speaker 1: you were doing, if you were to describe your impact

262
00:14:00,200 --> 00:14:04,480
Speaker 1: at your organization, what is the nature of the work, like,

263
00:14:04,520 --> 00:14:06,800
Speaker 1: what do you all do for USAID or did you

264
00:14:06,840 --> 00:14:07,800
Speaker 1: do for USAID?

265
00:14:08,640 --> 00:14:11,679
Speaker 2: Okay, right, so we do the whole vertical of what

266
00:14:11,720 --> 00:14:15,240
Speaker 2: it takes to implement a project. So I worked closely

267
00:14:15,280 --> 00:14:18,160
Speaker 2: in the operations and logistics. I worked on procurement, and

268
00:14:18,240 --> 00:14:21,440
Speaker 2: so if we were looking for a new subcontractors to

269
00:14:21,520 --> 00:14:26,920
Speaker 2: carry out capacity building or dissemination or stakeholder engagement in

270
00:14:26,960 --> 00:14:30,920
Speaker 2: a certain country, we would go with a local partner.

271
00:14:30,960 --> 00:14:33,600
Speaker 2: We go through the procurement process, we on board them,

272
00:14:33,960 --> 00:14:35,800
Speaker 2: and then they would kind of carry out some of

273
00:14:35,840 --> 00:14:39,200
Speaker 2: that work and they'd check in with the technical team

274
00:14:39,200 --> 00:14:41,200
Speaker 2: and country. And so our team was split. I worked

275
00:14:41,200 --> 00:14:44,040
Speaker 2: on the home office side in a project management unit,

276
00:14:44,120 --> 00:14:46,160
Speaker 2: and then you have the technical side who worked in

277
00:14:46,200 --> 00:14:48,680
Speaker 2: the field or in the country in these projects. And

278
00:14:48,760 --> 00:14:51,200
Speaker 2: so people who worked on the technical side more so

279
00:14:51,240 --> 00:14:54,720
Speaker 2: had more expertise. But I think to answer your question,

280
00:14:55,800 --> 00:14:58,240
Speaker 2: I felt very wholesome, and I would say everyone that

281
00:14:58,280 --> 00:15:01,320
Speaker 2: we did we put to other large scale projects.

282
00:15:01,400 --> 00:15:04,760
Speaker 1: We changed curriculums, suggestin what I'm trying to do here,

283
00:15:04,800 --> 00:15:06,640
Speaker 1: and I know is hard. I can tell like I

284
00:15:06,680 --> 00:15:08,760
Speaker 1: love this conversation with you because I can tell your

285
00:15:08,920 --> 00:15:12,640
Speaker 1: very logistics focus. There are people at home that one

286
00:15:13,280 --> 00:15:17,160
Speaker 1: don't know what USAID does and two when you're talking

287
00:15:17,160 --> 00:15:22,960
Speaker 1: about technical assistance and stakeholder engagement. What does that look

288
00:15:23,040 --> 00:15:27,320
Speaker 1: like for you know, a project surrounding HIV AIDS in

289
00:15:27,360 --> 00:15:30,760
Speaker 1: South Africa, or like, what are the types of projects

290
00:15:30,760 --> 00:15:33,440
Speaker 1: that you all were working on. One thing that I

291
00:15:33,480 --> 00:15:36,120
Speaker 1: hear that is really significant about what you said kind

292
00:15:36,120 --> 00:15:39,440
Speaker 1: of shifting shifting through a little bit is you all

293
00:15:39,480 --> 00:15:44,720
Speaker 1: would find local businesses that could do the work for

294
00:15:44,920 --> 00:15:47,760
Speaker 1: you all on the ground, and that's ensuring that you're

295
00:15:48,160 --> 00:15:52,000
Speaker 1: supporting economic development in certain regions. But give me an

296
00:15:52,040 --> 00:15:54,720
Speaker 1: example of something that is going to be hit really

297
00:15:54,760 --> 00:15:58,240
Speaker 1: hard because you all are no longer funded and able

298
00:15:58,640 --> 00:16:01,600
Speaker 1: to see a project through to fruition. Like, what is

299
00:16:01,640 --> 00:16:03,520
Speaker 1: an example of one of those projects.

