Development Consulting Staff and Technical Experts

Helene is an experienced DCS consultant with key competencies in project management and change management. She comes to WDI from Orga Consultants, a leading European consulting firm, with more than 8 years of experience in the design, development and implementation of international projects with emphasis on change management. She has successfully led several consulting missions for international banks, global pharmaceutical corporations and aeronautic companies.

Helene has field experience in Guinea Conackry and Bosnia where she served as CFO. She is also a board member at CCFD (Catholic Committee for Development and fight against Hunger) where she also headed the projects selection committee for Africa. In addition, she conducted local and international evaluation missions in Africa to assess the efficiency of the project implementation.

Helene is fluent in French and has an MS degree in Business Administration from Edhec in France.

Barry Checkoway is Professor of Social Work and Professor of Urban Planning at the University of Michigan, where his professional work focuses on community organization, social planning, and neighborhood development, often with emphasis on youth civic engagement. Some of his projects include "Youth Dialogues on Race and Ethnicity in Metropolitan Detroit" (Skillman Foundation); "Young People Creating Community Change in the Mississippi Delta" (Highfield Foundation); "Youth Participation in Public Policy at the Municipal Level" (Michigan Municipal League); "Youth Empowerment Solutions for Peaceful Communities" (Centers for Disease Control); "Involving Young People in Community Change" (Ford and Kellogg Foundations); "Community Initiatives to Promote Health of Older People in Latin America" (HelpAge International); "Leadership and Management of Community Health in Africa" (World Health Organization); and "Community Participation in Heath Planning" (National Academy of Sciences).

He is founding director of the Edward Ginsberg Center for Community Service and Learning, and of the Michigan Neighborhood AmeriCorps Program involving graduate students and community-based organizations in Detroit neighborhoods. He was a visiting scholar at the London School of Economics and Political Science and Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Brent Chrite is currently the Gemelli faculty, associate dean an MBA programs director at the Eller College of Management at the University of Arizona.   Prior to this, Brent was the managing director of the William Davison Institute at the University of Michigan Business School (now Ross) and the executive director of the university’s South Africa initiatives office.  Brent has provided technical assistance, conducted research and has taught in numerous countries around the world including multiple countries in sub Saharan Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia and Central and Eastern Europe.  Brent’s focus is on institutional capacity building (primarily in higher education environments), private sector development, enabling environment creation and on strengthening the linkages between public and private sector entities.  He has consulted extensively with the World Bank, led economic development projects for the US Department of State, the Eurasia Foundation and the US Agency for International Development.   Brent receive his AB from Michigan State University, MS from the University of Missouri – Columbia and PhD from the University of Michigan. 

In the early 1990s, Ruth Ann started her work with microfinance projects by evaluating a flagship microfinance program in Puebla, Mexico. Since then, she has helped to replicate the Grameen model of microfinance in Nicaragua and worked with university-based business assistance programs in Africa, Southeast Asia and Central and Eastern Europe. Ruth Ann’s strengths with micro-enterprise projects also draw from her eight years in marketing at a plastic container manufacturer, which included 2.5 years leading the European Division’s marketing department, and four years working for German and Japanese banks in New York City.

Ruth Ann’s work emphasizes the importance of revolving loan models to resolve collateral issues, technical assistance to borrowers, clear measurement systems and capacity building (to sustain microfinance operations) with the indigenous people.

Ruth Ann holds a B.A. in Economics and German from Kalamazoo College, with a concentration in International Commerce. She also holds an M.S. in International Development and Appropriate Technology from the University of Pennsylvania, which included courses at the Wharton xschool of business.

Thomas Devlin is currently the Director of the Career Center at University of California Berkeley and formerly the Director at Cornell University. He has more than thirty years of experience in higher education administration and career services. He has visited over 50 countries serving as a consultant in Australia, Algeria and Rwanda.  In 2004, he was selected to the prestigious Academy of Fellows at the National Association of Colleges and Employers.

David Harvey specializes in business analysis and evaluation, report writing and proposal preparation including communication with employees, consultants, partner institutions, NGOs and businesses at all levels, as required. David has extensive experience in international business development, project management, commercial RFP and governmental grant writing.

Previously, David worked for Unisys Corporation in program management with experience in applying technology and functional practices to solve business needs for both corporations and government entities. He has extensive international field experience. David was responsible for presales analysis, business case preparation, proposal preparation, contract negotiation, IT specification, training and implementation for BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) opportunities. David also held management positions in financial analysis and accounting at the plant, group and corporate staff levels.

David has a BS from Purdue University and an MBA in Finance and International Business from Indiana University (Kelley School of Business).

