Advancing Equity and the Economy: Policy and Practice in Rural America

The Public Policy Center is proud to support this seminar series hosted by the School of Planning and Public Affairs.

Farah Ahmad currently serves as the Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). She has spent her career advancing policies and programs that promote economic inclusion and opportunity. Prior to this appointment, Ms. Ahmad served as chief of Staff in the Office of the Under Secretary for Rural Development. Ms. Ahmad started with USDA in 2015 as a program manager with the Rural Business-Cooperative Service's Community and Economic Development program. In 2017, Ms. Ahmad moved to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, where she managed financial resiliency programs and strategic and operational initiatives as the Senior Program Coordinator. She also served as a senior policy analyst for the Center for American Progress where she helped advance evidence-based economic policies that centered on racial equity before rejoining the USDA. Farah Ahmad holds a Master of Public Affairs from the Princeton University School of Public and International Affairs and a Bachelor of Science from the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations.