First hired to IESC in 2014, Lily returned to IESC's Trade and Market Driven Agriculture practice area in 2020 after working in a variety of public and private sector roles in New England. She is a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (Costa Rica '11-'12) and a former Rotary Club Youth Exchange Student (Bolivia '04-'05). Lily holds a B.A. in Politics from Messiah College and studied at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito in Ecuador. After hours, Lily enjoys the burgeoning restaurant scene in Providence, RI.
Valentine joined IESC’s Workforce, Youth, and Entrepreneurship practice area in 2020 after having served as a secondary science teacher in the Peace Corps in Guinea where she developed an interest in development economics and was involved in Gender and Development projects. At IESC, she supports operations and serves as the program associate on the USAID Georgia Industry-led Skills Development Program. 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.
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.
Jessica Friedman joined IESC's Workforce, Entrepreneurship and Youth Practice Area in 2021. She previously worked at DAI, where she served as a Project Manager for an inclusive youth workforce development project in Indonesia, as well as other projects in Indonesia related to governance and the environment. Prior to that, she worked at IREX on youth professional development and higher education programs in Tunisia and Iraq. Jessica has a decade of experience in international development program management, focused on youth skills-building, workforce development, and education, including serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Philippines. Her experience has been primarily across Southeast and South Asia and the MENA region, and she has worked on USAID and Department of State-funded programs. Jessica has a master’s degree in Sustainable International Development from the Heller School at Brandeis University in Waltham, MA.
Brianna Isaacs joined IESC is 2021 as a Senior Program Associate supporting the Workforce, Entrepreneurship, and Youth practice area. She is an international development professional with experience in locally led peacebuilding, stabilization, and crisis management. Brianna was previously a Program Officer for the USAID Shejeh Salam program and USAID-funded Somalia Transition Initiatives for Stabilization (TIS+) at DT Global. Prior to her work with DT Global, Brianna was a Program Assistant intern for USAID Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI), Field Management Division. Brianna has a master’s degree in International Peace and Conflict Resolution from American University.
Adam Keatts joined IESC in 2021 as an Associate Vice President leading our Agriculture practice area. He is an agricultural expert who has managed market-led development and analytical activities across more than 20 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia over the last 17 years. Most recently, Adam was the Chief of Party for the Feed the Future Enabling Environment for Food Security Project and Director of the Food Analytics department for Fintrac, Inc. In these roles, Adam led the design and delivery of technical assistance to USAID’s Bureau for Resilience and Food Security, Country Missions, implementing partners, and other development partners on topics such as food traceability, animal source foods, seed markets, commodity exchanges, agribusiness finance, Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) standards, and post-harvest practices. He previously also authored assessments of best practices in agricultural market facilitation and smallholder technology commercialization. Adam holds an MSc in Agricultural Economics and an MBA in Finance and Entrepreneurship.
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.
Anna Koontz joined IESC's Workforce, Entrepreneurship and Youth Practice Area in 2022. She previously worked at The Kaizen Company where she managed USAID-funded programs worldwide. Prior to Kaizen, Anna worked for Resonance as an institutional contractor at USAID where she was seconded to the Bureau for Policy, Planning, and Learning. In this role, she provided program management and technical support to the Bureau. Anna holds a MSc in Development Studies from London School of Economics and a BS in Environment and Natural Resources from Ohio State University.
John Lindsay joined IESC in 2021 as our Associate Vice President for Workforce, Entrepreneurship, and Youth. John has more than a decade of experience in skills development, labor markets, employment, and workforce development, and over 15 years of experience in the international development sector. He brings diverse experience working to advance economic opportunities whether they be in employment, self-employment, or entrepreneurship. Prior to joining IESC, John worked at several development consulting firms, NGOs, UN Agencies, and in the private sector. John has provided technical inputs and programmatic oversight in Egypt, Georgia, Hong Kong (China), Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Kosovo, Lebanon, Pakistan, Rwanda, Singapore, South Africa, and the United States. He has led assessments and analytical work and published in the areas of labor market analysis, value chain analysis, labor migration, positive youth development, and sector studies. John has an M.A. in International Affairs, from the New School at the Milano School of International Affairs, and a B.A. in Urban and Public Policy Studies from the State University of New York at Buffalo.
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.
Prior to joining IESC in 2021, Danny was an International Trade Analyst, helping clients ensure compliance with federal trade regulations. While performing this work, Danny also completed a Master of Public Administration in April 2021. Additionally, he served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Armenia where he worked as an English teacher and on projects focused on health, education, and leadership. Danny has experience working on community development projects both domestically and internationally.
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.
Laura Vanin joined IESC in 2021, bringing eight years of experience working in international development and education. Laura's most recent role was as a project manager at Tetra Tech DPK, managing operations on USAID and DRL funded rule of law projects in Jordan, Uzbekistan, and Iraq. Prior to Tetra Tech she developed several grassroots initiatives focused around technology and education in Cameroon, Central Africa after earning a Masters of Public Administration from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, California.
