Ayla Francis Foster

Ayla Francis Foster is a Senior Advisor on the Policy and Government Relations team at Humanity United (HU). In this role, she advocates for policy change and regulatory action that advances human rights. She provides strategic coherence for HU’s engagement with the U.S. government’s executive branch and technical policy support to HU’s program teams.

Prior to joining HU, Ayla worked at the U.S. Agency for International Development in policy and operations management roles. Most recently, she worked to support the agency’s partnership with the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation. Prior to this, she managed a portfolio of bilateral relationships with donor governments and coordinated policy within select multilateral institutions and economic fora. Early in her career, Ayla worked in corporate citizenship and communications in the private sector; and worked as a staffer on Capitol Hill.

She holds a master’s degree in International Business and Human Security from The Fletcher School at Tufts University and a bachelor’s degree in International Studies from Baylor University. Ayla is a 2023 International Career Advancement Program Fellow, a member of Foreign Policy for America NextGen, and was featured on the 2022 CSIS-DISN U.S. National Security & Foreign Affairs Leadership list.