Karl Wurster

Director of USAID/BiH’s Economic Development Office

Karl Wurster, a diplomat with USAID since 2008, is the Director of USAID/BiH’s Economic Development Office where he oversees the strategic development and management of USAID’s $77m economic portfolio covering activities in the energy (Energy Policy Activity), private sector investment (Diaspora Invest), digitalization (E-Governance Activity), banking (FINRA), and tourism (Turizam Activity) sectors.

His fourteen year diplomatic career has spanned Europe, Africa, and Asia; living and working in Morocco, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Bangladesh, and Nepal, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. With USAID, he has managed a variety of nature-based tourism development projects in Africa and Asia. He has also worked as the Digital Advisor with the Bureau for Resilience and Food Security at USAID headquarters.

Prior to USAID, Karl was a research fellow with the NASA/ Goddard Space Flight Center and an environmental consultant for various international environment NGOs. Karl is a proud father of two teenage boys, a husband, an outdoor enthusiast, and avid traveler. He was raised in a small Minnesota farming town. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from Montana State University and a Master’s and PhD in Geography from the University of Maryland.