Uniting
Research and Policy

Grant Castle, MPP'24, is a U.S. Foreign Service Officer (Economist) at USAID. His policy interests include U.S. foreign policy, development finance, macroeconomic policy, and international institutions. At the University of Chicago, Grant serves as a Research Assistant at the Development Economics Center/Development Innovation Lab, sits on the Board of the International Development Policy Association, and works as a Senior Editor with Chicago Policy Review.

Grant is also a Donald M. Payne International Development Fellow with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Through the Payne Fellowship, Grant will join the U.S. Foreign Service of USAID following his studies at Harris. There, he will be responsible for overseeing and implementing U.S. international development and foreign assistance programs in developing countries.

Prior to his time at the University of Chicago, Grant worked at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington, DC. There, he supported projects involving the role of misinformation and hate speech in violent conflicts.

Grant holds a B.S. in foreign service from Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service, where he majored in international politics with concentrations in U.S. foreign policy and diplomatic studies. During his undergraduate studies, Grant completed internships with the U.S. State Department, the U.S. Commerce Department, the Middle East Institute, Business Executives for National Security (BENS), and on Capitol Hill. He also served as the CEO of the Georgetown International Relations Association (GIRA), a global nonprofit organization dedicated to youth education and engagement in international affairs.

Grant is originally from the Village of Fairport in Western New York.