Luna Khirfan is currently a Professor of Urban Planning at the University of Waterloo in Canada.   

After practicing as a professional architect, Luna pursued a career in heritage management working for the Friends of Archaeology Society in Amman, then for UNESCO (Amman office).  Her current research focuses on the balance between historic preservation, tourism development, and the needs of local communities.  She also carries out research on urban design particularly intensification as a smart growth choice to curb urban sprawl.  She has worked and researched in the Middle East and in Europe.  Luna received her BSc in Architecture and MA in Archaeology from the University of Jordan, her MA in Heritage Management from the University of Birmingham in the UK, and her PhD in Urban and Regional Planning and her Graduate Certificate in Museum Studies from the University of Michigan. 

Peter Krahenbuhl is currently the Vice President and co-founder of Sustainable Travel International (STI), where he manages STI’s globally recognized climate mitigation and carbon offset program and has helped to develop several multi-industry firsts related to climate impact reduction and carbon offset activities.  He has extensive experience in working with international adventure and eco travel companies, including business and tour development, sales, marketing, operations and guiding. He has taught and consulted related to environmental management and sustainable development, and has leadership experience in international multi-stakeholder/national negotiations, as well as community tourism development.

Mark Milstein is Director of the Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise and Lecturer of Strategy, Innovation and Sustainable Global Enterprise at the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University. He oversees the Center’s work on sustainable innovation and low income – or base of the pyramid –enterprise development. He is currently serving as a faculty advisor to the Cornell Center for a Sustainable Future as well as a member of Cornell’s Ad Hoc Committee on Sustainable Endowment Practices. Dr. Milstein has taught strategy, innovation, and sustainable enterprise to undergraduates, MBAs, and executives in the US, Latin America and Asia. He is a frequent speaker on the topics of strategy, organizational change and innovation related to business and sustainability. Dr. Milstein consults with a number of multi-national firms, small and medium sized enterprises, and NGOs, including Caterpillar, Suncor Energy, the US Army, and Schering-Plough. Dr. Milstein earned a Bachelor of Arts in economics and Japanese from the University of Michigan. He later earned both an M.B.A. in general management and an M.S. in natural resource policy from the University of Michigan as well as a PhD in strategic management from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Alyona Penchukova lives in Almaty, Kazakstan, where she founded the Marketing Studio, a firm specializing in strategic marketing projects and executive training. She also serves as the Executive Director of Kazakstani Association of Advertising Agencies. Before earning her MBA from HEC Paris, she had worked for Ferrero Central Asia as Marketing Manager  and later for Nestle Kazakstan as Marketing Manager  and  Business Development Manager. She was also involved in a USAID project on small scale privatization while working as a business consultant for Carana Corporation. For four years she has been an Associate Marketing Professor at the International Academy of Business (IAB) in Almaty, teaching MBA students and participating in executive training programs. Currently, Alyona manages the Marketing Education & Research Center at IAB, funded by USAID under the auspices of the Higher Education for Development office (HED). She is an author of a number of articles for business magazines.

Lewis Reade is results-oriented management consultant with broad operating statement experience in private business, government and non-profit organizations.  He has extensive background in international trade, economic and business development matters, including M&A and long-range planning, with years of overseas living and working in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the Caribbean. He has specialized expertise in public-private partnership creation and leadership training with emphasis on SME development. He has considerable monitoring and evaluation background.  He has taught at the Whittemore School of Business and Economics of the University of New Hampshire.

Ed Sanders is President of Eco Tourism International, a consulting firm that prepares market assessments, feasibility studies and business plans for ecotourism and related sustainable development projects.He is a former Vice-Chairman of The International Ecotourism Society (TIES) and author of (TIES, 2001) and the (World Tourism Organization, 2002).He is a founding partner, did the business planning and recruited investors for a 13,000 acre conservation and ecotourism project in Belize.Following an early career as a senior U.S. Government Official,he co-founded two international business consulting firms before shifting his focus to ecotourism ten years ago.He has a Ph.D. in economics from Yale University and attended the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School.

Keith Sproule has managed both public and private sector projects in Southeast Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean and the Middle East. He has a comprehensive understanding of working with governments, international development agencies, conservation organizations and the private sector.  His areas of specialization include regional economic development, tourism policy formulation, community-based / SME development and conservation planning. Keith has worked as a long-term senior advisor to governments on three continents.  His work with the travel and tourism industry has allowed him to work and travel in over 95 countries, including some of the most beautiful and isolated natural destinations in the world.

Paul Sullivan is the founder and managing director of Global Partners, Inc. and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business.  He provides practical global business training to leaders around the world.  Through action learning he helps businesses organize and develop teams to win and manage large projects.