300
00:16:04,160 --> 00:16:06,560
Speaker 2: So there's a project in Senegal that I actually worked

301
00:16:06,560 --> 00:16:09,280
Speaker 2: closely on and it was an international education and we

302
00:16:09,320 --> 00:16:13,240
Speaker 2: worked in health, international education, we worked in governance, we

303
00:16:13,280 --> 00:16:16,640
Speaker 2: helped girls, we helped the disabled, We did every sort

304
00:16:16,640 --> 00:16:20,200
Speaker 2: of scope of work here. And so with this project

305
00:16:20,240 --> 00:16:22,880
Speaker 2: in Senegal, we were working with the ministry and we

306
00:16:22,880 --> 00:16:26,760
Speaker 2: were working on bringing bilinguisms, so French and then whichever

307
00:16:26,920 --> 00:16:30,200
Speaker 2: was the most locally spoken second spoken language in Senegal,

308
00:16:30,480 --> 00:16:33,440
Speaker 2: and those were going to be the leading languages in curriculum.

309
00:16:33,680 --> 00:16:37,680
Speaker 2: And we were piloting in five regions at first in Senegal,

310
00:16:37,760 --> 00:16:39,480
Speaker 2: and we were going to expand to the whole country,

311
00:16:39,960 --> 00:16:42,800
Speaker 2: and so we were working with organizations site the Gates

312
00:16:42,800 --> 00:16:46,320
Speaker 2: Foundation to change this curriculum. We're working with teachers on

313
00:16:46,360 --> 00:16:50,960
Speaker 2: the ground, principles ministers, and we're working with the education department.

314
00:16:51,080 --> 00:16:54,880
Speaker 2: So it was this holistic development of not just coming

315
00:16:54,880 --> 00:16:58,280
Speaker 2: in and building the water pipe, but actually telling people,

316
00:16:58,640 --> 00:17:00,720
Speaker 2: you know, this is where you get the this is

317
00:17:00,720 --> 00:17:02,600
Speaker 2: how you form the plastic, this is how you drove

318
00:17:02,600 --> 00:17:06,159
Speaker 2: for the water, and really helping people foster community amongst

319
00:17:06,240 --> 00:17:06,679
Speaker 2: one another.

320
00:17:07,240 --> 00:17:09,639
Speaker 1: I love that. I think it's so important and I

321
00:17:09,720 --> 00:17:12,479
Speaker 1: was asking you even when we before we started today.

322
00:17:13,000 --> 00:17:15,800
Speaker 1: There are certain things when we work in environments where

323
00:17:15,800 --> 00:17:17,520
Speaker 1: we're in the weeds on it, and we do it

324
00:17:17,560 --> 00:17:19,760
Speaker 1: all the time on the podcast. For throwing out acronyms,

325
00:17:19,760 --> 00:17:22,720
Speaker 1: I say today OPM or omb and people don't know

326
00:17:22,880 --> 00:17:25,040
Speaker 1: what that is, and so we have to bring them

327
00:17:25,040 --> 00:17:27,919
Speaker 1: into our world so they understand this. You know, the

328
00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:31,240
Speaker 1: far reaching impact of and the devastation that will come

329
00:17:31,280 --> 00:17:34,399
Speaker 1: because of these cuts. So justin I'm so grateful for

330
00:17:34,440 --> 00:17:37,479
Speaker 1: your time. I hope that you will continue to spread

331
00:17:37,520 --> 00:17:41,040
Speaker 1: the word on this and that you find philanthropic entities

332
00:17:41,040 --> 00:17:43,200
Speaker 1: like you talked about the Gates Foundation that will continue

333
00:17:43,200 --> 00:17:48,000
Speaker 1: this work because it is so important. We just you know,

334
00:17:48,040 --> 00:17:52,200
Speaker 1: we're up against an entity and administration that talks about

335
00:17:52,240 --> 00:17:55,720
Speaker 1: America first, but they don't understand what it means to

336
00:17:55,760 --> 00:18:00,119
Speaker 1: be a global partner and a global citizen. So if

337
00:18:00,160 --> 00:18:01,639
Speaker 1: you would for a minute, what would you say to

338
00:18:01,680 --> 00:18:04,120
Speaker 1: folks who may be in the comments and say, hey,

339
00:18:04,160 --> 00:18:08,000
Speaker 1: I don't care about this stuff about anybody's clean water overseas.

