Most of Senegal is a-buzz with the upcoming presidential election just days away. After all, there is plenty to talk about – constitutional amendments, a stubborn incumbent, dueling political parties, campaign promises, and unfortunately, violence.
Word-of-mouth and traditional media are certainly still the main sources of information about the candidates, controversy, and election-day logistics. Still, the 2012 elections will no doubt set Senegalese records for social media usage. More Senegalese than ever before will use the Internet to stay abreast of what’s happening at the polls, in the streets, and in their government. Apart from Twitter and Facebook, a handful of online tools have been created or utilized in order to aid in the exchange of reliable information.
Senegal Election Tools:
The most robust of Senegal’s election-monitoring platforms, Sunu2012 is designed as the basis of a citizen driven initiative to improve democracy and transparency. It is part of the logic to enable citizens Senegal to make a good choice in upcoming elections. Here you can find information about the candidates, election schedule, and Google trends. There’s even Facebook commenting integration and a large Twitter presence.
CarRapide is a Web TV platform that wants to offer the opportunity for citizens to ask questions of upcoming candidates.
Elections Search Trends is a Google service to monitor the voting patterns in the race for 2012 presidential election. Of interest are search volume for individual candidates, political parties, and themes (employment, inflation, electricity).
Popsenegal is a web service that measures activity of public figures on Senegalese Internet.
Samabaat is a platform for information exchange regarding the 2012 election in Senegal. (site won’t load in the U.S. as of this writing)
Storyful is tracking and mapping news videos from across Senegal. Over 30 videos about the 2012 elections are currently on the YouTube playlist.
For the most up-to-date information, follow hashtags #sunu2012, #kebetu, and #seneweb on Twitter.
Please add any resources we missed in the comments!
Seven Senegalese experts recently weighed in on how social media is being used to promote and discuss the upcoming 2012 elections.
The whitepaper, “PRÉSIDENTIELLE 2.0: Facebook, Twitter et autres réseaux sociaux pour les élections 2012″ headed by Aboubacar Sadikh Ndiaye, addresses the use of the Internet for stakeholders in the 2012 Senegalese presidential elections. More specifically, networks and social media, Web 2.0 and the 2012 elections, social networks for candidates, social networks for Internet activists, the Community management policy, and opinions from the experts.
The first section of the paper discusses how social networks are a subset of social media. The author then discusses Barack Obama’s successful 2008 social media campaign and what it means to be an online community manager. The good stuff starts at page 59 when he interviews seven Senegalese Web experts on their views of what the Internet means to Senegal, how politicians can use the Internet, and their vision of the web for the upcoming presidential election. This last question is perhaps the most intriguing.
The general consensus is that the Internet is a powerful tool and will be useful in disseminating information about Senegal’s election. However, relatively few Senegalese access the Internet, and information can be unreliable. Still, many experts feel that the Internet is creating a new type of “e-citizen” in Senegal – one who is empowered to create constructive dialogue that will move Senegal forward as a society.
Below are summaries of the experts’ responses, translated from French.
Hamadou Tidiane Sy, veteran journalist
the web will be present but its impact will be marginal
illiteracy prevents many from using social networks
the Internet is not yet sufficiently democratized to become a tool of mass communication
Mamadou Ndiaye, professor at ITSEF
the web will be a major player in this campaign
everything will depend on the ability of candidates or their advisers to use this technological support
it will be useful to reach voters in the Diaspora
the internet is a tool of the elite
according to official figures, the number of internet users (About 1 million) and the rate of Internet penetration (7.3%) are still low
Cheikh Fall, project manager and web developer
the Web is already at the heart of this presidential in February 2012
today with the Sunu2012.sn platform, each Senegalese has the opportunity to know the different protagonists who are vying to challenge for the votes of the electors
Annick Diop, group coordinator
the Web is the ultimate space to acquire information
the contents of the Web are not always reliable
the Web is the propaganda tool of the political parties and it allows everyone to be aware of everything that happens out there, and in real-time
Mountaga Cisse, IT professional & co-founder ITMag.sn
the web allows the initial time to provide instantaneous information on the process, then give access national and international Internet users a detailed description of campaign proposals
the web is also a tool for dialogue between candidates and voters
the web allows for better supervision of conduct of the vote by centralized feedback and after the elections, promotes wider dissemination of results
Basile Niane, journalist
Web 2.0 will be the heart of this presidential 2012
the elections have contributed to a new type of online citizen, or E-citizen.
Mohamded Ben Pape Diouf Alcaly, political consultant
the Internet tools, when used properly, can help empower groups of individuals previously deprived of an ability to act politically
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"Mohamed suffered a lot. He worked hard. But when he set fire to himself, it wasn't about his scales being confiscated. It was about his dignity." —Mannoubia Bouazizi, Tunisia Photograph by Peter Hapak for TIME
2011 will be remembered as the year that democratic awakening occurred in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Activists used information and communication technology (ICT) tools to organize and coordinate political demonstrations that brought an end to long-standing regimes and paved the way to landmark elections.
Time Magazine fittingly awarded the “Person of the Year” accolade to the protester. What would come to be known as the “Arab Spring” began in Tunisia’s under-developed town of Sidi Bouzid, where the late Mohamed Bouazizi, a street vendor whose wares were confiscated by the police, set himself on fire outside of a government building in December 2010. Few would have predicted that Bouazizi’s actions would trigger an uprising that brought an end to Zine El Abidine Ben Ali’s 23-year-old regime on January 14th.
Video clips of the first protests, including demonstrations at the spot where Bouazizi set-himself on fire, were recorded on mobile phones, posted on YouTube, and spread across Tunisia and in the Arab world when they were shared on Facebook before news media outlets such as Al Jazeera began running their stories, reports Robert Mackey in the New York Times.
The Tunisian revolutionary spirit spread in neighboring Egypt. Inspired by events in Tunsia, political demonstrations began in January as thousands took to the streets in anti-government protests against poverty, rampant unemployment, corruption, and demanding an end to the 30-year autocratic rule of President Hosni Mubarak, writes Cara Parks in The Huffington Post.
Aware of the potent effect that social media had in Tunisia’s uprising, the Egyptian government blocked Facebook, Twitter, and later Internet services to lead a crackdown on the largest protests the country had witnessed since 1970s, according to Parks. Despite violent clashes with the riot police, protests kept going not only in Cairo, the capital, but also in Alexandria and Suez, and two other major cities.
Photo Credit: Huffington Post
The revolution’s main goal was achieved with the resignation of President Mubarak on February 11th. Activist Wael Ghonim, a marketing manager for Google who played a significant role in organizing the January 25 protests by reaching out to young Egyptians on Facebook, credited the social networking site for the success of the Egyptian people’s uprising, says Catharine Smith in The Huffington Post.
“[…] This revolution started on Facebook. […] We would post a video on Facebook that would be shared by 60,000 people on their walls within a few hours. I’ve always said that if you want to liberate a society just give them the Internet. […],” Ghonim told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer in an interview that Facebook and the Internet were responsible for the uprising in Egypt.
After Egypt, it was the turn of Syrians to protest against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime. Pro-democratic demonstrations began in January and young Syrians, inspired by the ousting of Ben Ali in Tunisia and Mubarak in Egypt, began organizing protests online and then took them to the streets.
