J. Brady Anderson
"IGE's innovative and comprehensive approach to religious freedom builds bridges between diplomacy, development, and defense. IGE's ability to operate at the nexus of the public and private spheres—in a relational and relevant manner—is a model for all of us."
Brady Anderson
Former USAID Administrator and Ambassador to Tanzania
Ambassador J. Brady Anderson serves as Vice Chair of IGE's Board of Directors. He participated in IGE's 2007 Global Leadership Forum as well as in IGE's Faith and Foreign Policy forum held in November 2007 at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College.
Ambassador Anderson is an investor in small businesses and a consultant in international affairs. He is Vice Chairman of the Board of World Vision (Seattle, WA) and is Chairman of the Board of the Wycliffe Bible Translators (Orlando, FL).
Ambassador Anderson served as Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) from 1999-2001. Prior to that post, he served as the US Ambassador to Tanzania from 1994-1997. For six years prior to 1994, he was with the Summer Institute of Linguistics, an international organization that facilitates literacy and translation of mother-tongue materials worldwide. Ambassador Anderson worked for one year in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and for four years in Tanzania. Based in Arusha, he traveled in the northern half of Tanzania doing socio-linguistic surveys. He speaks Swahili.
In addition to his linguistic experience, Ambassador Anderson, who holds a Juris Doctorate, has a background in both law and political science. Before leaving the United States to work in eastern Africa, he pursued a career as an attorney in Arkansas for twelve years. He was an Assistant Attorney General in the office of Arkansas Attorney General Bill Clinton from 1977-1979 and was Special Assistant to Governor Clinton from 1979-1981.
Ambassador Anderson was born in Memphis, Tennessee and was raised in Arkansas, close to the Mississippi River. He and his wife, Betty Wray Anderson, have been married for over 36 years and have two grown daughters, both of whom live in the United States.