Randolph (Randy) Flay is a program director in the International Program. He works across the grantmaking portfolio to support the development and implementation of Carnegie’s overarching strategy of advancing peace in an evolving world.
A former foreign service officer, Flay has more than two decades of senior leadership experience in diplomacy, international development, and foreign policy strategy. Before joining Carnegie, he was the acting deputy assistant administrator and acting director of the Office of Transition Initiatives at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), where he oversaw a $250 million stabilization portfolio spanning 17 fragile and conflict-affected countries. Previously, Flay led regional strategy and programming for USAID in the Middle East, helping to develop a unified stabilization strategy for Syria, reorient crisis response programming in Tunisia, and manage monitoring and evaluation systems in Yemen.
Flay’s career includes additional assignments in Pakistan, Israel, Vietnam, Russia, Lithuania, and the United States, where he held leadership roles in policy planning, governance, and public diplomacy. In Pakistan, he directed U.S. governance and stabilization initiatives. In Vietnam, he expanded U.S. partnerships and direct grantmaking with local organizations and played a key role in addressing war legacies, including dioxin remediation and support for persons with disabilities. While serving with the U.S. Department of State, he advanced U.S.–Lithuania cooperation during the country’s accession to NATO and the European Union.
Flay holds an MS in environmental policy from the University of California, Berkeley, and a BA in international relations from American University. He is fluent in Lithuanian and Russian.