In this citizen journalism image made on a mobile phone, Syrian men carry bread loaves during a protest against Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime, in the coastal town of Banias, Syria, May 3, 2011 Photo Credit: AP
Syrian activists have been working their computers and mobile phones, updating Facebook pages, sending out messages over Twitter, and uploading videos onto YouTube to inform the outside world of what was taking place in their surroundings since foreign reporters were banned, reports Margaret Besheer for VOA news.
Libya was the revolution’s next stop in North Africa . Protests broke out in February in the eastern city of Benghazi and escalated to an armed conflict as forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi clashed with anti-government rebels. Gaddafi was captured and killed on October 24 bringing an end to four decades of autocratic rule.
Libya Crisis Map illustrates how ICTs can be applied in a conflict situation. This web-based platform was created by the Standby Task Force, and used the Ushahidi crowdsourced crisis reporting system to map latest news from Libya gleaned from Twitter and traditional news sources.
The LibyaCrisisMap platform was activated by the request of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) to the Standby Task Force (SBTF). The platform was fully handed over to OCHA supervision in April 2011, and continued to be supported by a team of volunteers until June 4th of 2011.
Yemenis also took up the streets in February to protest against President Ali Abdullah Saleh calling for his resignation. Saleh agreed a deal, in which he will transfer power to his deputy by February 2012, ahead of elections. Young Yemeni Activists are however angry that the deal guarantees immunity for Mr Saleh and his allies, reports the BBC.
The Kingdom of Bahrain, with financial, equipment and manpower backing from its Saudi neighbor, is the only government in the MENA region to have successfully crushed pro-democracy demonstrations, reports Adrian Humphreys in the National Post.
Revolutions in the spring paved the way to landmark elections in the fall.
Tunisian politicians engaged voters via YouTube ahead of the October 23rd elections of representative for the new Constituent Assembly, which will ratify a new constitution and appoint a new transitional government that will schedule elections for a permanent government. Tunisia Live, a startup news portal, launched Tunisia Talks on YouTube where citizens asked questions to politicians.
ICTs in form of social media platforms, cell phones, and the Internet played a significant role in the push for democracy and governance not only in the MENA region but also throughout the world.
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In another case of authoritarian regime vs. public protesters, information and communication technologies (ICTs) seem to have fueled the fire. Russians took to the streets last weekend in social media-driven demonstrations against alleged election fraud committed by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s United Russia Party, in the biggest protest the country has ever witnessed since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Russian opposition activists have used Twitter, Facebook, and other social media platforms to uncover electoral fraud and organize protests. Such is the case of Danila Lindele, 23-year-old citizen activist, described by VOA News as a “new breed of Russian activist, one more likely to reach for an iPad than a bullhorn.”
Despite conceding that irregularities did occur during the electoral process, President Dmitry Medvedev criticized the protests using his official Facebook page.
“I agree neither with the slogans, nor the statements voiced at the protests,” President Medvedev said. Russians responded with insults such as “shame” and “pathetic”, according to VOA News.
BBC reports that at least “7,000 comments had appeared under his post by 20:00 GMT on Sunday, a day after the biggest anti-government protests since Soviet times. An early random sample showed the comments were equally divided between hostility, support and neutrality.”
Authorities carried out over 1,000 arrests, mostly in Moscow, and key protester, blogger and anti-corruption campaigner Alexei Navalny was jailed, the BBC said.
Global Voices, an online platform for bloggers from around the world who report on how citizens use the Internet and social media to make their voices heard, often translating from other languages, features posts by prominent Russian bloggers such as Navalny in their Russia 2011 Elections Special.
“The time has come to throw off the chains. We are not cattle or slaves. We have a voice and we have the strength to defend it,” Mr. Navalny blogged.
Navalny also posted a video of Putin’s speech at the Olimpiysky Sports Complex to illustrate the Prime Minister’s declining popularity as evidenced by boos he received from segments of the crowd.
http://youtu.be/ZxQslFifQBw
Blogger Sean Guillory points out that election fraud is not novel practice in Russian politics and refers to Leontii Byzov, a senior sociologist from the Institute of Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences to explain why the largest anti-government protests is taking place now.
“There are several overlapping factors. First, the rise of a new generation of young people who don’t remember the ‘trauma of the 1990s’. They are not afraid of change, it is more attractive to them than the ‘gilded cage’ of Putinist stability. Young members of the middle class want social mobility and dream about meteoric careers,” said Byzov.
“Another factor is the swelling internal opposition within the Russian elite. In the 2000s, Putin served as a certain guarantor of balance between elite groups with completely opposite interests,” added Byzov. The tensions between the Putin-backed siloviki and liberals supporters of Medvedev are entangled in a power struggle over the control Gazprom and other state corporations.
Columnist DOĞU ERGİL argues that ICT tools in the form of social media platform, the Internet and cell phones can compensate for a lack of an opposition to an authoritarian regime, pointing to the power to connect millions and allow individuals to share messages and act in relative concert, that these platforms and networks possess.
“The Tahrir Square protest are the best example of what a virtual community can create in the absence of organized opposition,” he said.
As it was the case in Egypt and Tunisia, Russia has a strong, authoritarian leadership. ICTs are helping challenge the authoritarian state structure, as evinced by the recent anti-government demonstrations, and despite the Kremlin’s crackdown and control of the media, ERGİL argues.
In fact, two-thirds of Russians are said to be utilizing ICTs, especially the mobile phone network and blogging. The political space created by these tools enable exchanges that narrows the ideological divides and strengthen opposition to a government determined to sustain its grip on society as long as it can.
According to the BBC, “as many as 50,000 people gathered on an island near the Kremlin to condemn alleged ballot-rigging in parliamentary elections and demand a re-run” “The protesters alleged there was widespread fraud in the December 4th polls though the ruling United Russia party did see its share of the vote fall sharply.”
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Launched in June, ICT for Democracy in East Africa is a network of organizations seeking to leverage the potential of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to enhance good governance and strengthen democracy.
iHub, an open space for the tech community in Kenya, hosted a governance workshop in October. The event brought together stakeholders in academia, government, civil society and the tech community to identify governance challenges—such as an uninformed or misinformed citizenry about their basic rights and an entrenched culture of corruption. The take away from the session was that ICTs—particularly mobile phones—provide citizens with the platform by which they can engage in governance solutions in a discreet, personalized way, anytime, anywhere.
In the wake of 2012 Presidential elections, citizens need to be better educated, informed and engaged in the political processes to avoid post-elections clashes as it was the case in 2007. To this end, KHRC plans to tap into the potential of ICTs to increase citizen participation, monitor human rights violations, monitor the electoral processes, monitor government fulfillment of promises, carry out campaigns and also inform and educate its constituents and the public on various human rights and governance issues.
Civic participation and democracy monitoring is relatively weak in Uganda given that only 59% of registered voters cast their ballots in the February 2011 presidential elections, according to SPIDER. The proliferation of ICT tools, their potential to enhance communication and improve access to important information creates an opportunity for improved citizen engagement and advocacy towards increased transparency and accountability.
Through the strategic use of ICTs, Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET), aims to improve access to public services, increase efficiency, transparency and accountability of government and political processes to ensure that citizens are informed about government functions and promote efficient service delivery.
WOUGNET will particularly target women, in community based organizations (CBOs) located in the rural districts of Northern Uganda. WOUGNET aims build the ICT capacity of these (CBOs) to monitor public service delivery as part of its anti-corruption strategy.
