FP Analytics Report Launch: Investing in Resilience From the Ground Up

C.D. Glin is the President and CEO of the U.S. African Development Foundation (USADF), a catalytic, grant making, local capacity development organization established by the U.S. Congress to support and invest in African designed and community-led programs, promote inclusive economic growth and create pathways to shared prosperity for underserved, marginalized, poor and vulnerable populations. Glin annually oversees approximately $115 million in philanthropic and social impact investments in more than 1200 civil society nonprofits, grassroots organization and small and medium-sized enterprises in 20 country offices in fragile states throughout Africa’s Horn, Sahel and Great Lakes regions. He leads strategic, programmatic and financial operations to address some of the biggest humanitarian assistance, global development, and peace and security challenges e.g. food insecurity, energy poverty, and unemployment, particularly among women and youth. Additionally, Glin champions the Foundation’s strategic partnerships and collaborations with non-profit, philanthropic, and private sector organizations, as well as academic institutions, foreign governments and Executive Branch agencies.

Prior to leading USADF, from 2011-2016, Glin was based in Nairobi, Kenya and served as Associate Director with the Rockefeller Foundation. His responsibilities include shaping and scaling innovative solutions in promotion of the Foundation’s dual goals of building resilience and promoting inclusive economies. Glin contributed to several initiatives including Harnessing the Power of Impact Investing, Climate-Smart Rural Development, Digital Jobs Africa, 100 Resilient Cities and led YieldWise, a $130 million effort to improve incomes and to create jobs for smallholder farmers by reducing post-harvest crop loss and promoting sustainable sourcing in African agriculture value chains.

From 2009-2011, he was a White House appointee serving as the Peace Corps’ first Director of Intergovernmental Affairs and Global Partnerships. Glin established the Office of Strategic Partnerships, directed inter-agency stakeholder engagements, thought leadership initiatives and internal and external communications, as well as  relationship management efforts to maximize the Peace Corps' $400 million budget, 79 countries and 9,000 volunteer's contribution to U.S. Foreign Assistance priorities and presidential initiatives e.g. Feed the Future, Power Africa, and the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI).

Previously, as Vice President for Business Development with PYXERA Global, a global non-profit with the mission to reinvent how public, private, and social interests engage to solve global challenges, Glin established local content, skill-based volunteering, business advisory, employee engagement and corporate social responsibility programs for Fortune 100 companies throughout Africa, Central Asia, Europe and the Americas. Earlier in his career he consulted for the State Department, USAID and the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation while living in Ghana and Northern Nigeria.

Glin served as a volunteer in the first Peace Corps South Africa group, during the Presidency of Nelson Mandela. He holds a B.A. in Political Science from Howard University; a Master’s level post-graduate diploma in Strategy and Innovation from University of Oxford’s Said Business School and completed the Venture Capital Executive Program at UC Berkeley. Glin is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations and serves on the Board of Directors of Root Capital, a non-profit social investment fund operating in poor rural areas of Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia. He is a past member of World Economic Forum’s Transformation Leaders Network and past participant in the Aspen Executive Seminar on Leadership, Values, and the Good Society. In 2011, Glin was designated by the White House as a “Champion of Change” for his commitment and contributions to international service and civic participation.

Corinne Graff is a senior advisor at USIP, where her work focuses on long-term strategies and policies to prevent the outbreak or escalation of conflict in fragile states. From 2018-2019, she was a senior policy advisor to and member of the staff of the Task Force on Violent Extremism in Fragile States. Prior to joining USIP, she served as a deputy assistant administrator for Africa at the U.S. Agency for International Development. In this capacity, she oversaw Sudan and South Sudan programs and Africa Bureau efforts on countering violent extremism and security governance. Prior to joining USAID, she was director for development and democracy at the National Security Council, where she coordinated U.S. global development policy priorities, as well as the establishment of an interagency policy planning process to anticipate and respond earlier to crises and violent extremism. From 2010-2013, she was a senior advisor to the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations, where her portfolio included sub-Saharan Africa and global development policy. Before joining government, Dr. Graff was a fellow at the Brookings Institution where she co-edited a book on Confronting Poverty: Weak States and U.S. National Security, co-directed a project leading to a report on education and extremism, and helped develop the Brookings Index of State Weakness in the Developing World. She received her doctoral degree in international relations from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (Switzerland), and her bachelor's from Smith College. She lives in Washington, D.C. with her husband and three children.

Dean Phillips is a father, businessman, civic leader, eternal optimist, and Representative for Minnesota's Third Congressional District. A Gold Star Son who lost his birth father, Artie, in the Vietnam War, Dean was adopted into the Phillips family when his mother DeeDee married Eddie Phillips, who raised Dean to work hard and always share success. Dean attended Brown University before returning to Minnesota to earn his MBA from the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Business. After working at a variety of small startups, he joined his family business, Phillips Distilling, where he worked his way up and eventually led. He later went on to help build Talenti Gelato into one of the top-selling ice cream brands in the country. He is now co-owner of Penny's Coffee, a small business with three locations in the Twin Cities and is active in the philanthropic community in Minnesota through the Phillips Family Foundation. In Congress, Dean is focused on restoring Americans' faith in our government. He's on a mission to inspire a new era of collaboration in Washington and end the corrupting influence of special interest money in our politics. He is a member of the House Ethics, Financial Services, and Foreign Affairs Committees, as well as the Democracy Reform Task Force, Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, and bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus. Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, Dean has shown his commitment to providing leadership and working across the aisle. During the summer of 2020, Dean wrote the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act with Texas Republican Chip Roy. Signed by President Trump into law, this critical piece of legislation has helped save thousands of small businesses. Dean has been a voice for oversight and transparency of the trillions of pandemic-related stimulus dollars, and has led the Problem Solvers Caucus in negotiations with the White House and Congressional leadership to deliver bipartisan solutions for the American people. In June, Dean was recognized for his efforts by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce with the Jefferson-Hamilton Award for Bipartisanship. Dean has two college-age daughters, Daniela and Pia. He lives in Deephaven, Minnesota with his wife, Annalise, and Henry the Norwich Terrier.

