A sustainability expert with a multi-disciplinary background and experience in corporate and investment banking, Joyce is an experienced leader in negotiating public-private partnerships (P3) and negotiating private equity transactions. She has operated at a Board level in risk management and corporate governance and her work experience spans many continents. She is particularly knowlegible about East Africa.

LANGUAGES: English, Portuguese, Spanish, French.

A trade development and export market expert with significant experience in developing markets including Nigeria and India. An ex senior British diplomat and private sector director with a wealth of connections at high levels in government and business sectors’. Peter has been instrumental in facilitating the entry of a vast number of new entrants in developing markets.

‘An experienced asset manager and business leader Ken has lived and worked in both developing and developed markets. Advisor on Best Practice Corporate Governance, Directors’ & Officers’ Liability & Duty of Care, Regulatory Compliance and Risk Management. As a Fellow of the Institute of Directors and Member of the Institute of Corporate Directors he has the advantage of being disciplined in the fields of best practice corporate governance, regulatory compliance, risk management and directors’ & officers’ duty of care. Ken has significant private equity experience.

Kathi McNeil has over 30 years of expertise in international development and human resources projects. She has worked as Chief of Staff with the Minister of Agriculture as well as the Minister of Foreign Trade of Costa Rica . Kathi was the Assistant Regional Advisor for the Partners of the Americas OFDA/LAC Program. She was Chief of Party for International Disaster Preparedness and Response Services Contract with the U.S. Government. Kathi spent over 14 years as Director, Human Resources for International Resources Group (IRG) / Engility. She utilized her expertise in project management, community development and capacity building to oversee the complexities of an international professional services firm that has completed projects in over 120 countries. Ms McNeil holds a Bachelors in Arts from the University of Maryland, College Park.

Mike McGahuey has worked as the Sustainable Agriculture and Natural Resources Management Advisor in the Office of NRM for USAID for over 12 years. He specializes is Natural Resource Management, Capacity Development, promotion of sustainable agriculture practices, and international development. Mr. McGahuey holds a Bachelors and Masters in Agronomy from Oregon State University.

Thomas P.M. Barnett is a world renowned military geostrategist. The central thesis of his geopolitical theory is that the connections that globalization brings between countries (including network connectivity, financial transactions, and media flows) are synonymous with those countries with stable governments that form the Functioning Core. These regions contrast with those countries where globalization has not yet penetrated and are synonymous with political repression, poverty, disease, and mass-murder, and conflict. These areas make up the Non-Integrating Gap. Key to Barnett’s geostrategic ideas is that the United States should “export security” to the Gap in order to integrate and connect those regions with the Core, even if this means going to war in Gap countries, followed by long periods of nation-building.

Tom received his B.A. (Honors) from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in Russian Language and Literature, and International Relations with an emphasis in US foreign policy. He received his MA in Regional Studies: Russia, Eastern Europe and Central Asia as well as his Ph.D. in Political Science from Harvard.

Elena J. Shirley, DVM is a Veterinarian who combines her animal medical and surgery skills with a global finance background. She is the founder of and owner of Veterinary Acupuncture Services of Tulsa, LLC., where she treats sport and performance horses as well as pleasure horses. Commonly treated conditions include: arthritis, hip pain, laryngeal hemiplegia (selected cases) stifle pain, hock pain, tendonitis, and caudal heel pain. She has experience in practicing progressive, innovative veterinary medicine, surgery and acupuncture in a cutting edge private practice, together with in-house digital radiology, endoscopy, ultrasound, and oncology.

In addition to her veterinary experience Dr. Shirley has extensive experience in international business and new market development with a focus on Latin America, Europe and southern Africa. This combination of skills makes her a powerful resource in the developing market animal husbandry space.

Elena received her BA (cum laude) from Ithaca College in 1990, followed by an MA in International Development Economics, magna cum laude from The American University, in 1993 before switching careers and attending the CVA Program at The Chi institute, Gainesville, FL directed by faculty of College of Vet Med U. of Florida. In 2010 she earned her DVM from the University of California, Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. She is licensed in Oklahoma and California.

