Becca Johnson did not have to go far to start her career in international development after she graduated from Duke University's Sanford School of Public Policy in 2011.
Johnson had served in the Peace Corps before earning her master's degree and found what she called a "dream job" with FHI360, a Durham-based nonprofit in Research Triangle Park.
"Not only had I fallen in love with the area and the work, but there were a lot of organizations locally that were working in international development," Johnson said about her decision to remain in the Triangle more than dozen years ago. "So, I didn't need to move to Washington, DC; I didn't need to necessarily move around the world to do the work that was meaningful to me."
FHI360 is a more than 50-year-old research and global health nonprofit. Over her 13-year career there, Johnson spent time in west Africa helping set up a vaccine trial amid an outbreak of Ebola virus. It was the kind of work that won't continue because of President Donald Trump's drastic cuts to—and gutting of—the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID.
"There is no doubt in my mind that we are less safe and less secure because of this," Johnson warned.
Trump stripped $3 billion from North Carolina 'overnight'
Like RTI, another Research Triangle-based nonprofit, FHI depended heavily on USAID grants. According to FHI CEO Tessie San Martin, USAID grants accounted for more than 65% of the nonprofit's portfolio, and 80% percent of those have been cut by Trump.
San Martin called it a "major disinvestment" and said it will have wide-ranging impacts on RTP's pharmaceutical and biomedical industry sectors.
"It just means less money coming in, less investment in research and in the production of research knowledge products that have benefited this economy here in North Carolina," San Martin told WUNC.
She said federal funding cuts have meant pulling the plug on projects like efforts to combat the spread of tuberculosis, a major blow to global health.
"Because of our reduced capacity to do surveillance and understand how infections are traveling," San Martin explained.
According to Brianna Clarke-Schwelm, executive director of the North Carolina Global Health Alliance, the impact of Trump's USAID cuts have been "massive" for the state.
As the fourth highest recipient of USAID grants among states, North Carolina had close to $7 billion in federal awards prior to Trump's cuts, Clarke-Schwelm said.
"This was 153 awards," she said. "One hundred of them have been confirmed to be terminated."
"So, that's a lot of money," Clarke-Schwelm added. "That is $3 billion stripped away overnight."
Trump's cuts have caused a 'deep sadness'
RTP is a research and innovation hub with spokes that extend across the state, and world. Peter Colclanis, an economic historian at UNC Chapel Hill, said Trump's cuts to USAID, as well as National Institutes of Health grants that funded university research, have been a shock to the RTP system.
Colclanis said those cuts will trigger economic repercussions for everything from local economies to RTP's long-term plans to become a tech startup engine like Silicon Valley.
"This could have effects on not only rents in RTP but the reinvention of RTP, the housing market in the Triangle," Colclanis said.
According to Duke University economist Daniel Gross, RTP rests on a web of university research, government funding and private sector innovation.
"A shared labor pool," he continued. "You have a dense labor market with individuals of graduate students or mid-career folks can actually match to find their way to firms and employment where they'll be particularly effective and productive."
Gross likened RTP's foundation to that of a three-legged table that gets very wobbly when you kick out one of the legs.
"Being able to attract the best and brightest from around the world,' he said. "I don't think that's something we want to lose but I think it's something that's currently at risk."
Gross said it's too soon, perhaps, to look for signs of the funding cuts' economic impact to RTP, indicators such as vacancy rates, reduced investment in infrastructure, a pause in construction projects.
But, he added, these are "lagging" indicators. So, if they do emerge the damage will already have been done.
For Becca Johnson, who was furloughed in February and then permanently separated from FHI as of May 2, the loss of her job has forced her to adapt. She sold her house and adjusted her budget.
"I'm not able to eat out as much as I used to, I'm not able to buy tickets to the shows that I used to go to," Johnson said.
She said she has a general contractor's license and is contemplating a career switch.
Despite her resourcefulness and outward positivity, the job loss clearly has been painful for Johnson.
"Yeah, there's a deep sadness," she said, struggling to hold back tears. "I think we're all grieving something that we felt was extremely important for so long and still feel is incredibly important."