340
00:18:08,040 --> 00:18:09,919
Speaker 1: We don't even have clean water here. What do you

341
00:18:10,000 --> 00:18:10,560
Speaker 1: say to them?

342
00:18:12,840 --> 00:18:15,560
Speaker 2: I studied this in school, and so immediately I'll say

343
00:18:16,240 --> 00:18:19,919
Speaker 2: realism as a realist, cool, you don't care about it

344
00:18:19,960 --> 00:18:24,840
Speaker 2: as an American? The Chinese do, the Russians do, our

345
00:18:24,880 --> 00:18:28,199
Speaker 2: competitors do. So then what then America is not this

346
00:18:28,359 --> 00:18:31,919
Speaker 2: leading military superpower that it paints itself to be and

347
00:18:31,920 --> 00:18:35,400
Speaker 2: that it wants to be. So, I mean, we don't

348
00:18:35,440 --> 00:18:38,400
Speaker 2: have clean water in Michigan. They still have that issue

349
00:18:38,960 --> 00:18:42,840
Speaker 2: up there, and so I hear people's problems with that.

350
00:18:43,240 --> 00:18:46,479
Speaker 2: But I think when you set up a hegemony and

351
00:18:46,520 --> 00:18:49,840
Speaker 2: you set up a national state like America, you have

352
00:18:49,920 --> 00:18:51,840
Speaker 2: to sort of be involved just like you said, you

353
00:18:51,920 --> 00:18:55,240
Speaker 2: got to have a little tentacles everywhere because everything comes

354
00:18:55,320 --> 00:18:58,280
Speaker 2: back to you, and you are sad to say, controlling

355
00:18:58,720 --> 00:19:02,000
Speaker 2: that master role. And again if America does not control it.

356
00:19:02,080 --> 00:19:04,520
Speaker 2: Just like I read an article or they were contemplating

357
00:19:04,520 --> 00:19:07,040
Speaker 2: if America was going to leave the World Bank, America

358
00:19:07,119 --> 00:19:10,560
Speaker 2: left the World Bank, China was just coming by their shares.

359
00:19:10,600 --> 00:19:13,640
Speaker 2: And so now you have kind of China moving onto

360
00:19:13,640 --> 00:19:16,040
Speaker 2: the global stage. And I don't think that's what America wants.

361
00:19:16,080 --> 00:19:19,080
Speaker 2: So I think a lot of these things will be reevaluated.

362
00:19:19,600 --> 00:19:22,080
Speaker 1: I really appreciate your time justin thank you so much

363
00:19:22,080 --> 00:19:27,800
Speaker 1: for being here. Thank you, thank you. Wow. So again,

364
00:19:28,119 --> 00:19:32,280
Speaker 1: I think it is so important. Initially I really wanted

365
00:19:32,400 --> 00:19:35,280
Speaker 1: you all to hear from folks who only work for

366
00:19:35,320 --> 00:19:37,920
Speaker 1: the FEDS. But I think what is so significant about

367
00:19:37,920 --> 00:19:42,040
Speaker 1: what we've heard so far is that this has this

368
00:19:42,280 --> 00:19:47,120
Speaker 1: broad sweeping impact. It has this broad sweeping impact. If

369
00:19:47,160 --> 00:19:49,720
Speaker 1: you work for the FEDS, work for a contractor that

370
00:19:49,800 --> 00:19:52,879
Speaker 1: has federal grants, you work for a small business that

371
00:19:53,040 --> 00:19:58,560
Speaker 1: has a small business loan, you work for an intergovernmental

372
00:19:58,600 --> 00:20:02,919
Speaker 1: agency on the state, local level, you are impacted by this.

