Valentine joins IESC’s Enterprise and Workforce Development practice area as a Program Associate after having served as a Secondary Science Educator in the Peace Corps in Guinea where she taught middle school Chemistry and Physics. In Guinea, Valentine developed an interest for development economics and was involved in Gender and Development projects. She is passionate about the role of the private sector in development and how economic growth can be harnessed to empower communities, particularly women and girls. Valentine holds a BS in Biochemistry from the University of Notre Dame. She was born and raised in Belgium and is fluent in French.
Claire Dewey started working with IESC in 2019 as a Program Associate joining the Trade and Market Driven Agriculture practice area. Prior to joining IESC, Claire was a Senior Business Development Associate at World Learning, a Fundraising and Communications Intern at the Grassroots Business Fund, and a volunteer English teacher in Chile with the English Opens Doors program. Claire has an M.A. in International Development from the Josef Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver and a B.A. in International Studies and Latin American Studies from the University of Oregon.
Chad joined IESC in 2014. He is a trade, enterprise, and project management specialist with more than 23 years of professional experience, including more than 17 in international development working on economic growth programs funded by the United States (USAID), Great Britain (DfID), and Sweden (SIDA). He has led and supported multi-country technical teams on program strategy, design, and implementation. Chad has worked in Asia, Africa, and Eastern and Southern Europe on value chain development, trade capacity building, and commercial policy and regulation reform. He is a long-term member of the Washington International Trade Association and holds a bachelor’s degree in social science and Latin America area studies from the University of Minnesota and a master’s in international commerce and policy from George Mason University.
Brendan Gernes joins the Trade and Market Driven Agriculture practice area as Program Associate.Prior to joining IESC, Brendan was a Client Associate at Alerus Financial in St. Paul Minnesota, and a volunteer with Hogar de Cristo, an organization in Guayaquil, Ecuador that supported microfinance efforts and youth outreach in the community. Brendan has a B.A. in Political Science from Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska.
Tanya recently earned her MPH in Maternal and Child Health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and has a B.A. in International Studies with a Middle Eastern Studies concentration and Political Science minor from DePaul University in Chicago. Prior to graduate school, she served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in central Tanzania, and as the Implementation Adviser for the Aga Khan Foundation on their Health Improvement Project in southern Tanzania. Most recently, Tanya was a Graduate Fellow working on nutrition programming with Sight and Life and IntraHealth International (Tajikistan). Tanya is motivated to work on programs that improve access to social services and economic development for individuals and communities around the world.
Gabriela has more than 10 years of experience managing international development programs, including programs funded by USAID, USDA, US State Department, World Bank, and various private foundations. She joined IESC in 2013. Her current work focuses on value chain development and market-driven agriculture. Gabriela has managed program implementation in Latin America, Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe. Prior to joining IESC, Gabriela managed a diverse range of programs across sectors, from food security and education to workforce development at Counterpart International and the Nature Conservancy. A native of Quito, Ecuador, Gabriela is fluent in English, Spanish, French, and Italian. She holds an M.S. in nonprofit management from the University of Maryland.
Courtney joined IESC in 2016 after beginning her career at DAI, bringing experience managing programs across a wide variety of technical focuses in Africa, Southeast Asia, and most recently, Afghanistan. Courtney is responsible for ensuring the success of her programs through managing daily operations over the life of the program, organizing efficient startups and closedowns, and collaborating with the program team to achieve technical objectives. Additionally, Courtney has spent significant time in the Afghanistan office supporting her program team in a range of roles. Courtney holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. More about Courtney.
Brynn Miller joins the Trade and Market Driven Agriculture practice area as a Program Associate supporting the Dominican Republic Exporting Quality Program in 2019. Prior to joining IESC, Brynn was a Kid’s Program Manager at the Light and Leadership Initiative in Huaycan, Peru, where she worked with children needing supplemental access to educational resources. Additionally, she was a Peace Corps volunteer in Nicaragua where she trained and coached young community entrepreneurs to build upon business ideas. She has experience working in Washington D.C. as an executive assistant for Capital Seniors Housing, a private equity real estate firm. Brynn has a B.A. in Economics from St. Mary’s College of Maryland.
Andrea joined IESC in 2013. She is responsible for IESC’s enterprise and workforce development portfolio, including management and strategy, and cross-cutting leadership for volunteer services. Andrea brings a range of relevant international professional experience to IESC, including management consulting, nonprofit operations, and international education administration. Previously she worked for Deloitte Touche where she worked in Russia and Central Asia before helping to build and manage the firm’s international development consulting practice in sub-Saharan Africa. At Arcadia University Study Center in Cape Town, Andrea established the center, designed the curriculum and supervised the study abroad experience of students from major universities across the United States. Andrea has a B.A. from Georgetown, an M.A. from George Washington, and an M.B.A. from the University of Cape Town.
Kayla is a project manager with over six years of experience in international development and nonprofit management. She has been working with IESC since 2015. Currently, she manages two Farmer-to-Farmer projects in Ghana and the Middle East and North Africa region. Prior to IESC, Kayla managed the USAID-funded Diasporas for Development Initiative in Jamaica, Kenya, Ethiopia, Peru and the Philippines. Kayla is also a proud AmeriCorps alumna who served in Boston Public Schools for two years. She also holds a B.A. in African history from the University of Vermont and studied at the University of Ghana.
David joined IESC in 2016 and provides support to two trade and market-driven agriculture programs. David is also earning an M.S. in project management at George Washington University, where he is studying how big data can be used to support organizations with decision making. David came to IESC as a returned Peace Corps volunteer (Armenia, 2011-13) with experience in USAID and State Department projects and corporate social responsibility.
Haylee joined IESC in 2019 as our Volunteer Recruiter for the Farmer-to-Farmer program. Prior to joining IESC, she worked for one of the most widely known agricultural companies in the world, John Deere, at their headquarters in Moline, IL where she was in Human Resources. She has a B.A. in Communication Studies, Art and Graphic Design from Augustana College in Rock Island, IL, where she traveled abroad to Greece and Mexico. Through these study abroad experiences she was able to work with communities, entrepreneurs, small business owners and artisans (including their families) to improve their livelihoods in a sustainable way as well as further develop her intercultural communication skills. She is currently pursuing an M.A. in International Studies from Concordia University, Irvine.
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