Similarly, Tanzania’s CHRAGG is implementing a project that will create a system that will enable citizens to file complaints, check the status of already filed complaints and receive feedback through SMS. The project will help poor Tanzanians forego the transportation lodging costs involved in filing complaints in far off regional offices.
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Voters are turning out in numbers at polling stations in major cities for the first elections since President Hosni Mubarak was overthrown. So far, the electoral process has been peaceful with few reported security concerns amid fears that polling could be delayed due to the deadly protests against the interim military regime.
Some Internet activists chose to boycott elections in protest of military rule whilst others have taken up the responsibility to monitor elections using social media tools. Tardiness of judges, missing allots, and inadequate security have led to delays causing long lines at polling stations, and there has been reports of apparent violations of the election code by some political parties. However, these expected shortcomings have not dented voters’ enthusiasm.
“They’re trying to make it delayed so that we get angry and go home,” a man cried outside a still-closed polling center in the poor, mixed neighborhood of Shoubra, an hour after it was meant to open, reports Joshua Hersh of the Huffington Post. “But we’ll show them. We will stay here and we will vote.”
Another voter exclaimed, “I am so happy; this is the first true election in the history of Egypt!” The old man added, “I am doing this for my sons and my grandsons.”
According to Robert Mackey in the New York Times, bloggers posted images of long lines at polling places. Kamal El Eid, 19, posted a photograph of the vast crowd inside her polling place in the Cairo district of Heliopolis. Ranya Khalifa, who also voted in Heliopolis, tweeted that it took her six hours to get to the front of the line.
Voters crowded into a polling place in Cairo’s Heliopolis neighborhood on Monday.
Bloggers also reported on voting irregularities such as breaking electoral law: campaigning in on Election Day.
According to Hersh, twitter was filled with reports, through the hashtag #egypviolations, that party workers for the Freedom & Justice Party (FJP), the political wing of the Brotherhood, were distributing campaign guides to voters in line.
Abdel-Rahman Hussein tweeted that several parties campaigned on Election Day by sitting with laptops outside polling places in Cairo offering to help voters look up the registration numbers they needed to cast their ballots and giving out flyers promoting their candidates.
http://youtu.be/52ziVn6A-Gg
The party responded that this was merely an attempt to assist voters who supported the party but were confused about the process, rather than attempt to campaign or coerce voters, Hersh explained.
Mosa’ab Elshamy, an activist at the heart of the Tahrir Square protests in February, witnessed “no significant violations in Zamalek,” an upscale part of Cairo and added that although few people from different parties were handing leaflets, most voters were “not interest” in the literature anyway, writes Mackey.
Bloggers also expressed concerns over the complicated voting process. Issandr El Amrani, the Moroccan-American journalist behind The Arabist, a Cairo-based blog, posted close-up images of the remarkably dense and confusing ballot papers voters were handed inside a polling station in the city’s Sayeda Zeinab district. Mr. Amrani explained that voters were asked to select two candidates from a list of 122 names who could only be distinguished by a small icon chosen by the would-be office holders.
This is the first of three separate polls over coming months, which includes the current elections of 508-memnber People’s Assembly or lower house set to end on 10 January 2012. Elections of 270-strong Shura Council or upper house will begin in 29 January and end on 11 March 2012. Presidential elections are due mid-2012. It is estimated that more than 40 political parties are set to compete, fielding more than 10,000 candidates.
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Liberia’s November 8 Presidential runoff was marred by a rally turned violent as opposition supporters clashed with the riot police. The Ushahidi platform, a website developed to map reports of violence during the 2007 Presidential elections in Kenya, was once again in use to keep citizens informed on elections proceedings.
Incumbent Ellen Johnson Sirleaf won re-election clinching 90% of the November 8 run-off despite a relatively low turn out of 37%, prompted by the boycott of opposition candidate Winston Tubman from the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) on the basis of electoral fraud.
Ushahidi provides maps on various aspects of the electoral process, including the violent protests that took place in the capital Monrovia in the lead up and after the runoff.
The rioting broke out after thousands of CDC supporters gathered outside party headquarters to urge voters to boycott polls. BBC confirms that at least one man has been killed and four others injured after shots were fired by the police.
Despite the runoff boycott, Tubman is willing to work with Johnson-Sirleaf’s government.
“I will stick with my party and maybe we can find someone in our party who can deal with the Unity Party government and Mrs Sirleaf to bring about reconciliation,” he told the BBC’s Network Africa programme.
Observers, including those from the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS), declared the election process to be credible.
“The mission wishes to state that it found no major irregularities in the voting process itself. It considers, on the whole, that the elections of 8 November met the acceptable conditions of being free, fair and transparent,” the ECOWAS observer team said in a statement.
These are the first elections organised by Liberians since the 14-year conflict ended. The previous ones were run by the large UN peacekeeping mission.
Female candidates are turning out in numbers to learn how information and communication technologies (ICTs) can enhance their candidacies in upcoming elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The country will be holding its presidential and parliamentary elections for the second time in its history on November 28. Women were significantly under-represented during the 2006 elections. According to the National Democratic Institute (NDI), less than 1,100 out of 9,000 candidates for parliament were women.
Mariam Diallo, the sub-Saharan Africa coordinator for iKNOW Politics, gave participants tutorials on how to use the network’s website which allows users to share information, ask questions to international experts, and take part in e-discussion on various political topics.
According to NDI, participants were also taught how to use social media and the Internet for political campaigning, to manage and plan an election campaign; and conduct political communications.
A similar campaign was conducted in Afghanistan during the 2009 provincial council elections with positive results.
Salam Watandar, Internews’ radio programming service funded by USAID, carried out an outreach campaign encouraging women to run for office after it emerged that not a single female candidate had registered for provincial council elections in eight provinces. The message to women was clear: it is your duty to run for council, Internews press release reveals.
Afghan women responded to the call. The Independent Election Commission reported that a total of 342 women had registered for 124 seats on provincial councils around the country.
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As Liberians prepare to elect a new President during the November 8 election run-off, the African Election Project (AEP) is using information and communication technologies (ICTs) to assist in monitoring the electoral process.
According to Africa News, citizens will be able to report election violence to the “Incidence Monitoring Platform”, a newly-established call center, and via SMS. Election observers and field officers are using social media tools to co-ordinate information transmission throughout the country. Moreover, cutting-edge call center software and a news database software are in place to track elections activities in real time.
“The use of ICT during this elections coverage will bring about transparency in the whole electoral process, ensure the timely release of electoral news to citizens residing in Liberia and in the Diaspora, issue alerts to the relevant institutions to prevent potential incidence of violence and to ensure credibility in the final outcome of the elections,” Mr Jerry Sam Director of AEP, said.
Established in 2008 by the Institute for ICT Journalism in strategic partnership with the Open Society Initiative, AEP aims to enable citizen and journalists to provide timely and relevant information and knowledge while undertaking monitoring specific and important aspects of governance. One of its objectives consist of providing relevant ICT tools for stakeholders involved in the electoral process.
Incumbent and recent Nobel Laureate, President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, gained the most votes but failed to pass the 50% threshold needed for outright victory in last week’s elections. Despite fraud allegations, opposition leader Winston Tubman, a former UN diplomat, has agreed to contest the run off.
BBC reports that with 96% of the vote counted, Johnson-Sirleaf has 44% against 32% for Mr Tubman, the electoral commission announced. Turnout was 71%.