373
00:20:03,640 --> 00:20:05,960
Speaker 1: So I think one of the things that we can

374
00:20:06,040 --> 00:20:11,080
Speaker 1: note is that sometimes changes happen and we are hit

375
00:20:11,880 --> 00:20:16,000
Speaker 1: regardless of who's in charge. We know that programs are eliminated,

376
00:20:16,040 --> 00:20:19,119
Speaker 1: they're cut, they're revamped, they're redone. But I think that

377
00:20:19,160 --> 00:20:23,720
Speaker 1: the way that the Donald Trump administration, Elon Musk administration,

378
00:20:23,840 --> 00:20:27,960
Speaker 1: the Department of Government Efficiency has moved is with reckless

379
00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:32,760
Speaker 1: abandon without doing any real due diligence, and it's causing

380
00:20:32,920 --> 00:20:37,080
Speaker 1: so much more harm than good. And so I think

381
00:20:37,080 --> 00:20:38,960
Speaker 1: it is important for us to take note of the

382
00:20:39,080 --> 00:20:41,600
Speaker 1: number of people who have been impacted by these cuts.

383
00:20:42,600 --> 00:20:45,760
Speaker 1: I am hopeful that we will continue to press on

384
00:20:46,000 --> 00:20:50,160
Speaker 1: to fight. As we heard from Misuser earlier, Congress, we're

385
00:20:50,160 --> 00:20:53,000
Speaker 1: calling on you, right. We need to be calling our

386
00:20:53,040 --> 00:20:55,280
Speaker 1: members of Congress at two zero two two two four

387
00:20:55,440 --> 00:20:58,640
Speaker 1: three one two one. Let them know how a program

388
00:20:58,720 --> 00:21:00,840
Speaker 1: being cut impacts you. Let let them know that you've

389
00:21:00,840 --> 00:21:04,800
Speaker 1: lost your job. Go onto these different committee websites, whether

390
00:21:04,840 --> 00:21:09,520
Speaker 1: it's financial services or education, or the budget or appropriations

391
00:21:09,640 --> 00:21:14,679
Speaker 1: or Government Oversight and government Reform, all of these different

392
00:21:14,720 --> 00:21:18,280
Speaker 1: sites to the judiciary, complain, send in your whistleblow or complaint,

393
00:21:18,359 --> 00:21:21,560
Speaker 1: and let folks know how you've been impacted and how

394
00:21:21,560 --> 00:21:25,000
Speaker 1: they must help you. That is our most reasonable service.

395
00:21:25,320 --> 00:21:28,399
Speaker 1: So I don't know if we have any questions today,

396
00:21:28,840 --> 00:21:31,560
Speaker 1: but if not, we will go ahead and in early

397
00:21:31,600 --> 00:21:33,200
Speaker 1: and we're going to keep this going. We want to

398
00:21:33,280 --> 00:21:36,520
Speaker 1: keep these conversations moving. We want to hear from folks

399
00:21:36,800 --> 00:21:40,479
Speaker 1: who have been impacted directly or indirectly by the federal

400
00:21:40,480 --> 00:21:43,560
Speaker 1: funding freeze, by these layoffs, by the mass firings and

401
00:21:43,600 --> 00:21:46,720
Speaker 1: the force resignation. So thank you all so very much

402
00:21:46,800 --> 00:21:49,280
Speaker 1: for your time. I am going to tell you, as

403
00:21:49,280 --> 00:21:51,680
Speaker 1: we always do on our main show that drops every

404
00:21:51,720 --> 00:21:56,960
Speaker 1: Thursday on YouTube and on iHeart wherever you get your podcasts,

405
00:21:57,240 --> 00:22:14,679
Speaker 1: Welcome home, y'all. I'll see you soon. Native Lampard is

406
00:22:14,680 --> 00:22:18,919
Speaker 1: a production of iHeartRadio in partnership with Reason Choice Media.

407
00:22:19,040 --> 00:22:23,119
Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,

408
00:22:23,320 --> 00:22:25,639
Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.