40 years of DAI

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the mid-1990s, DAI had begun to extend its profile worldwide with subsidiaries like ECIAfrica and Bannock, as well as regional offices intended to pursue opportunities beyond USAID. Some of those initiatives, part of DAI’s international marketing network, faced steep challenges and ultimately proved evanescent. The efforts begun as part of Barclay’s 2002 “Global Vision” were more lasting, but even then the going was rough. DAI Brasil, for example, was ultimately converted into a DAI project office. For DAI Palestine, however, persistence paid off. The Palestinian-registered and -run office paid careful attention to its regional roots and became an attractive vehicle for initiatives outside the USAID channel, not only from international donors such as the U.K. Department for International Development but also from the Palestinian National Authority itself. The next global office was built on the foundation of a familiar firm. Bannock, despite more than a decade’s worth of patience, had never succeeded in integrating itself into the DAI structure, nor had it succeeded financially on its own. So in 2006, as part of the overall rebranding initiative, Bannock was renamed DAI Europe. Over the next two years, the firm was fully integrated into DAI. By 2008, DAI Europe was ahead of budget and plugged into the European aid market. After that, under Doug McLean’s leadership, new openings came in quick succession as DAI erected new platforms for marketing and contract execution closer to some of its clients. In February 2009, the company established DAI Jordan, building on a 20-year record in the Kingdom. DAI built on an even deeper foundation when it opened its office in Islamabad. With a history in Pakistan extending back to 1982 and capitalizing on the momentum provided by a project to strengthen local government in the tribal areas, the company opened DAI Pakistan in July 2009. In May 2010, ECIAfrica celebrated the infusion of new management talent when South African consulting firm Sangena Investments joined the team. The most recent, but hardly the last, piece of the puzzle went in with the incorporation of DAI Mexico to build on a landmark microfinance project in the Chiapas Region. As DAI passes the 40-year mark, it faces some steep challenges: navigating a changing policy environment for foreign assistance, extending its reach into locally driven markets, Collecting money to support World AIDS Day at DAI headquarters. 101
By 2010, DAI had corporate offices in the United States, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Palestine, Jordan, Pakistan, and South Africa. 102 Current DAI Projects DAI Projects since 1970 and winning over new, unfamiliar clients. Most pressing, perhaps, is the daunting task of working in Afghanistan. By mid-2010, DAI was operating in all 34 Afghan provinces, maintaining 40 principal offices, and employing some 2,000 people on the ground (90 percent of them local nationals). An additional 1,000 security staff were subcontracted through a firm named Edinburgh International. Given this kind of presence in an active conflict zone, it was inevitable that DAI would face security threats, and in December 2009 those threats came to fruition with DAI projects in 2010 DAI projects since 1970 DAI corporate offices the bombing of a DAI facility in Gardez that left five security guards dead. Five months later, a young DAI staffer named Hosiy Sahibzada was assassinated in Kandahar. Then, in July 2010, a DAI office in Kunduz was struck by suicide bombers; five security staff died and four more Edinburgh International and two DAI personnel were seriously injured. DAI’s leaders face a dilemma. On the one hand, employee safety is imperative. On the other hand, development needs in Afghanistan are
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2 DAI, Bethesda, MD 20814, USA www.
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FOreWOrd There are three reasons we
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chapter One Something to believe In
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Chapter One Something to Believe In
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Development By 1979, the notion tha
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It was Charles Franklin “Charlie
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law in Delaware, where many small c
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ects in Africa. Hatch held a newly
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Most staff members who joined DAI i
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tise, energy, and especially money.
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Barclay encountered Charlie Sweet,
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after Barclay. In early 1978, he be
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norm after this. The offering docum
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gathered in the well-appointed surr
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Chapter Two Learning by Doing, 1981
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spending, and demand in the technic
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several senior managers, including
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Back on the Growth Path Don Mickelw
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second was that the firm was ready
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spurs and become assets in the firm
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A Different Direction By 1981, soon
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in rural enterprise development and
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cided to begin providing annual cas
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DAI began to grow again, he grew re
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front, it seemed likely that ICF wo
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Chapter Three The Fresh Faces of De
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household word. USAID had commissio
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epublics. For the work in Poland, D
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Page 64 and 65: to realizing Mickelwait’s vision
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Page 70 and 71: Transition These successes and fail
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Page 74 and 75: Chapter Four Farther and Faster, 20
Page 76 and 77: Barclay could not have known then t
Page 78 and 79: Tactical deployment of grants was t
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Page 84 and 85: highly successful. Said Abu Hijleh,
Page 86 and 87: able expertise in federal procureme
Page 88 and 89: When new projects first appeared in
Page 90 and 91: Transformation and Transition The e
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Page 94 and 95: Chapter Five Pulling Together, 2005
Page 96 and 97: in the ESOP were distributed throug
Page 98 and 99: Ownership, however, could be figura
Page 100 and 101: advantage, USAID would favor a comp
Page 102 and 103: As Jim Boomgard noted, “Developme
Page 104 and 105: governments on all levels to better
Page 106 and 107: In his role as COO, empowered by Ba
Page 108 and 109: the mid- and late 2000s, the compan
Page 112 and 113: immense—and DAI’s projects are
Page 114 and 115: ard Winkler. Few will dispute that
Page 117: DAI Advancing Human Prosperity
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