David Price represents North Carolina's Fourth District  -- a rapidly growing, research-and-education-focused district that includes parts of Orange, Durham, and Wake counties. He received his undergraduate degree at UNC-Chapel Hill and went on to Yale University to earn a Bachelor of Divinity and Ph.D. in Political Science. Before he began serving in Congress in 1987, Price was a professor of Political Science and Public Policy at Duke University. He is the author of four books on Congress and the American political system. Price currently serves on the House Appropriations Committee and is the Chairman of the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Subcommittee. He also serves on the House Budget Committee and is a member of the Appropriations subcommittees on homeland security, State Department, and foreign operations. He is a recognized leader in foreign policy, serving as the Chairman of the House Democracy Partnership, which he initiated to help strengthen parliaments in emerging democracies. In North Carolina, David's constituents know him as a strong supporter of education, accessible health care, affordable housing, clean air and water, and improved transportation alternatives. David is a native of Erwin, Tennessee. He and his wife Lisa live in Chapel Hill and are parents of two children and two grandchildren.

Allison oversees all global research and analysis. She counsels clients on current and prospective market, policy, and security developments with a focus on emerging trends, scenario planning, strategic foresight. Prior to this role, Carlson led FP Analytics’ energy and technology team for over a decade. Prior to FP Analytics (formerly Garten Rothkopf), Carlson led the Latin America program for an international consulting firm assisting European companies investing in emerging markets’ energy and financial sectors. She received her master’s degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in international relations and international economics.

Sherrie Deans currently serves as the Executive Director for the NBPA Foundation and Acting COO of the NBPA. In her role as ED, Sherrie leads the philanthropic efforts of the Union and supports the individual efforts of the 450 NBA players that make up its membership. The work of the Foundation includes preserving the legacy of the players, past and present, and investing in programs, domestically and internationally, that enrich the lives of those in need.  In her role as Acting COO, she works with the NBPA to execute the operational objectives of the Union on behalf of the players.   Prior to joining the NBPA, she served as the Executive Director of the Admiral Center, an initiative of Living Cities that seeks to engage celebrities in meaningful and catalytic work on behalf of low-income people. She began her career in the financial services sector where she spent over a decade working at several of the largest financial institutions in the world. At AIG Consumer Finance she was responsible for maximizing consumer sales and developing new distribution channels in ten countries throughout Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. She has also held various senior management positions in the areas of Marketing, Strategies, and Operations at American Express and MBNA America, where her responsibilities ranged from launching and managing a call center staffed with hundreds of employees to developing marketing strategies for cobranded consumer products. She holds a B.A. in economics and political science from Columbia University. Currently, she lives in the Bronx with her husband and two sons.

Dr. Ahmed Hussein Esa is the founder and leader of several non-profit organizations in the Horn of Africa. He is the founder and current President of Abaarso Tech University (ATU) and the founder and Executive-Director of the Institute for Practical Research and Training (IPRT). Dr. Esa is a founder and Managing-Director of ATU-Daryeel Hospital, currently the only medical center dedicated to COVID-19 treatment and research in Somaliland. Originally trained as an experimental biomedical scientist, Dr. Esa remains engaged in teaching, is a Professor at several universities in Somaliland and writes textbooks and science manuals for Somali students. From 1992 to 2001, Dr. Esa was a member of the International Advisory Board for the Arms Division of Human Rights Watch in New York. In 1992, along with Dr. Jacob Natvig of Norway, Dr. Esa founded the Federation of African Immunological Societies and organized both the 1st and 2nd Conferences of the Federation (1992 Harare, 1995 Nairobi). He is a former Assistant Professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine (Oncology––bone marrow transplantation unit) and a chercheur de recherche, Institut Pasteur, Paris. In 2014, IPRT partnered with USADF on a comprehensive program to train youth in Somaliland and Somalia to attain marketable skills and place them in gainful employment.  The program trains several thousand young people and has achieved approximately 75% job placement. He is currently on the Senior Technical Advisory Committee on COVID-19 in Somaliland and a Fellow of the Rift Valley Institute. He speaks Somali, English, French and Arabic.  

Kindra Halvorson is the Chief Transformation Officer of TechnoServe. Previously she was the Senior Vice President of Program Development and Regional Director for East Africa. Kindra is an international development professional with over 16 years of experience in the public and private sectors, including eight years in economic and small business development. Kindra started her business development career by launching a $2 million investment fund with a double bottom line including financial returns and social impact through the creation of high-value jobs. She oversaw investments in 17 technology companies that ultimately created hundreds of high-wage jobs. Kindra later joined McKinsey & Company in Johannesburg as a consultant specializing in growth strategies in Africa and business expansion. She subsequently joined Population Services International (PSI), where she was responsible for a portfolio of programs in east and southern Africa, and later managed its development of a cutting-edge impact measurement system. Kindra holds an M.B.A. from Columbia University and a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Minnesota.

Isabel Schmidt is a Policy Analyst with FP Analytics. At FP, her work is based on primary source interviews which combine with data to provide in-depth analysis and recommendations for clients, most recently on the topics of gender diversity in the workplace, and security in fragile states, including how it intersects with the impacts of climate change. Isabel is a graduate of Johns Hopkins SAIS, and the University of Bristol.