2 FIL-AMS NAMED TO US GOV’T POSTS
Moving to fulfill campaign promises, the administration of US President Joe Biden has named two Filipino-Americans—one born of migrant parents in the United States and the other an émigré who spent 40 years in the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
The young Jason Tengco, born in San Francisco to Filipino migrants, was named White House liaison officer of the US federal Office of Personnel Management.
Tengco, a graduate of the University of California in Los Angeles, has been an active member of the US Democratic Party since graduation and served as intern for Democratic congressmen and worked on the campaign organization of former US senator Hillary Clinton.
He was also chief of staff of the coalitions department of the Biden-Harris campaign and lead of the Asian American and Pacific Islander Outreach on the transition team.
Prior to that, Tengco served as executive director of the National Federation of Filipino American Associations, a nonpartisan and nonprofit organization that promotes the welfare and well-being of the millions of Filipinos and Filipino-Americans across the United States.
USAID employee
Gloria Diño-Steele, born and raised in the Philippines before migrating to the United States when she was an employee of USAID, was named acting administrator of the agency where she served in various positions over 40 years.
Steele, a graduate of the College of the Holy Spririt and Maryknoll College (now Miriam College), also worked as a management consultant to the Philippine Department of Agriculture before joining USAID in the 1980s.
According to the USAID website, Biden appointed Steele, a “distinguished career member of the US Government’s Senior Executive Service for over 18 years,” on Jan. 20.
Before her retirement last year, Steele served as the acting assistant administrator and senior deputy assistant administrator for USAID’s bureau for Asia from 2015 to 2020.