Aimee Foster
Superpower: Succinctly clarifying and simplifying project activities and concepts.
Aimee is a seasoned systems thinker with local and international experience in sustainable food systems development as well as technical expertise in agricultural productivity and market systems development. Before becoming a consultant, she held several positions at Land O’Lakes Venture37, including as a business development manager, senior program specialist, and market system advisor. Previously, she managed food access programming rooted in the needs of the local community, which included operating an organic farm and two farmers' markets and launching a deep winter greenhouse. At the University of Minnesota, Aimee conducted research in organic fruit and vegetable production, developed extension materials, and delivered course lectures. Aimee holds a Master of Science in Applied Plant Sciences from the University of Minnesota and has lived and worked in Rwanda, Thailand, Madagascar, and the United Kingdom.
Alannah Ellis
Superpower: Minimizing input required from overwhelmed country offices and cracking the unwritten rules of BHA and ECHO!
Alannah is a humanitarian business development (BD) specialist with over eight years’ experience in developing BD strategy, designing humanitarian programs, and managing (and writing!) proposal submissions. Having worked in contexts across Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, she has extensive knowledge of the donor landscape and has worked with a wide range of institutional donors including USAID BHA, BPRM, EC, ECHO, FCDO, and various UN entities. Alannah loves to work with small BD teams, where she can provide hands-on support in all aspects of the BD cycle, but is equally comfortable slotting in to a larger team.
Amelia Rock
Leveraging scientific evidence and programmatic wisdom to design context-tailored and effective technical approaches.
Amelia Rock, PhD, MS, is a social scientist with two decades of experience in public health research and programming. She is an expert in HIV prevention, treatment, and key populations; gender-based violence; and analysis of social and structural factors that influence health and wellbeing, such as stigma, gender and sexual norms, and economic opportunity. For several years at John Snow, Inc., she implemented, monitored, and evaluated USAID- and Gates Foundation-funded sexual and reproductive health and tuberculosis programs in Latin America & the Caribbean and Southern and East Africa. Dr. Rock completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Epidemiology Department of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, her PhD at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health, and her Master of Science at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Her new business development experience encompasses technical approach research and development and writing gender strategies for proposals for USAID and other major funders.
Amy Logan
Bringing together the target group's identified needs, organizational expertise, and donor expectations to find that winning approach.
Amy is a global health specialist with nine years of international development experience and five years of experience designing, leading, and implementing community health programming across Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. Her technical specializations include tuberculosis, HIV and AIDS, family planning/reproductive health, and health systems strengthening, with cross-cutting specializations in youth, gender, rights-based and people-centered approaches, organizational development, and capacity building. Amy has a proven record of providing technical assistance on health initiatives at all stages of the program cycle, encompassing strategic research and planning, project design, proposal writing and coordination, implementation, evaluation, and reporting. She is familiar with donors such as USAID, CDC, EuropeAid, the Global Fund, Stop TB Partnership, World Bank, European governments, and foundations.
Ashika Thanki
Working collaboratively and effectively with country teams to lead proposal development.
Ashika Thanki is a senior-level development and humanitarian professional with 20 years’ experience in program management, business development, fundraising, contract management, partner relationship building, research, advocacy, and policy development. In addition to working as an independent consultant, Ashika has held programmatic and business development positions at HEKS/EPER Swiss Church Aid, UNOPS, and CARE International. With an outcomes-driven and feminist approach, Ashika has designed multisectoral interventions on cash-assisted recovery, livelihoods, gender, and protection mainstreaming to reach IDPs, host communities, and refugees in multiple countries. Ashika has experience with funders such as the European Union (EU); Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA); Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (BPRM); Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA); Global Affairs Canada (GAC); BMZ; and Norway. Ashika excels at leading proposal development, beginning with understanding the donor, designing the concept, and coordinating the process to final and quality submission. Strengths in proposal development are underlined by respect, kindness, and building trusting relationships with a wide range of stakeholders and problem-solving as needed.
Cynthia Berning
Organizing information from many different sources into one clear, coherent product.
