John Lewis

Dr. John Van D. Lewis has worked for over 40 years combining his discipline, ecological and economic anthropology (Ph.D. Yale 1979), with international development management experience. By 2000, he had completed a 22-year career with USAID, retiring after six years as the Agency Senior Agriculturalist and Director of its central Office of Agriculture and Food Security. From that Senior Foreign Service vantage point Dr. Lewis brought several international agribusiness corporations to collaborate with US AID field programs. Serving in Senegal, Mali, Cameroon, Egypt, Tunisia, and then Haiti, Dr. Lewis was able to design and implement path-breaking new approaches to community-driven sustainable development in rural settings. Immediately following his retirement from the Agency, he became Executive Director of the Near East Foundation and then Pro-Natura USA, both in New York City. He has been a Managing Director at Terra Global since 2007.