He has worked in 50 countries with thousands of managers from over 100 nations. Paul develops and presents seminars on global leadership, marketing, business development, sales and project leadership.  He has led business development teams in the planning and successful pursuit of major aerospace, energy, infrastructure and industrial contracts resulting in multi-million dollar wins and market share growth in the Americas, Asia, Europe, Eastern Europe and the Emerging Markets.

Paul received his B.S. in Engineering and MBA from the University of Michigan. He also completed the Program for Health Systems Management presented by Harvard University’s Schools of Business, Public Health, and Medicine.  He has written numerous articles including “Strategies for Playing the Global Game,” “Six Traits of Global Managers,” “Are You Developing Global Leaders?” and is co-author of the book Measuring Hospital Inflation.

Visiting Assistant Professor of Finance, University of Chicago Graduate School of Business; Fellow, Wharton Financial Institutions Center, University of Pennsylvania Wharton School; WDI Research Fellow.

Dr. Tadesse is an expert in financial sector issues, including financial sector reforms, financial system design, capital market development, banking regulation, supervision and structure. He has worked extensively over twenty years in these areas as a researcher and a consultant.  His recently published research includes "Financial Architecture and Economic Performance: International Evidence" in the Journal of Financial Intermediation, "The Allocation and Monitoring Role of Capital Markets: Theory and International Evidence" in the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, and "The Economic Value of Regulated Disclosure: International Evidence from the Banking Sector," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy. He is currently working on A Comparative Analysis of International Financial Systems, a book forthcoming from Palgrave Macmillan Publishing. Dr. Tadesse's expertise is sought in the private sector in the financial and investment communities as well as in the public sector. He has provided expert testimony before the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission of the U.S. Congress, served as an advisor and fellow at the House Committee on Small Business of the U.S. Congress. He is a frequent invited speaker at high-profile international forums, including IMF, the Bank of International Settlement in Switzerland, and the European Central Bank in Germany. As an educator, he has developed and taught graduate courses in finance, investments, accounting and global business at all levels of higher education.

 Aili Mari Tripp is Professor of Political Science and Gender & Women's Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is also director of the Women's Studies Research Center. Her teaching and research interests are in African politics, comparative politics, women and politics and gender studies in an international context. She has co-authored with Isabel Casimiro, Joy Kwesiga and Alice Mungwa a book entitled Women in Movement: Transformations in African Political Landscapes (Cambridge University Press, 2009). She is also author of Women and Politics in Uganda (2000) and Changing the Rules: The Politics of Liberalization and the Urban Informal Economy in Tanzania (1997). Recently she completed a book manuscript, Museveni's Uganda: Paradoxes of Power, and is currently working on another book entitled, Gender, Power and Peacemaking in Africa. Tripp has edited and co-edited numerous books, including Global Feminism: Transnational Women's Activism, Organizing, and Human Rights (New York University Press, 2006) with Myra Marx Ferree. Aili Tripp co-edits the journal Politics & Gender of the American Political Science Association and co-edits a book series on Women in Africa and the Diaspora for the University of Wisconsin Press.  She has carried out field research in Tanzania, Uganda, Liberia and Angola.

Gary Waissi is Professor of Technology Management at the College of innovation and Technology at Arizona State University. From 2008-2009 he served as Associate Vice President of Global Academic Programming at OVPGE, Arizona State University, from 2006-2008 as Dean and Professor of the School of Global Management and Leadership, Arizona State University, and from 1998 to 2005 (2006) as Dean and Professor, School of Management, University of Michigan.

Dr. Waissi has extensive experience leading strategic change initiatives in business and academia. He initiated and led the strategic planning efforts at the School of Global Management and Leadership (SGML) at Arizona State University and at the School of Management at the University of Michigan. He helped SGML develop six new degree programs and establish faculty and student exchange programs with universities in Mexico; Brazil, and Ireland. He also helped develop and launch three centers: Center for Responsible Leadership (CRL); Center for Productivity Innovation and Quality (CPIQ); and Center for Global Management (CGM) at SGML. Dr Waissi helped develop an Executive Education unit built an advisory council of 55 significant business- and community leaders.  He has worked in countries throught the world including Finland, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria and Rwanda.

Dean Yang is Assistant Professor of Public Policy and Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Michigan. His research is on the economic problems of developing countries. His areas of interest include: international migration; microfinance; health and development; crime and corruption; and the economics of disasters.

Dean teaches Ford School courses in development economics and in microeconomics, as well as an economics department Ph.D. course in development economics. He received his undergraduate and Ph.D. degrees (both in economics) from Harvard University.