Ward Brehm is a Minnesota based businessman who has served as USADF chairman under four presidents. [1] He is the recipient of Presidential Citizens Medal. [2]
Brehm served four U.S. presidents in his role with the United States African Development Foundation ("USADF")[3] since he was first appointed to its board as chairman by President Bush in 2004.[4]
He represented the United States as part of three presidential delegations to the African continent after attending inaugurations of the presidents of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Benin,[5] [6] and the Leon Sullivan Summit in Tanzania.[7] In 2008, Brehm was awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal – the country's second-highest civilian honor – for his work in Africa at an Oval Office ceremony with President and Mrs. Bush.[8]
He gave the keynote address at the 2008 National Prayer Breakfast before an audience including the U.S. President, First Lady, foreign heads of state, most members of Congress, and the Washington diplomatic community. Brehm was the first person from the business community to ever be asked by Congress to address this annual gathering in Washington DC.[9]
Brehm advocates for poor people in Africa at the White House, USAID and prayer breakfasts across the United States.[10] He serves as an unofficial diplomat, connecting African and American leaders. He has brought policymakers together from both sides of the aisle in Washington to unite and support African development initiatives. He has also helped facilitate small groups of praying leaders in multiple African nations.
As a member of the board of directors for Alight, which works with refugee communities around the world, Brehm founded Asili, a enterprise platform to bring clean water and basic medical care to the extreme poor. At Alight, he also founded and helped fund The Color Movement in collaboration with the Catholic Sisters of El Salvador, who offer an alternative identity to a life of violence and desperation with one that thrives on goodness, peace, and unity.[11]
In 2018, he was appointed to the Advisory Board of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in Washington DC.[12] He served in that capacity during both the Trump and Biden Administrations.
He is the author of four books: Life Through A Different Lens, White Man Walking,[13] Bigger than Me[14] and a collection of personal poems, "Whispers in the Stillness."
Once retired from business, Ward Brehm engaged full time in the non-profit world. Earlier in his career he was the founder and chairman of The Brehm Group, Inc., a Twin Cities insurance consulting firm. He and his wife, Kris, live in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They have three grown children: Andy, Mike and Sarah.