Republican Jim Kolbe received the 2006 Commitment to Development Award for promoting innovation within the U.S. foreign aid program. As chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Foreign Operations, Kolbe helped to make the case for the Bush Administration's aid program, the Millennium Challenge Account. Kolbe was also frank about the broader problems of the U.S.'s highly fragmented and poorly administered aid programs.
An eleven-term Republican representing southern Arizona, Kolbe was praised by the award selection panel for being an early and wise proponent of the U.S. incorporating prevention of state collapse into its strategy for dealing with the world's more than 50 weak and failing states.
Kolbe, who retired from Congress at the end term during which he received the award, accepted it at CGD-FP event where he spoke eloquently about the possibilities and challenges of improved U.S. foreign assistance (access a video of his speech: The Future of Foreign Aid: Reform to Meet Obligations at Home and Abroad). Kolbe was the first American to receive the Award.
In 2006 CGD also solicited public nominations for the award and then posted the nominations online for a “People’s Choice” vote. A dozen screened nominations were posted and more than 1,000 people voted. William Easterly, a CGD non-resident fellow and professor at New York University, won the People’s Choice vote, with 207 votes, about one-fifth of the total.