Back in 2015 while designing our approach for USAID’s Colombia Rural Finance Initiative (RFI), a Colombian colleague and I visited a sugar smallholder who had settled in the Meta department, fleeing the civil war. On his adobe walls hung a photograph of the farmer smiling proudly next to Colombia’s President Santos, who had visited their…
Innovations in technology have enhanced development impact across all sectors — from agriculture to education to health. From May 8 to 10, public, private, and civil society organizations from around the world will convene for the 2018 Information and Communications Technology for Development (ICT4D) Conference in Lusaka, Zambia. Now in its 10th year, the conference…
Melissa (Scudo) Gasmi joined Chemonics in 2007 and brings more than 20 years of experience managing complex international development programs. Melissa served as team leader for Chemonics’ Tunisia Tax and Customs Reform Activity in Tunisia, chief of party for Chemonics’ Asia and the Middle East Economic Growth Best Practices project, and program manager and deputy…
Building working models for evaluation and learning is important to assess the long-term impact and performance of a project. Models can range from conceptual frameworks to algorithms in electronic spreadsheets — or to more sophisticated computer-aided visual simulations. But how do we build a model from scratch when data is sparse to begin with? What methods can…
Chemonics works to help MSMEs develop and improve micro-lending, lending, purchase order financing, mobile money, insurance, and savings products. Through USAID Development Credit Authority (DCA) credit guarantees, Chemonics is also expanding small and medium enterprise (SME) lending. In partnership with host country government ministries, central banks, and regulators, Chemonics also develops appropriate financial sector policies…
Catherine Kannam is Chemonics’ chief operating officer. Prior to this role, she was the senior vice president (SVP) for Chemonics’ Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Afghanistan region as well as the SVP for Chemonics’ Gender, Equality, and Social Inclusion and Peace, Stability and Transition technical practices. She also oversaw our unit focused on Office of Transitions…
John Thissen is a public finance management specialist with more than 20 years of experience in tax policy, revenue estimation, and forecasting, and impact analysis. He is currently a director in the Europe and Eurasia region and manages the USAID Public Financial Management IQC. John has developed the capacity of the public sector to support…
Isaiah Oliver is a private sector engagement, trade and investment, and climate finance expert with more than 13 years of experience focusing on the Middle East, Asia, Europe and Eurasia, and Latin America. He has conducted assessments and developed implementation strategies for programs in diverse sectors, including private capital mobilization, enterprise competitiveness, and climate finance.…
William Keller is Chemonics’ Senior Vice President, Nigeria Country Operations. Previously, he served as the Chief Financial Officer and as the director of the company’s finance and compliance review team. A certified public accountant, William has more than 12 years of experience in finance, accounting, compliance, and project operations. Since joining Chemonics in 2009 as…