Christian Fung

About Christian Fung

Christian was fired by President Trump and Elon Musk’s DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) in Spring 2025 from the U.S. Foreign Service corps as USAID was shut down, and he departed his last post as the USAID Director to the African Union in Addis Abba, Ethiopia. He is currently a doctoral candidate and a lecturer at the University of District of Columbia in a program on Urban Leadership and Entrepreneurship.

Born in Hong Kong and emigrated to San Francisco at age 13, he was exposed early on to American social justice issues through queer and HIV/AIDS activism. During undergrad years at the University of Washington, Christian worked as an inner-city community organizer to financially support himself, and was rewarded with an gubernatorial appointment as the youngest member to the Statewide HIV/AIDS Advisory Council. He followed up his education with a MPA in Development Economics from Princeton in 1999 and a MPH in Epidemiology from Harvard in 2001, where he chaired the student human rights group.

His international career started as a humanitarian worker providing relief to refugees and displaced people in Afghanistan – under the first Taliban rule – Kosovo, and East Timor. He later worked with NGOs in Russia, Cuba, Indonesia and Armenia. For the past 20+ years, Christian joined the USAID Foreign Service Corps serving in Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Malawi, Cameroon, Ghana, Kazakhstan, Rwanda, and Mali, where he met his his eventual husband at the Swiss Red Cross. In 2022, Christian was competitively selected as a civilian representative to the Marine Corps University where he honed his skills in working across the 3Ds: Diplomacy, Defense, and Development. His breadth of experience led him to the African Union, where he galvanized Congressional support in ensuring transparency and local benefits of critical minerals, transitioning HIV programs to host governments, and empowering young people with digital skills to face an AI future.

Looking to the future, Christian will continue to write, research, publish, teach, and advise on international affairs topics that will contribute to the clarity and people-centered focus of all countries, with a special focus to bring back the credibility and moral authority of the United States.