Tunisians are set to vote on Sunday in first landmark elections since the Arab Spring. Google has partnered with Tunisia Live to offer training workshops on Google tools and social media for politicians to engage with voters.
Photo Credit: Tunisia Live
Tunisia Live, a startup news portal, launched Tunisia Talks on YouTube where citizens ask questions to politicians. According to Google’s official Blog, so far more than 400 questions have been submitted and over 40 members of political parties and independent coalitions have taken part in the initiative.
In the upcoming elections, Tunisians will select representatives for the new Constituent Assembly, which will ratify a new constitution and appoint a new transitional government that will schedule elections for a permanent government.
These elections are not only significant to Tunisia’s political future but their success would further advance regional democratization.
Uprisings triggered by the actions of Sidi Bouzid, a unemployed Tunisian who set himself on fire to protest against joblessness, brought an end to 23-year regime of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in January.
Summer Hunter-Kysor currently serves as Senior Project Associate for Integra’s EE/MELDS and AEO contracts with USAID. With five years of development experience and a strong background in peacebuilding, governance, and education, she has spearheaded impactful projects with the goal of improving the lives of individuals and communities worldwide. Armed with an MA in International Development and BA in International Relations, Ms. Hunter-Kysor possesses a deep understanding and curiosity of the everchanging complexities facing developing regions and has successfully supported the implementation of notable initiatives that drive positive social impact and sustainable change.
Prior to joining Integra, Ms. Hunter-Kysor worked at Creative Associates International, where she provided backstop support to three USAID- and USAID/OTI-funded projects with values between $3-$38 million. She managed several aspects of project efforts including technical, financial, contractual, reporting & communications, HR, and operational duties. She led her teams’ knowledge management efforts to ensure that project successes and lessons learned could be adjusted and applied in different contexts. She was further dedicated to business development efforts in the democracy and governance space, serving as a contributing author on a solicitation the company won valued at $24 million. Previously, she focused on monitoring, evaluation, and learning and process improvement through her work in Pittsburgh local government and community development-focused nonprofits. Ms. Hunter-Kysor’s experience also includes federal contracting, a graduate internship with the Department of State (DoS), data research for the UNDP, and teaching English as a second language through the DoS Fulbright program.
As a compassionate leader, Ms. Hunter-Kysor is driven by a commitment to empower marginalized communities, advocate for social justice, and promote equitable access to essential services through locally led and inclusive approaches.
Gevorg Torosyan
Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) Director
Mr. Torosyan leads one of the firm’s practice areas as the Director of Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning. He brings 18 years of experience in USAID and other donor-funded project management, evaluation, and consulting roles in more than 15 countries across Europe, Asia, and Africa. Half of his career was dedicated to delivering development consulting assignments in field offices as Project Director, Team Leader, and Policy Advisor in projects funded by USAID, The World Bank, ADB, UNDP, and EU. The remaining half was devoted to managing USAID-funded projects from the corporate headquarters of development consulting firms in the Washington, D.C. area.
Mr. Torosyan’s technical expertise spans a wide range of private sector development topics, such as the improved enabling environment for trade and investment, firm-level competitiveness enhancement, value chain development, and increasing SME access to finance. He also has in-depth knowledge of public sector governance reform issues, including evidence-based decision-making practices, impact assessment schemes, regulatory convergence with international standards, reform of state-owned enterprises in the energy and other infrastructural sectors, anti-corruption, and improved public service delivery via Govtech solutions.
Beyond his extensive project management and advisory work, Mr. Torosyan has a decade of experience in project performance evaluation and monitoring. He has demonstrated his expertise in Monitoring and Evaluation Lead roles at a development consulting firm in Washington, DC, and as an independent Evaluation Team Leader and Principal Evaluator of multiple donor-funded projects in Europe and Asia.
Mr. Torosyan holds a Master of Advanced Studies degree in International Law and Economics from the University of Bern, World Trade Institute, Switzerland. He was also a research fellow at the University of Muenster, Germany, specializing in institutional economics, which led to a Doctor of Economics degree from the Institute of Economic Research. He speaks Armenian and Russian fluently.
Brenda Lee Pearson
Research Director, LEAP III
Ms. Brenda Lee Pearson is the Research Director for the Integra-managed USAID Learning, Evaluation, and Analysis Project (LEAP III) and has served as Team Leader for economic growth performance evaluations in Georgia, Kenya, Ukraine, and USAID’s global programs: CATALYZE, EDGE, US-SEGA, Women’s Economic Empowerment Fund. She served as the gender and social inclusion advisor to USAID/India and Indo-Pacific Strategy from 2020-21. She has been Team Leader for democracy, human rights and governance assessments and political economy analyses in Bosnia Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Guyana, Honduras, Kosovo, Malawi, Romania and Tanzania. She served as global coordinator of nutrition programming for the United Nations World Food Programme, FAO, UNICEF and WHO. Ms. Pearson has provided technical assistance to projects funded by USAID, State Department, Millennium Challenge Corporation, DfID, AustraliaAid, World Bank, and UN agencies in 50 countries, and authored more than 100 articles. Ms. Pearson is the President of Cui Prodest, LLC, a woman-owned small business (www.cuiprodest.org) that partners frequently with Integra. Earlier in her career, she served as Chief of Party in Cambodia, Croatia, Egypt, N. Macedonia, Tanzania and Yemen.
Peter Levine
Business Development and Private Sector Specialist
Mr. Levine is a senior new business, project management and private sector development specialist with over 20 years direct experience in the design, oversight and implementation of complex international technical assistance programs, including extensive work in Latin America, Eastern Europe, Asia and Africa. He is well versed in private sector development, agriculture, land use planning and international best business practices, with a strong track record for facilitating stakeholder relationships for tangible and practical results. He has a proven track record for impact with USAID, MCC, DFID and other donors, working as both a Team Leader, Chief of Party, or key member of a multi-disciplinary team on both innovative projects and winning proposals. Prior experience as Executive or Practice Area lead who helped grow technical, financial and human capital for firms/clients, including leadership of USAID projects valued at between US$25 – $75 million.
Elizabeth Ferris
Migration Expert and Advisor
Elizabeth Ferris is Research Professor with the Institute for the Study of International Migration at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and an adjunct professor in the Georgetown Law School. From January-September 2016, she served as Senior Advisor to the UN General Assembly’s Summit for Refugees and Migrants in New York. She presently serves as an expert advisor to the UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Internal Displacement.
From 2006-2015, she was a Senior Fellow and co-director of the Brookings-LSE Project on Internal Displacement where she worked to support understanding and protection of internally displaced persons. Prior to joining Brookings, she spent 20 years working in the field of humanitarian assistance, most recently in Geneva, Switzerland at the World Council of Churches. She has also served as the director of the Church World Service’s Immigration and Refugee Program, as research director for the Life & Peace Institute in Uppsala, Sweden and as a Fulbright professor at the Universidad Autónoma de México. Her teaching experience has included positions at Lafayette College, Miami University and Pembroke State University. She has written extensively on refugee, migration and humanitarian issues, including The Politics of Protection: The Limits of Humanitarian Action (Brookings Institution Press, 2011), Consequences of Chaos: Syria’s Humanitarian Crisis and the Failure to Protect, with Kemal Kirsici (Brookings Institution Press, 2016). Her latest book, Refugees, Migration and Global Governance: Negotiating the Global Compacts, with Katharine Donato, was published by Routledge in 2019. She received her BA degree from Duke University and her MA and PhD degrees from the University of Florida.
