The Georgetown Strategy Group has built a dynamic team of former senior leaders drawn from the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Department of Homeland Security, Department of State, the Department of Defense, the World Bank and the private sector. The firm brings unparalleled experience in trade facilitation, political transitions, stabilization, private sector development, and strategic communication in complex crises. Notably, this team has managed well over $20 billion in contracts and grants in over a dozen countries in the past two decades. The firm has the agility and innovative culture to capitalize on market opportunities to create value for partners, communities, and nations.
Dave Harden
Managing Director
Before founding the firm, Dave Harden was a Minister Counselor in the career Senior Foreign Service. He recently served as the Assistant Administrator for the US Agency for International Development’s Bureau for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance in the Obama Administration. In that capacity, Mr. Harden led a bureau focused on global crisis response and political transition with an annual budget of $4.8 billion with nearly 1,200 staff. Mr. Harden spearheaded all USAID efforts to respond to crises and stabilization efforts – including responses in Haiti, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria, the West Bank/Gaza and Yemen.
Joyce Morin Utz
Global Development Director
Joyce Morin Utz uses her multi-disciplinary career to head companies and global projects both in government and the private sector. She leverages her network of investors, advisors and technologists to jumpstart exciting concepts. She worked for more than 20 years as a lawyer in New York and subsequently was assigned to lead U.S. governmental and trade projects in economic business development in the Middle East. She graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown University, where she holds a BSN and Juris Doctorate law degree. In addition, Joyce founded Praescire, an investor relations consultancy for tech entrepreneurs in the seed and series A stages of funding and is global director for the tech start up sectors headquartered in Tel Aviv.
Randa masri
Director of Trade and Investment
Randa Masri is the founder and CEO of ConnectME, a social enterprise established to support the development of a sustainable, prosperous economy in Palestine and of the economies in transition across the wider Middle East/North Africa (MENA) region. Prior to establishing ConnectME, Ms. Masri worked in Washington as an independent consultant to projects focused on Palestinian economic development and private sector engagement across the MENA region.
PJ Dermer
Director of National Security Policy and Operations
PJ Dermer is a seasoned national security, civil-military and post-conflict development practitioner. His career included military and civilian venues spread over a breadth of challenging spectra including national levels of government and complicated international environments. He has extensive program manager and first-hand field development experience. PJ’s experiences include international coalition-building and working with host-nation counterparts to foster the rebuilding of national institutions and critical infrastructure, both public and private.
Jonathan Shapiro
Director of Compliance, Transparency and Integrity
Jonathan Shapiro is a seasoned compliance professional with deep experience in emerging markets. Jonathan specializes in complex fraud and corruption investigations as well as all facets of corporate compliance. As the longest serving Integrity Compliance Officer at the World Bank Group, Jonathan managed the daily world-wide operations of the Bank’s corporate compliance function. A serving Reserve Captain in the US Navy’s Judge Advocate General’s Corps, Jonathan has trained thousands of foreign uniformed service members in International Human Rights Law.
Sahar Kalifa
Director of Strategic Communications
Sahar Kalifa is a senior communications expert with extensive experience in the Middle East and Africa. Most recently, she led several public relations campaigns for USAID to advance its work globally, including the agency's first regional communications initiative. Previously, she served as a writer, producer, and creative strategist developing new content for USAID's storytelling and multimedia platforms focusing on human interest videos and stories from around the world. Prior to that, she served as the Director of Communications for USAID's Israeli-Palestinian Program.
Tim Williams
Development and Stabilization Consultant
Tim Williams worked in the Office of the Quartet Representative in Jerusalem on trade and access issues for six years and was acting Head of Mission. He has extensive practice in working with communities, private sector and local humanitarian and development agencies on the ground and also at a high level with governments, diplomats, and donor organizations on analysis, policy development, project management, and implementation of complex change. He is an established practitioner in policy, negotiation and mediation toward stabilization through economic development. He has 13 years direct experience in civil-military coordination, humanitarian and trade access, and ethical practice/anti-corruption processes in institutions.
Lino Miani
Director of Central American Markets
Lino Miani is the CEO of Navisio Global LLC. He is a retired US Army Special Forces officer with over 20 years of global special operations, interagency, and multinational experience. Throughout his public service career Lino advised senior political and military leaders from around the world. Before his retirement from the Army, he was the Aide to the Commander of the NATO Special Operations Headquarters, and later served as a Civil-Military Affairs Officer with the USAID Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance in the Middle East, South and Central America, the Caribbean, East Asia, and beyond. Lino speaks Spanish, Malay, Indonesian, and French. He graduated from West Point, and holds a Master's from the University of Malaya and Kansas University.
Liam Nicoll
Design Advisor
Liam Nicoll spearheads project management, business development, and human-centered design strategy. Liam is an experienced multimedia designer in conflict and post-conflict contexts. He worked as Stakeholder Mapping Consultant for Search for Common Ground and the US State Department DRL Reconciliation network in Iraq, a Global Affairs and Partnerships Consultant for Search, and Senior Project Manager for Souktel. He has worked on projects with IRC, Mercy Corps, Search for Common Ground, and ActionAid in Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, Nigeria, and the Philippines. Liam graduated from Bowdoin College with a degree in Government and Legal Studies. He is a former Fulbright Research Fellow, Global Citizen Fellow, and Critical Language Scholar. He speaks English, Arabic, and German.
Jonathan Thrall
Project Manager
Jonathan Thrall manages a strategic portfolio of the Georgetown Strategy Group projects and leads business development and communications for the company. A Georgetown University Graduate and former Fulbright fellow, he has worked in research and program support in the Middle East, primarily in education and migration. A native speaker of English and French with professional fluency in Arabic. Jonathan oversees the implementation of the GSG ongoing projects, manages contracts and finances, and works closely with GSG personnel to ensure timely distribution of deliverables.
Brian Greenberg
Technology Advisor and Project Manager
Brian Greenberg coordinates with Georgetown Strategy Group’s technology partners to integrate dynamic solutions in data collection, software development, data visualization, and predictive analytics. Mr. Greenberg will work remotely to oversee technical components of project design and research methodology. He is an Alumnus of Bowdoin College and the United States Peace Corps. He has experience working on projects in Guinea, Nigeria, and Palestine. He has fluency in English and French and experience conducting research with geographic information systems as well as a variety of machine learning and data visualization libraries.
Elton Peters Asemota
Creative Media Consultant
Elton Peters Asemota is a photographer, music producer, multimedia artist, and graphic designer. He works alongside Georgetown Strategy Group on projects requiring ongoing artistic input. To view samples of his creative portfolio, go to eltonpeters.com.