Mr. Yohannes Araya, CPA is a retired U.S. Government Senior Foreign Service Officer with more than 23 years of experience in development and humanitarian assistance. He began his U.S. government career with the USAID Office of Inspector General as a performance auditor, assessing programs across all sectors in Eastern and Southern Africa, and later served as a USAID Financial Controller in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. In these roles, he advanced measures to strengthen performance, efficiency, and accountability.

Mr. Araya concluded his USAID career in senior leadership, serving as Acting Deputy Mission Director for USAID/Pakistan for one year and Deputy Mission Director for USAID/South Sudan for two years. In Pakistan, he played a pivotal role in guiding the Mission’s response to the devastating 2022 floods and in reshaping its strategy in the aftermath. Before USAID’s worldwide closure, Mr. Araya was selected as Deputy Chief Financial Officer for overseas operations, where he was responsible for leading all USAID global financial management functions.

Prior to joining USAID, Mr. Araya was an Audit Manager at a public accounting firm for more than five years, overseeing audits of state and local governments, non-profit organizations, and trade associations.

He is a licensed Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. Mr. Araya holds a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Northeastern Illinois University and an MBA in Management Information Systems and Accounting from the University of California, Davis.