Driving Innovation through Collaborative Learning: Evidence from Moldova

The Moldova Future Technologies Activity collaborates with the private sector, academia, and government to build an innovative digital system of economic opportunities for Moldova’s small and medium enterprises and entrepreneurs. This “golden triangle” of diverse stakeholders identifies opportunities, co-creates solutions, and advocates for a business-friendly policy environment and integration with global markets. Simultaneously, collaborators address…

Case Study: Local Definitions and Metrics of Inclusion for Financial Institutions in Colombia

This case study explores how financial institutions define, measure, and track financial and social inclusion and identify what proactive activities they are undertaking to be more financially and socially inclusive. We interviewed 17 key informants from four Colombian financial institutions that participated in the USAID/Colombia Rural Finance Initiative project implemented by Chemonics. The financial institutions…

How a Global Video Challenge Inspires Collaboration and Learning

By relying on paper records, Nepal’s health supply chain faced a challenge in ensuring essential medicines were reaching all of its population, including those in remote or hard-to-reach areas. To remedy this, our USAID Global Health Supply Chain Program-Procurement and Supply Management (GHSC-PSM) project worked alongside the Government of Nepal to co-develop an online database…

News: Chemonics Invests $5M in Venture Builder Talino Venture Studios

Washington, DC, October 30, 2023 – Today, Talino Venture Studios and Chemonics International announced their new partnership. Supported by Chemonics’ $5 million investment in Talino, the two industry leaders will work together to build groundbreaking, impact-driven, scalable technology solutions for individuals and communities in emerging markets and beyond. “We’re on the verge of something extraordinary,”…

USAID Invest DRC Cocoa and Coffee Sector Guides

These reports, produced by USAID’s Investment Facilitation Activity in the DRC (USAID Invest, or the Activity), provide an overview of the cocoa and coffee sectors in the DRC. The reports highlight production trends, challenges, and opportunities. They profile relevant sector stakeholders across the value chains, including existing cocoa and coffee farmer cooperatives, traders, processors, exporters,…

Meeting the Moment: Local Changemakers Lead in Fragile and Conflict-Affected States

Local ownership, especially in fragile, conflict-affected, and non-permissive environments, is critical. So how can development donors and implementing partners bolster partner-driven strategies for sustainable development and meaningful change? Participants included both local and D.C.-based NGOs, community-based organizations, thought leaders, research and policy institutes, local governments, advocacy groups, and implementing partners who have moved the needle in the…

Catherine Maldonado

Catherine (Kate) Maldonado is the Senior Advisor for the Agriculture and Food Security Practice. With 20 years of experience in international programs, Kate has designed and implemented agriculture, resilience, nutrition, and food security programs in Africa, Asia, and the Americas. Kate served as the Chief of Staff to the USAID Bureau for Resilience and Food…

USAID’S DRC Investment Facilitation Activity Capital Map Report 2021

This capital map report provides an analysis of the investment ecosystem of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) with a focus on the current and potential investors in the DRC that could be relevant to USAID’s DRC Investment Facilitation Activity (USAID Invest, or the Activity). As USAID Invest seeks to catalyze investment for businesses…

Case Study: Collaborating, Learning, and Adapting Amid the War in Ukraine

This case study focuses on changes in how the USAID/Ukraine Agriculture Growing Rural Opportunities (AGRO) Activity team manages their relationships with local partners, handles communications, and continues to learn and adjust to maintain progress in project activities in response to instability caused by Russia’s war on Ukraine. CLA approaches have helped AGRO adjust to changing…

3 Questions with Tim Sparkman on Capturing the Impact of Investment Facilitation

Chemonics’ Investment Readiness Learning Initiative is a first-of-its-kind, multi-year, multi-project learning initiative designed to deepen the evidence base for investment readiness factors, develop strategies for greater private sector engagement, and analyze other critical aspects of investment facilitation in emerging markets. The initiative, conducted in partnership with The Canopy Lab, works with two Chemonics-led, USAID-funded programs,…