Quang Phan
Vietnam Country Director
Quang Phan has a 20-year track record of performance in running some of the most impactful projects in Vietnam and in the Mekong Region. These projects range from innovation and technology, sustainable public private policy dialogue and regulatory reform, and trade and investment facilitation. As an out of the box thinker, Quang has good judgement and a good sense of humour. He knows how to turn vision into ideas, and ideas into actions and results. He builds high performing teams and networks.
Quang has served as Integra’s Country Director in Vietnam since 2018 and leads the development and implementation of the USAID funded project in reforming PPP regulations and practices in Vietnam. Working with the home office and USAID/Vietnam, Quang has mobilized a team of international and local experts to work with the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the National Assembly, the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the business community on developing the first PPP Law of Vietnam. The team has built the capacity of a public private partnership committee that advocates for good PPP regulations and practices in Vietnam and piloted a PPP pipeline development tool in two provinces.
Theresa Miles Director, Business Operations
Ms. Theresa Miles is Integra’s Director of Business Operations and leads contract administrative management and oversees project operations and financial management. She guides the development of effective project operations and financial standards and operationalizing structures for delivery, risk management, reporting, and forecasting. She is also serving as the Operations Manager for the Integra-managed USAID Learning, Evaluation, and Analysis project (LEAP III), a five-year project that supports USAID globally by providing independent high-quality analytical services; strategy and project design; monitoring and evaluation; training; and knowledge management.
Theresa has 25 years of experience in international development and project management in Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, and South Asia. She has split her career between home office project support and management roles and overseas roles. She excels at organizing and increasing efficiencies by examining operations, analyzing needs, identifying duplication of effort and tailoring policies and procedures to project, organization, and donor requirements.
She has long-term experience in Ghana, Uganda, Madagascar, India, Democratic Republic of Congo and short-term experience in Mexico, Egypt, Mongolia and Tanzania. Theresa holds an MA in International Policy from the Monterey Institute of International Studies and has a general understanding of Spanish and working knowledge of French. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her dogs, antiquing, and refurbishing old furniture.
Theresa Miles
Director, Business Operations
Ms. Theresa Miles is Integra’s Director of Business Operations and leads contract administrative management and oversees project operations and financial management. She guides the development of effective project operations and financial standards and operationalizing structures for delivery, risk management, reporting, and forecasting. She is also serving as the Operations Manager for the Integra-managed USAID Learning, Evaluation, and Analysis project (LEAP III), a five-year project that supports USAID globally by providing independent high-quality analytical services; strategy and project design; monitoring and evaluation; training; and knowledge management.
Theresa has 25 years of experience in international development and project management in Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, and South Asia. She has split her career between home office project support and management roles and overseas roles. She excels at organizing and increasing efficiencies by examining operations, analyzing needs, identifying duplication of effort and tailoring policies and procedures to project, organization, and donor requirements.
She has long-term experience in Ghana, Uganda, Madagascar, India, Democratic Republic of Congo and short-term experience in Mexico, Egypt, Mongolia and Tanzania. Theresa holds an MA in International Policy from the Monterey Institute of International Studies and has a general understanding of Spanish and working knowledge of French. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her dogs, antiquing, and refurbishing old furniture.
Penelope Norton
Associate
Penelope is an Associate at Integra, where she supports a variety of USAID and MCC-funded projects. She has more than five years of experience in operations and project management and provides backstopping support on activities. Responsibilities include managing activity budgets, providing logistical support, recruiting, contracts, and travel preparations. Other experience includes data collection, program evaluation, quality assurance, and two years of program implementation in Guatemala.
Penelope holds an MS in Conflict Analysis and Resolution from George Mason University with a concentration in Prevention, Reconstruction and Stabilization, and a BA in International Affairs from James Madison University. When not working, Penelope enjoys international travel or camping in the amazing US National Parks.
Kethi Mullei
Learning and Evaluation Director
Kethi Mullei is a social researcher and qualitative analyst with over 15 years of experience working in development in Sub-Saharan Africa, primarily East Africa. Her most recent long-term position was with the BMGF CIFF & Hewlett – funded program, HCDExchange, serving as the Learning Lead. She recently joined Integra as Learning and Evaluation Director to support the USAID/Kenya & East Africa Mission.
Kethi is a passionate learner and researcher with a background in global public health and a keen interest in generating evidence on the value of applying simple, replicable yet rigorous human-centered and action-oriented methodologies for optimal application in improving the quality of global health interventions and outcomes in the Global South. She brings a great wealth of experience in health policy analysis & development, protocol & product development (learning agendas, practical guidance), literature/ desk reviews, knowledge management, and application of participatory and one-to-one learning methods in practice (e.g., capturing success stories, appreciative inquiry (AI), outcome harvesting). Having worked for 15 years collaborating with various stakeholders—civil society, research institutions, private sector, and funders/donors—she is an eager contributor to the broad field of global health.
Sarah Eissler
Evaluation Specialist
Sarah is an evaluation specialist with broad international experience designing, implementing, and analyzing mixed-methods research and evaluation projects addressing issues in agriculture, food security and nutrition, climate change, women’s empowerment, and the environment. Sarah currently works as an independent consultant to lead and support mixed-method evaluations for USAID, UN Agencies, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, among others. She has supported several Integra activities under the LEAP III project as a data analytics and research design specialist with specific attention to the design and analysis of qualitative data. Recently, she has supported a strategic review of USAID’s Partnering to Accelerate Entrepreneurship (PACE) Initiative, a portfolio performance evaluation of the former USAID Women’s Global Development and Prosperity (W-GDP) Initiative, a strategic review of USAID’s Development Innovation Ventures (DIV) program, and evaluations and assessments in Egypt and Ukraine. She has a dual Ph.D. in Rural Sociology and Human Dimensions of Natural Resources and the Environment, and dual M.S. degrees in Rural Sociology and International Agriculture and Development from Penn State University.
Meziane Menasria
Associate
Meziane is an Associate at Integra, where he supports the MCC-funded Togo project and several other USAID projects. He brings more than seven years of experience working for a global K-12 education non-profit organization where he contributed project management, business intelligence, team management, budget tracking, and recruiting. He is a fluent French speaker and conversational in Spanish and Polish. He holds a BA in Government & Politics from the University of Maryland, College Park. In his free time, he enjoys watching club and international football (soccer) and hiking in the great outdoors.
Julienne Kaman
Technical Advisor – Papua New Guinea
Julienne Kaman serves as the Technical Advisor in Papua New Guinea (PNG) under USAID’s Asia Emerging Opportunities mechanism. Ms. Kaman has spent more than 30 years in the teaching profession, researching and doing consultancies in several PNG universities. She has taken short-term consultancies with the PNG Government and Governments of other Pacific Island countries, namely the Republic of Nauru. Ms. Kaman has also worked with international organizations such as UNICEF, UNDP, UNESCO, and the Incentive Fund Program of the Australian Government and with international nongovernment organizations in the country, namely, Save the Children Fund and Asia Pacific Bureau of Adult Education (ASPBAE) and with local companies such as Tanorama. As a certified and experienced teacher in PNG, Ms. Kaman has also written several contextualized textbooks in the Social Sciences for teachers and students to use at all levels of education in PNG.
