WASHINGTON, Feb. 14, 2020 – U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development Donald “DJ” LaVoy today announced that Betty-Ann Bryce has been designated to serve as USDA’s Rural Health Liaison, a position created by Congress in the 2018 Farm Bill.
Betty-Ann Bryce returns to USDA in this role from a detail to the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) where she served as a Special Advisor for Rural Affairs. In this role, she chaired the ONDCP Rural Substance Use Disorder Federal Interagency Working Group, guided the work on the Community Assessment Tool, regional workshops, Federal Rural Resources Guide, and the recently released Rural Community Action Guide. She joined ONDCP from USDA where she served as a senior policy advisor.
Prior to joining the U.S. government, she served as the Senior Policy Analyst for the Rural and Regional Unit at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), for several years, in Paris, France. In this capacity, she assessed regional and rural government policies in different countries and contributed to several OECD Publications. In addition to a Juris Doctorate, she holds a Masters in Economic and Territorial Development from L’Institut d’Etudes Politique de Paris (The Paris Institute of Political Studies) in France, and a Masters in Economic and Political Development from Columbia University, School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) in the United States.
Bryce’s start date is February 18, 2020. USDA encourages rural health stakeholders and partners to reach out to Bryce in her new role to build upon existing partnerships and facilitate new ones.