Wikipedia

Draft:Diedra Henry-Spires

  • Comment: Please remove the external links in the lead. Tacyarg (talk) 09:40, 2 April 2026 (UTC)
Diedra Henry-Spires
Senior Advisor for COVID Programs of the Small Business Administration
Born
Brooklyn, New York
EducationB.S., Pennsylvania State University
Alma materHarvard Kennedy School (Certificate in Delivery System Reform)
Years active1997–present
Known forLegislative work on the Affordable Care Act; federal COVID-19 recovery programs; nonprofit leadership
TitleSenior Advisor for COVID Programs for the U.S. Small Business Administration
Term2021-2025
PredecessorPosition Established

Diedra Henry-Spires is an American public policy expert and strategist who served as the Senior Advisor for COVID Recovery Programs to the Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) from 2021 to 2025..[1]

She is named as one of the Professional Staff on the U.S. Senate Finance Committee in the areas of HealthCare Reform who was a defender and architect of the Affordable Care Act.[2] She is also known for her work on national health and income‑security legislation and for leadership roles in nonprofit and academic institutions.[3]

Notability

edit

The New York Times identified her as one of the “defenders” and “architects” of the Affordable Care Act when covering the Senate markup of the bill in the Senate Finance Committee's 24/7, resulting from the negotiations and policy drafting process.[2] Her involvement in the Senate Finance Committee's multi‑day Affordable Care Act markup hearings is well-documented in C‑SPAN's public record, which shows her serving as counsel throughout the bill's development.[3]

Her service as Senior Advisor for COVID Programs at the U.S. Small Business Administration has been covered by several respectable institutions.[4][5][6][7]

Early life and education

edit

Henry-Spires earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Health Policy and Administration from Pennsylvania State University.[8] She later completed a Certificate in Delivery System Reform at the Harvard John F. Kennedy School of Government and was a Brookings Institution LEGIS Fellow.[1]

Career

edit

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

edit

Henry-Spires began her federal career as a Public Health Advisor at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, where she served for more than ten years in the Office on Women's Health.[9]

United States Senate Committee on Finance

edit

From 2006 to 2014, Henry-Spires served as a Professional Staff Member for Human Services and Income Security on the Senate Committee on Finance.[3] As part of the committee's health team, she contributed to the development of the Affordable Care Act.[2][3] She played a key role in shaping federal unemployment benefit expansions and work support programs during the Great Recession[10]

Nonprofit leadership

edit

After leaving the Senate, Henry-Spires served as chief executive officer of the Dalton Daley Group, a Maryland-based nonprofit focused on public health, early childhood, and family well-being.[1][9][11]

U.S. Small Business Administration

edit

In 2021, Henry-Spires was appointed by President Joe Biden to be Senior Advisor for COVID Programs to the Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration.[12] In this role, she worked to improve Veterans Affairs,[4] Women Entrepreneurship Policy[13] and to enhance the efficiency of federal COVID-19 relief programs from application to award. As well, she was responsible for protecting and enhancing small business policy in International Trade spaces[14][15]

Teaching and advisory roles

edit

Henry-Spires is a lecturer in Public Policy and Health Policy for the University of Texas Archer Center in Washington, D.C.[16] [17]Stanford featured her as a speaker as part of the policy response to the COVID-19 Pandemic.[6][18] She has also served on advisory committees related to early childhood development and family well-being.[9]

References

edit
  1. 1 2 3 "U.S. Small Business Administration Announces Key Staff | U.S. Small Business Administration". www.sba.gov. 2021-08-18. Retrieved 2026-01-06.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. 1 2 3 Herszenhorn, David M. (2009-10-14). "Behind the 14-9 Vote, a 24/7 Committee Staff". Prescriptions Blog. Retrieved 2026-01-06.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Diedra Henry-Spires | C-SPAN.org". www.c-span.org. Retrieved 2026-01-13.
  4. 1 2 "Iona College Welcomes U.S. Small Business Administrator Guzman to Highlight New Veteran Entrepreneurship Grant". Iona University. 2025-12-17. Retrieved 2026-01-06.
  5. ↑ "U.S. Black Chambers, Inc". 2024-12-26. Retrieved 2026-01-13.
  6. 1 2 "The Pandemic Puzzle: Lessons from COVID-19 - Virtual Conference Series". The Pandemic Puzzle: Lessons from COVID-19 - Virtual Conference Series. Retrieved 2026-01-13.
  7. ↑ Serrano-Román, Kate Rogers,Jennifer Schlesinger,Angélica (2022-01-05). "Community theaters saw SBA's Covid relief as a lifeline. Now they're fighting to prove they qualify". CNBC. Retrieved 2026-01-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. ↑ "Appointee - Diedra Henry-Spires". Book Plum. Retrieved 2026-01-20.
  9. 1 2 3 "Advisory Committee". National Home Visiting Resource Center. Retrieved 2026-01-09.
  10. ↑ "Speaker Details: 11th Annual Building Resilience Through Private-Public Partnerships Conference". events.uschamberfoundation.org. Retrieved 2026-01-06.
  11. ↑ "Grassley, Menendez, Blunt, Casey, Gardner, Cardin, Brown Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Re-authorize Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program | U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa". www.grassley.senate.gov. Retrieved 2026-01-15.
  12. ↑ "Coleman Movers & Shakers – SBA Key Staff and George Pereira | Coleman Report". 2021-08-18. Retrieved 2026-01-13.
  13. ↑ "READOUT: The SBA Uplifts America's Women Entrepreneurs During the SBA Second Annual Women's Business Summit | U.S. Small Business Administration". www.sba.gov. 2023-04-05. Retrieved 2026-01-05.
  14. ↑ "Speaker Details: 2024 U.S. - Africa Business Summit". www.usafricabizsummit.com. Retrieved 2026-01-05.
  15. ↑ Kemp, Sam (2022-05-18). "US music promoters file lawsuit over rejected Covid relief". faroutmagazine.co.uk. Retrieved 2026-01-13.
  16. ↑ "Meet the Archer Center Faculty and Lecturers". The Archer Center. Retrieved 2026-01-09.
  17. ↑ "Archer Faculty". The Archer Center. Retrieved 2026-01-09.
  18. ↑ Stanford Medicine (2021-10-28). Backstage Pass: Finding the light at the end of the pandemic tunnel | The Pandemic Puzzle. Retrieved 2026-01-13 – via YouTube.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Draft:Diedra_Henry-Spires&oldid=1350711511"