Welcoming Sasha Bennett‑Roomipoor as Advisor for Global Transformation & Humanitarian Governance
Washington, DC – March 2, 2026 – Porta Strategies is honored to announce that Sasha Bennett‑Roomipoor is joining our firm as Advisor for Global Transformation and Humanitarian Governance.
Sasha is a respected senior governance and executive operations leader with over 15 years of experience strengthening decision‑making, accountability, and operational execution across some of the world’s most complex humanitarian and development environments. Her career reflects a deep commitment to principled, accountable, and impact‑driven global governance.
Most recently, at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Sasha led enterprise risk management for more than $12 billion in global humanitarian programming within the Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance. In this role, she served as a trusted advisor to senior executives, designing governance structures, reporting systems, and accountability mechanisms that enabled leadership to translate strategic priorities into disciplined, coherent implementation across global portfolios.
Sasha brings deep expertise in governance, donor compliance, and operational risk in high‑accountability and sanctioned contexts. Her work has included close collaboration with the U.S. Treasury and Department of State on sanctions affecting humanitarian operations, as well as providing regulatory guidance for high‑risk environments, such as Gaza and Yemen. Her portfolio included leading cross‑sector partnerships with the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and the Overseas Development Institute / Humanitarian Policy Group (ODI/HPG) examining how donor policies, financial regulations, and institutional banking practices influence access to humanitarian funding in heavily sanctioned jurisdictions—an area of increasing importance to global governance leaders and humanitarian practitioners.
Earlier in her USAID career, Sasha managed over $200 million in humanitarian assistance programs supporting international organizations such as the United Nations and the World Bank, as well as NGOs responding to major international crises. She led management responses to USAID Office of Inspector General audits, evaluations, and inspections, and played critical roles in U.S. government responses to the West Africa Ebola outbreak, the Lake Chad Basin emergency, and the Syria complex emergency.
Beyond USAID, Sasha’s experience spans the UN, U.S. refugee policy, and development operations. She has served as a Resettlement Expert with UNHCR in India, managed IT‑for‑development programs at SRA International and led congressional outreach on humanitarian and immigration issues at the Refugee Council USA—advocating on the operational and humanitarian implications of U.S. Material Support Statutes on refugee admissions
Sasha holds a Master of Science in Peace Operations Policy from George Mason University and served as a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer in northern Ghana, focusing on community water sanitation and health education.
A Strategic Addition to Porta Strategies
Sasha’s arrival strengthens Porta Strategies’ global advisory capabilities across governance reform, humanitarian systems, crisis risk management, and cross‑sector policy alignment. Her leadership will deepen our commitment to helping institutions navigate complexity with clarity, integrity, and strategic vision.
Please join us in warmly welcoming Sasha Bennett‑Roomipoor to the Porta Strategies team. We are excited for the impact her experience, insight, and principled leadership will bring to our work and to the partners we serve.
Read more about Sasha here.