By Sue Loughlin
TERRE HAUTE — A Terre Haute native, 49-year-old Erin Soto now oversees a federally-funded foreign aid office in India that works to lift people out of poverty.
Soto, who graduated in 1978 from Terre Haute South Vigo High School as Erin McDavid, has been the USAID India mission director since August. She oversees a budget of $100 million and a staff of 100.
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is the government’s lead agency for providing economic development and humanitarian assistance to people around the world. Soto is one of 120 mission directors.
USAID is responsible for most U.S. non-military foreign aid.
Prior to becoming mission director in India, Soto had the same post in Cambodia, which has about 13 million people.
India has 1.1 billion people, and about 828 million of them live on less than $2 a day, Soto said in a telephone interview Thursday. “In India, the primary work of USAID is helping to lift people out of poverty,” she said.
The agency takes small amounts of taxpayer money “and makes investments that help save lives, educate children and help farmers produce enough food to feed families,” Soto said.
Initiatives focus on promoting health and reducing malnutrition; reducing carbon dioxide emissions and global warming; and providing food security so that the Indian people don’t have to rely on food shipments from the U.S.
Soto lives in New Delhi with her husband Ben, daughter Maggie and son,Pedro. She was in Washington, D.C., on Thursday for a conference.
Soto is the daughter of retired Indiana State University professor Robert McDavid and the late Maryalyce McDavid, and she grew up with seven brothers and five sisters.
After obtaining her undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, she taught at Chauncey Rose Middle School and West Vigo High School. She later joined the Peace Corps, which sparked her interest in foreign service.
After two years in Guatemala, she started working for USAID in Washington, D.C., as a secretary and quickly moved up the ranks as she obtained a master’s in public administration from George Washington University.
In addition to her foreign service work in India and Cambodia, she also has served in Senegal, Peru and Haiti.
Soto said her parents were a strong influence in her life, with their emphasis on public service and social justice.
She finds her work rewarding because it involves helping improve the lives of those who can’t improve their own, she said. “Even on bad days, my worst days, I feel there is no more important job in the world,” she said.
She speaks fluent French and Spanish and enjoys living in other countries and developing relationships with the people who live there.
President Barack Obama’s administration is placing a high priority on strengthening its relationship with India, she said. Obama recently hosted his first state dinner at the White House in honor of India’s prime minister, Manmohan Singh.
Also, Obama has nominated an Indian-American, Rajiv Shah, to become the new administrator of USAID.
Unlike his predecessor, George W. Bush, Obama has much support overseas, Soto said.
“It’s night and day. People are inspired by President Obama,” she said. “He’s made our jobs … much easier because people now welcome you. Before, they weren’t so welcoming.”
Soto said she tries to return to Terre Haute once a year.
Sue Loughlin can be reached at (812) 231-4235 or sue.loughlin@tribstar.com