George Ingram is a senior fellow in the Global Economy and Development program at the Brookings Institution. He also serves as chair emeritus of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, and as co-chair of the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network. From 1973 to 1995 Mr. Ingram was a senior staff member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, responsible for international economic and development issues. He served from 1995 to1998 as Vice President of Citizens Democracy Corps and from 1998 to 2000 he was Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator of the Agency for International Development with primary responsibility for U.S. assistance programs in the Former Soviet Union. From 2001-2011 he worked at AED, first as founding director of the Basic Education Coalition, subsequently as founding director of the Education Policy and Data Center, and then as Senior Vice President for Public Policy and briefly as interim President and CEO.

Mr. Ingram serves on the boards of the Eurasia Foundation, the Executive Council on Diplomacy, and the Dockery Farm Foundation, and chairs the US Advisory Council to Publish What You Fund.

George holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina, a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (first year in Bologna, Italy), and a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. He served as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University 1998-2000.

Daniel FitzGerald Runde is a senior executive, strategist and expert in international development, trade investment, global business and organizational change who builds dynamic partnership alliances among governments, multi-lateral institutions, corporations, and philanthropies. Currently, Dan is Director of the Project on Prosperity and Development and holds the William A. Schreyer Chair in Global Analysis at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). He has advised a number of governments including the United States, Canada, Australia, Korea and Denmark as well as the World Bank and United Nations on development policy. In 2011, he played a central role in persuading the U.S. Congress to renew United States support for the World Bank and other multi-lateral banks. His testimony was made before the U.S. Congress.

Dan received his B.A. (cum laude) in government from Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire (1994), attended Spanish Studies at Universidad de Granada (1996–1997) and earned an MPP from the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University (1999).

George Taylor is a forester and natural resource/environment expert with 35 years of experience in policy analysis, project design and implementation, and program evaluation across Asia, Africa and Latin America. He is a “global nomad” with deep roots in South Asia (India and Nepal) and has spent many years living and working in West Africa (Nigeria, Mali, Niger) and South America (Bolivia). Mr. Taylor has worked on many different sides of the development equation: inside a large bilateral development assistance agency (USAID); for several private consulting firms, as the manager of field programs of an international NGO with programs in China/Tibet, India, Afghanistan and Peru; with a private foundation active in international philanthropy in South Asia; and as Team Leader on program and institutional evaluations.

Throughout his career Mr. Taylor has devoted special attention to working collaboratively with host government institutions, multilateral and bilateral donors, and civil society organizations of all stripes.

George is a graduate of Woodstock School in Uttarakhand, India. He has an MS in forest resource management and policy/ international forestry from the SUNY College of Environmental Science & Forestry. He has received several awards including a Superior Honor Award from USAID for his work on forestry in Nepal the Chevalier de l’Ordre du Merite Agricole from the Government of Niger in 1992, and USAID’s highest recognition for environment work, the Molly Kux Environment Award, in 1999.

Cynthia Pflugh has a 25+ year career as an international development professional, including 20 years as a senior executive of a significant international professional services company (International Resources Group) providing expertise across a wide range of sectors that promote economic growth, sustainable resource management, institutional development, good governance, and effective disaster relief. Cynthia began her career as an agriculture volunteer for the US Peace Corps in Sierra Leone, followed by four years with an international agriculture development company (Experience, Inc., which was acquired by Development Alternatives). She joined IRG in 1989, and in 1991 was appointed to IRG’s new management team. As the firm’s Executive Vice President from 2009 to 2013, she played a leadership role in overall corporate strategy and operations, and oversaw business units responsible for business development, international recruitment, communications and public relations, information systems and knowledge management. She also played a key role in the acquisition of IRG in December 2008 and led the transition team to integrate IRG into L-3 Communications, and later to Engilitly-a new public company.

Cynthia served on IRG’s Management Committee and three member Executive Committee, and was a member of the Board of IRG and its South Asian subsidiary (IRG SSA), based in New Delhi. She represented IRG at various fora and was active on numerous professional committees and task forces that work to promote or improve international development objectives and operations, including the Society for International Development, the Professional Services Council, and the US Global Leadership Campaign.

She has experience in Africa, Latin America, and Asia; received her BA in International Relations in 1983 from US International University (USIU, San Diego) and has undertaken extensive graduate coursework in political science, organizational development, and management information systems.