Cynthia is a technical writer and project manager with expertise in land tenure, agriculture, irrigation, and rural finance projects. She worked in rural development and project management with MCC, the Peace Corps (Morocco), and USAID (Democratic Republic of the Congo) before becoming a technical writing consultant. As a consultant, she specializes in new business development and proposal writing for international development clients. Cynthia has extensive field experience in North and sub-Saharan Africa, China, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Eastern Europe. She speaks French, Spanish, and Moroccan Arabic. She has led or contributed to proposals for a wide variety of donors including MCC, USAID, the State Department, the European Union, and the Inter-American Development Bank. In her spare time, she breeds sheep, enjoys outdoor activities, and teaches herself to play new musical instruments.
Elena Ghanotakis
Analyzing, synthesizing, and simplifying information.
Elena is a global health and development consultant with 18 years of multidisciplinary experience working in health and development. Technical areas include HIV and other infectious diseases, global health security, gender equality, adolescent health, maternal and child health, family planning, and reproductive health, and in Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean. Elena specializes in technical writing, including proposals, policy analyses, and analytics tools. She has researched and authored numerous publications, including peer-reviewed articles, organizational reports and gray literature, technical briefs, training manuals, and online courses. Recent examples of Elena’s technical writing projects include USAID proposals focused on HIV program implementation; CDC proposals focused on global health security, surveillance, labs, and health information systems; a photo essay on the malaria supply chain in Ethiopia; and a UNICEF toolkit on structural HIV risk for adolescent girls and young women. Prior to becoming an independent consultant, Elena worked with the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation for six years. At this foundation, she provided technical support to country programs globally. She was co-chair of the Finance and Economics Working Group for the Inter-Agency Task Team on Prevention of HIV Infection in Pregnant Women, Mothers, and their Infants. Elena previously made two documentaries for PBS Frontline World on gender-based violence in South Africa. She graduated with honors from Dartmouth College with a BA in Government/International relations. Elena has a MSc in Public Health in Developing Countries from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
Emilie Greenhalgh
Crafting in-depth research into a compelling story or argument.
Emilie is a skilled program manager, team lead, and technical writer with more than a decade of experience, including a combined nine years in Cameroon, the DRC, Afghanistan, Morocco, Niger, and Indonesia. Emilie’s work has been described as “where efficiency meets excellence,” and you can count on her to take on challenging assignments with proactive dedication and attention to detail. One of Emilie’s most notable roles was managing the design processes for Millennium Challenge Corporation’s Education and Land Compact in Morocco and Sustainable Water and Agriculture Compact in Niger, totaling $887 million, for which she also provided technical writing, editing, team management, and capacity-building. Emilie has also been a proposal manager and/or lead technical writer for Catholic Relief Services, World Vision Inc., Mercy Corps, Norda Stelo, WWF, and Banyan Global in a variety of sectors, including climate-smart agriculture, gender equality and social inclusion, trade facilitation, economic recovery and market systems, disaster risk reduction, linear infrastructure, and environmental and social safeguards, and for a variety of donors, including USDA, USAID, PRM, and the World Bank. She is fluent in French and holds an MA in International Relations and International Economics from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.
Jane Caudell-Feagan
Developing responsive pricing strategies that support and reflect organizational needs.
Jane provides international development consulting services in business development, proposal and project pricing, corporate financial management, and training development. She is an experienced contract and proposal pricing expert with more than 11 years of project financial management and business development experience. Jane is skilled in facilitating executive decision-making through financial modeling and monthly/annual budget forecasting. Prior to consulting, Jane spent most of her career at Chemonics International as the Strategic Pricing Director, Senior Cost and Pricing Manager, and Business Development Manager.
Jane Hagemann
Keeping everyone organized through project management and team coordination!
Jane is a natural when it comes to all things project management. She has 15 years of experience in the international development sector with a technical background in public health. She began her career and passion for public health as an HIV and Health Peace Corps Volunteer in Togo, West Africa. She has a creative eye and knows the complexities of working for donor-funded projects across sub-Saharan Africa. Jane has managed all stages of public health programs from design to mobilization, implementation, and close-out at the global, national, and community level. She brings diverse programmatic, technical, and operations expertise to programs and business development. She has worked with a variety of donors, including USAID, the German government (BMU, GIZ, KfW), Asian Development Bank, Luxembourg Development, and The END Fund. Her business development experience includes proposal leadership/management, proposal coordination, capture work/research, recruitment and staffing, partner acquisition, writing, and reviewing. She has supported implementation science and operations research activities in Zambia, Kenya, and Mali and holds training and facilitation experience in country and global offices.