Senior Program Officer, LeadEx

Julian Rhoads is a senior program officer for Leadership and Exchange Programs at The Asia Foundation. He is responsible for design, implementation and oversight of flagship leadership development and exchange programs. He joined The Asia Foundation in 2011 as executive assistant, providing professional and administrative support for the president of the Foundation. In 2015, he assumed the role of special assistant to the president and assistant secretary to the board of trustees, serving as principal aide to the president in executing overall institutional goals with advisory, research, and operational support, and providing support to the board of trustees. Previously, Julian was a researcher & administrative assistant in the Innovation Team at the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) headquarters in New York in the Division of Communication, developing solutions to last-mile development problems using new technologies. Julian served on the board of Thousand Currents from 2013 to 2019 as Secretary and Treasurer, and previously chaired their Young Professionals Group. Julian holds a bachelor’s degree in International Studies from the University of Chicago, and is a lifelong StartingBloc Fellow. Born and raised in Massachusetts, he lives in Oakland, CA.