Mrs. Hoang Anh
Business Environment Sustainability and Transformation (BEST) Director – Vietnam
Mrs. Hoang Anh Do serves as the Business Environment Sustainability and Transformation (BEST) Director in Vietnam under USAID’s Asia Emerging Opportunities mechanism. Before joining Integra, Mrs. Anh Do had experience holding several positions in the developing world and private sector. She served as Deputy Project Director of USAID/Vietnam Competitiveness Initiative (VNCI), leading three impactful initiatives, including 1) Administrative Procedures Reform of the Government of Vietnam (known as Project 30) by the Office of the Government, 2) Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) for Ministry of Justice and other stakeholders, 3) Public Private Partnership under Ministry of Planning and Investment, and 4) Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) with Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI).
She also worked on legal and economic reform in the USAID/Sustaining Technical and Analytical Resources (STAR) project, which helped the State Bank of Vietnam, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Post and Telematics, the State Audit, different committees of the National Assembly to overwrite Vietnamese legal framework to implement Vietnam commitments under the US-Vietnam Bilateral Trade Agreement.
In the private sector, she established and chaired health tech, agri-tech, and logistics companies. Her vast experience and network in Government and private sector are valuable for her work to accelerate the transformation of Vietnam’s business environment and sustainability.
Brenna Casey
Program and Business Development Manager
Brenna is a Program and Business Development Manager at Integra. She brings five years of experience in various project management and technical capacities across the USAID and MCC portfolios. Programmatic responsibilities include leading and providing task order oversight and support on contracts, recruitment, budgets, client and subcontractor relations, reporting, and quality assurance. Business development roles include strategic planning and pipeline development, market research, partner and proposal coordination, staffing, technical writing, and compliance. Technical capabilities include research and data analysis, including sectoral, political economy, and landscape assessments; performance evaluations; and trainings, workshops, and knowledge management engagements.
Brenna has managed several activities under Asia Emerging Opportunities (AEO) and the Learning, Evaluation, and Analysis Project (LEAP III), including the USAID/Middle East Bureau’s multi-year $1.7+ million buy-in for private sector engagement (PSE). This activity supported the co-creation and implementation of PSE Action Plans for the Bureau and Operating Units in the region, including Bureau and Mission learning events, remote and in-person private sector outreach, Private Sector Landscape Assessments (PSLAs), and a report on PSE opportunities coming from the Gulf region. She supports the kickoff of the USAID Europe and Eurasia Monitoring, Evaluation, Learning, and Decision Support (EE/MELDS) and MCC Economic Analysis BPA contracts.
Ms. Casey holds a MA in Political Economy from Georgetown University and a BA in Foreign Affairs from the University of Virginia. She earned an advanced certificate in Political Economy from the ULB Solvay School of Economics and Management in Brussels, Belgium, and a project management certification from the University of Virginia. She is also certified in project management by the Project Management Institute (PMI). Additional professional experience includes a graduate internship with the Development Finance Corporation and health policy consulting in Alexandria, Virginia.
Eleanor Roberts
Associate
Eleanor is an Associate at Integra, supporting the USAID-funded Asia Emerging Opportunities task order. She assists in managing and backstopping projects, including planning, organizing, coordinating, program execution, and monitoring. Responsibilities include project reporting, budget tracking, and analysis, research and data analysis, assisting with project recruitment, ensuring contractual compliance, and providing administrative support as needed. Additionally, Eleanor assists in developing communications materials for the firm, including authoring content for Integra’s website.
Before Integra, Eleanor worked at Meridian International Center as a Program Associate implementing the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) — the U.S. Department of State’s premier professional exchange. She holds a B.A. in Political Science and History from Denison University in Granville, Ohio.
Kate Fehlenberg
Director of Scaling Innovations
Kate Fehlenberg is an international development professional with over 20 years of experience across a dozen countries. She has designed, managed, scaled, and evaluated small and multi-million dollar programs in Public Health, Agriculture and Gender. With deep experience in coalition building, systematic assessments of new technologies, and strengthening local systems, Kate is uniquely skilled in Scaling sustainable solutions. Kate has worked for NGOs, researchers, and donors at headquarters and the field in over a dozen countries across Asia and Africa; sat on donor and fundraising committees; run hundreds of workshops, and trained and led teams in numerous countries. In her last overseas assignment (2015-2019), Kate managed a $15M USAID food security project across six countries in Africa. She established the SeedAssure Alliance, a public-private coalition to digitize commercial value chains in Africa to improve Ag technologies accessible to millions of farmers. She currently works with Integra as Director of Scaling Innovations, leading assessments of development investments for their market impact and sustainability potential. Kate has an MPH in Population in Family Health and Complex Emergencies from Columbia University, a Master’s in Civil Engineering from Ga Tech, and a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science from Samford University.
Paul Dodds
Enabling Environment Expert
Paul Dodds has a JD and over 25 years of experience in development consulting with MCC, USAID, DFID, the World Bank, AUS DFAT and ADB in over 15 countries. He has extensive expertise in legal analysis, policy reform and commercial due diligence, and experience working in AgCLIR analyses in varying capacities, with specific engagements for MCC in Tunisia, Philippines and Benin. In his AgCLIR work for USAID in Liberia, he focused on exploring the possible impacts of regulations restricting access to fresh markets for smallholder farmers and women traders.
Most recently, Paul brought technical expertise to the Integra team working in Bangladesh helping to design a support program for food safety and nutrition, and also on a detailed review of the new Vietnamese public private partnership law, providing background information to encourage the donor support needed for the law to succeed.
Paul studied Economics at Columbia and graduated from Harvard Law School. He spent the first decade of his professional career as a corporate lawyer and general counsel in Boston. He is now based in Little Rock, Arkansas where he owns and manages a growing portfolio of investments in renovated historic homes as his primary occupation. He speaks fluent German, serviceable French, Spanish and Russian and some Khmer.
Cynthia Mallory
Controller, Business Operations
Ms. Mallory has spent 20 years working with international development consulting firms. She currently serves as Integra’s Controller, and also manages Business Operations for the firm. She is an award-winning United State Air Force retiree who worked in forward locations during Operation Desert Storm and Desert Shield. She provided aid to supply officers, transportation commanders, fighter pilots and many more.
Liesl Kim
Operations Specialist
Liesl has been an Associate at Integra for nearly two years, providing project management and operations support for USAID-funded projects. She serves as the lead Associate on the Learning, Evaluation, and Analysis (LEAP III) Project, spearheading reporting mechanisms. She manages many aspects from activity start up to close, including drafting concept notes and work plans; recruiting and managing consultants; tracking budgets; organizing field work logistics; reporting on findings; and designing infographics/presentations to disseminate lessons learned. Liesl also provides support to the Asia Emerging Opportunities (AEO) Project and has worked on more than 30 unique activities, serving as the Operations Lead on 16 activities to date. She has also contributed to performance evaluations, such as the evaluations of the USAID/OFDA LAC Regional Disaster Assistance Program and the Power Africa Transactions and Reforms Program. Prior to joining Integra, she interned at the Asian Development Bank North American Representative Office, assisting in outreach efforts with stakeholders and partner organizations.
She holds an MA in International Development Studies from the Elliott School of International Affairs, George Washington University and a BA in Political Science and International Studies from Pepperdine University. She is a 5th degree black belt in Taekwondo and attributes the global sport as first attracting her to the realm of international relations.
