Michael Schiffer served as the assistant administrator of the USAID Bureau for Asia from 2022 to 2025. He is currently a partner at Scalare Advisors; an associate fellow in the trade, technology, and geoeconomics program of the International Institute for Strategic Studies; and a distinguished senior fellow (nonresident) at the Sasakawa Peace Foundation USA.
Prior to his role at USAID, he was a senior advisor and counselor on the Democratic staff of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. From 2009 to 2012, he served as the deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia. Before joining the Department of Defense, he was a program officer at the Stanley Foundation and a Council on Foreign Relations Hitachi International Affairs fellow. He also worked on the staff of Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), serving as her national security adviser and legislative director.
Earlier in his career, Schiffer was the director of international security programs at New York University’s Center for War, Peace, and the News Media and co-manager of the Poipu Bed and Breakfast Inn in Poipu, Kauai. Mr. Schiffer received his undergraduate degree from Georgetown University and graduate degrees from the London School of Economics and New York University.