Kaitlyn Turner
Data Analytics Manager
Kaitlyn leads Integra’s quantitative analysis and data collection work as the Data Analytics Manager. Prior to joining the Integra team in 2020, she worked in both project management, and programming and analysis of impact evaluations for a number of research-focused non-profit organizations. She has experience designing evaluation plans, managing quantitative data collection work, performing data analysis using Stata, and developing reports and other dissemination tools for internal and external stakeholders. She has spent the last three years living in Nairobi, Kenya and working throughout East Africa. She has worked in many sectors including global health, agriculture, and digital financial inclusion.
Ruta Aidis
Gender and Economic Development Advisor
Dr. Ruta Aidis is a leading expert in gender and economic development. She has more than 25 years of experience teaching, researching, consulting and publishing in the area of gender, women’s economic empowerment, entrepreneurship, innovation, institutional development and public policy. She is an award-winning author with over 50 published articles, books and reports. Dr. Aidis has conducted multiple gender-related assessments and consultancies for USAID and other international donor agencies. In 2019, she led USAID’s first global gender analysis of the recycling and waste management sector piloting both the Women’s Economic Empowerment and Equality (WE3) toolkit and recommendations for Women’s Global Development and Prosperity (W-GDP) initiatives.
As part of the LEAP III program, Dr. Aidis is serving as the deputy team lead for USAID’s portfolio performance evaluation (PPE) of the Women’s Global Development and Prosperity (W-GDP) initiative’s Round 1 funded activities. Previously she acted as the team lead for the 2020 Strategic Review of USAID’s Partnering to Accelerate Entrepreneurship (PACE) initiative.
Dr. Aidis is also a Senior Fellow at the Schar School for Policy and Government, George Mason University and founder of ACG Inc. She holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Amsterdam, an MA in International Development from the Institute for Social Studies and a BA from the University of Maryland.
Tim Schur
Chief Executive Officer
Timothy Schur is leading the company into the future by building on a foundation laid by Bob Otto, the founder of the firm in 2010. With more than 30 years of experience in advisory and consulting services, Timothy has filled wide-ranging roles in corporate finance, strategy and innovation, impact investment, business development, and business practice leadership. For the last decade he has been supporting International Development programs and investments for the United States, United Kingdom, and Australian governments as well as direct investments by governments across the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Throughout his career, Timothy has been a champion for performance-based contracting, impact investment and capital mobilization, systems enablement and knowledge sharing through technology, and program designs that result in durable solutions for economic independence.
Leading Integra is a return to the small business roots of Timothy’s career where client centric, nimble business solutions deliver impact for the investment stakeholders, beneficiaries and the individuals applying their expertise and experience to delivery. From a vantage point versed in traditional international development investors, cognizant of the capital constraints, and grounded in results measurement as the key to enduring impact; Timothy is positioning Integra as a key resource for government, private sector, and NGO clients seeking to capture and enhance both the financial and social return on their investments into emerging economies.
Robert Otto
Founder
Mr. Otto has more than 25 years of experience in international development and project management. He is highly experienced in providing consulting services and managing complex projects in private sector development, economic restructuring, and institutional development. Earlier in his career, Mr. Otto served as Chief Private Sector Officer, Financial Analyst, Project Development Officer, and Chief Environment Officer for the US Agency for International Development. Mr. Otto holds a MS in Management from MIT and a MS in Technology of Management from American University.
David Quinn
Chief Technical Officer
Mr. David Quinn is Integra’s Chief Technical Officer, where he oversees all company projects and activities. He has 15 years of experience working in international development projects and specializes in managing multiple-country, multiple-activity, mechanisms.
Currently, he serves as the Chief of Party for the Integra-managed USAID Learning, Evaluation and Analysis project (LEAP III), a five-year project that supports USAID globally by providing independent high-quality analytical services; strategy and project design; monitoring and evaluation; training; and knowledge management.
Mr. Quinn has conducted over 80 assignments across 23 countries. His technical expertise includes economic growth, policy and enabling environment reform, private sector engagement (PSE), and public-private partnerships (PPPs). In addition to his passion for international development (and Integra), he is an avid Liverpool Football Club fan.
Deanna Gordon
Director, Development Analytics
Dr. Gordon is Director of Development Analytics, as well as Chief of Party for the Asia Emerging Opportunities mechanism at Integra. She is an Agricultural Economist with a long track record in international development. Prior to joining the Integra team, she was with USAID as a Foreign Service Officer from 2005-2019. Her expertise is rooted in monitoring and evaluation, quantitative and mixed methods analysis, and impact evaluation. She has served in a variety of positions at USAID, including as Senior Agriculture and Food Security Advisor for USAID/BFS, Senior Monitoring and Evaluation Advisor at USAID/FFP, and Office Director for the Office of Economic Growth at USAID/DRC. She speaks French, Spanish, and Portuguese with professional proficiency and holds a Ph.D. in Agricultural and Resource Economics from UC Berkeley.
Kent Ford
Director, Private Sector Engagement (PSE)
Kent Ford is a pioneering international development professional with over 25 years of experience in successfully leading and delivering a range of private sector-focused programs in emerging and developing markets. Under the Learning, Evaluation and Analysis Project III (LEAP III), Kent leads Integra’s Middle East Private Sector Engagement Activity supporting the adoption of USAID’s Private Sector Engagement (PSE) Policy in the USAID/Middle East Bureau and associated Missions. This includes inter alia, writing a Strategic Vision for the Middle East Bureau, leading the development of a ThinkPiece envisioning the future of PSE in the MENA region, developing and leading monthly training webinars widely broadcasted throughout MENA and USAID/Washington, and creating an actionable approach to engaging the private sector in the work of USAID.
Kent has broad and proven strategic management and leadership experience as well as economic, political and cultural understanding from having worked in nearly 60 countries. Mr. Ford is a two-time entrepreneur, most recently as co-founder and Managing Director of Global Development Solutions, where he directed the establishment, growth and leadership of a global network of staff and consultants spanning four continents.
Kent co-developed the integrated value chain and market analysis methodology used by the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and sovereign governments to rigorously analyze agriculture and non-agriculture value chains to determine areas where foreign and domestic investment, access to finance and technical intervention would enhance the competitive position of entire market systems. He designed and spearheaded regional Trade and Investment initiatives by bringing together governments, private sector actors, NGOs, municipalities and development agencies—an innovative approach designed help businesses access new markets leading to millions of dollars in trade, investment, and market linkages. He has spent a total of eight years living in, working on and leading in-country private sector development project teams in the West Bank/Gaza, Albania, Kosovo, Nigeria and Uganda.
David Townsend
ICT Sector Advisor
Mr. Townsend is an international expert in ICT policy and economics and the leader of GBI’s Universal Service and Access Fund Support Program. For more than 25 years, Mr. Townsend has been a leading contributor to the evolution of the communications sector worldwide, and has advised governments in more than 40 countries on economic issues and policy options for ICTs. He has been one of the pioneers in the design of Universal Service Funds in numerous countries, and has worked extensively with the World Bank and the UN, among others.
Kimberly Hamilton
Director of Operations, MCC / Business Development Manager
Having joined Integra in 2012, Kimberly has provided technical and operational support for over 20 projects at the firm over the past decade. Currently, she serves as the Director of Operations for Integra’s Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) portfolio, working alongside technical staff and MCC representatives to ensure projects and deliverables meet client expectations and contractual requirements. She also serves the dual role of Business Development Manager, working directly with the CEO and CTO to pursue, manage, and execute partnerships and proposal efforts. This includes potential opportunities with a variety of USG-funded clients such as USAID, MCC, and the World Bank, among others.
Kimberly also provides operational and technical support on projects. This includes her current role as Operations Manager and Researcher for USAID’s performance evaluation of the U.S. Women’s Global Development and Prosperity Initiative, the first government-wide effort to advance women’s economic empowerment. She also provides operational oversight of Integra’s two-year-long engagement with USAID to support Vietnam’s development and implementation of public-private partnerships. In previous positions, she conducted field research for a variety of agricultural, M&E, and political economy activities, mostly in Southeast Asia and East Africa. Her favorite assignment to date was conducting field research for an agricultural market assessment in the Philippines for MCC, specifically focused on the value and supply chains of processed mango products. In addition to interviewing and analyzing data from smallholder farmers, mango traders, and exporters to inform MCC’s investments, mango tastings were a nice perk of the job.
Pin Thanesnant
Director of Operations, USAID Portfolio
Ms. Ganyapak (Pin) Thanesnant currently serves as the Director of Operations for Integra’s USAID portfolio. She brings ten years of experience in project management and operations, resource mobilization, and policy and market assessments, specifically in areas of food security and the business enabling environment. She has managed projects and implemented reform efforts across twenty countries in Africa and Asia. She oversees all operations and finances of Integra’s flagship contracts: USAID’s Learning, Evaluation, and Analysis Project III (LEAP III) and USAID’s Asia Emerging Opportunities (AEO). Under both contracts, she ensures rapid responses to rigorous, independent, and high-quality analytical services to USAID.
In just three years of LEAP III, Pin has managed over 50 activities across 30 countries and multiple sectors. In addition to project management, she also provides technical support on activities—most recently, serving as the Policy Expert for USAID’s Bangladesh Agriculture Policy Assessment, as well as the Evaluation Expert conducting an ex-post evaluation of USAID/Zambia’s Production, Finance, and Improved Technology Plus (PROFIT+) program and a mid-term evaluation of USAID/Belarus’ I3 program.
Prior to joining Integra, Ms. Thanesnant worked with Heifer International, managing all funding efforts in East Asia and Southern/East African countries through donor relations, contractual negotiations, and development and review of technical and cost proposals. Prior to this, she worked at Fintrac, Inc., where she was responsible for providing analytical services under USAID’s EAT Project. Pin holds an MA in Public Anthropology and International Development from American University and a BA in International Studies from the University of Richmond.
Brenna Casey
Operations Specialist
Brenna Casey joined Integra as an Associate in November 2018. She performs project backstopping for USAID and Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) projects, including but not limited to development of SOWs/concept notes; consultant recruitment and contracting; budget development, reporting and analysis; quality assurance and contractual compliance; travel coordination and logistics; project reporting; and project launch and close out activities. Other responsibilities include contributing to technical desk research and report writing. She also supports new business development, including responding to SSNs and RFIs, and past performance write ups, RFP/RFQ compliance, recruiting and personnel matrices, and coordination with partners and preparation of teaming agreements and cost information for proposals.
Brenna also currently serves as Private Sector Engagement (PSE) Specialist under Integra’s PSE practice area. She serves as Operations Lead for a $1.5M+ PSE Activity under the USAID LEAP III contract, where she works with a team of 12+ consultants in the co-creation and implementation of PSE Action Plans for the Middle East Bureau and nine Operating Units in the region. Activities include Bureau and Mission workshops and trainings, a listening tour, development of Mission PSE portfolio reviews and integration analyses, a PSE thought piece, and remote and in-person private sector outreach. Under this activity, she participated in a 2-week field visit across four cities in Morocco and interviewed private sector actors representing five key sectors, as well as 1-week of PSE brainstorming sessions with USAID/Egypt staff in Cairo for their PSE Action Plan and CDCS. Her favorite experience to date was leading the PSE brainstorming session with the Basic Education technical team in Cairo. As PSE Specialist, Ms. Casey has also provided technical support to the USAID/Egypt 2020 Private Sector Landscape Assessment (PSLA).
Ms. Casey holds a BA in Foreign Affairs and Psychology and a minor in Religous Studies (Islam) from the University of Virginia. She is professionally certified in Project Management from the University of Virginia and the Project Management Institute. She is currently applying to pursue her graduate studies in Washington, D.C. In her free time she loves reading a good book on the Rappahannock River in Urbanna, Virginia.
Ms. Cazier serves as an Associate at Integra, providing project management support for the USAID LEAP III and AEO projects, as well as business development support for new opportunities. Prior to joining Integra, Isabella worked on the Programs team at World Learning, managing international youth exchange programs across the Americas. She has worked extensively in Latin America on youth development programs, and credits this opportunity with shaping her interest in international affairs. Isabella is PMI certified, and holds an MA in International Affairs and Development from The George Washington University, and a BA in Anthropology and Russian Literature from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.
Isabella started at Integra in February 2020, and has worked on a range of projects, including the Tiger Matters Knowledge Management events which coincided with World Wildlife Day, the assessment of Democracy, Rights and Governance in the Pacific Islands region and the Mid-Term Evaluation of USAID/Rwanda’s Hinga Weze program. Working at a small business like Integra means that employees have the opportunity to develop professional skills very quickly, and the expertise on the team always leads to fascinating conversations around the virtual lunch table.
Isabella moved around a lot growing up, living in four countries before moving to the United States for college.
Ganyapak (Pin) Thanesnant Director of Operations
Ms. Ganyapak (Pin) Thanesnant currently serves as the Director of Operations for Integra’s USAID portfolio. She brings ten years of experience in project management and operations, resource mobilization, and policy and market assessments, specifically in areas of food security and the business enabling environment. She has managed projects and implemented reform efforts across twenty countries in Africa and Asia. She oversees all operations and finances of Integra’s flagship contracts: USAID’s Learning, Evaluation, and Analysis Project III (LEAP III) and USAID’s Asia Emerging Opportunities (AEO). Under both contracts, she ensures rapid responses to rigorous, independent, and high-quality analytical services to USAID.
In just three years of LEAP III, Pin has managed over 50 activities across 30 countries and multiple sectors. In addition to project management, she also provides technical support on activities—most recently, serving as the Policy Expert for USAID’s Bangladesh Agriculture Policy Assessment, as well as the Evaluation Expert conducting an ex-post evaluation of USAID/Zambia’s Production, Finance, and Improved Technology Plus (PROFIT+) program and a mid-term evaluation of USAID/Belarus’ I3 program.
Prior to joining Integra, Ms. Thanesnant worked with Heifer International, managing all funding efforts in East Asia and Southern/East African countries through donor relations, contractual negotiations, and development and review of technical and cost proposals. Prior to this, she worked at Fintrac, Inc., where she was responsible for providing analytical services under USAID’s EAT Project.
Pin holds an MA in Public Anthropology and International Development from American University and a BA in International Studies from the University of Richmond. While Ms. Thanesnant has spent over eight years in Washington, D.C., she was raised in six countries before coming to the United States to pursue her undergraduate degree. She is fluent in Thai and English, and conversational in French. She enjoys cooking, swimming, and going on hikes with her German Shepherd, Havana. More details can be found here.
Vote or be silent {sunu2012}
