January 2007 – June 2007

On July 6th, Asif M. Shaikh, President and CEO, spoke at the Society for International Development (SID) International Conference in his capacity as President of the SID-Washington Chapter at The Hague. He addressed the economic effect technological improvements have in countries experiencing hardship. On June 6th, Mr. Shaikh was recognized for his service as President at the SID-Washington 50th Annual Dinner. Guests at the dinner included Representative Nita M. Lowey; Acting Administrator of USAID, Henrietta H. Fore; and the Honorable Jim Kolbe. He also gave the opening speech for the SID-W 50th Annual Conference, “Transforming Development: Shaping Our Global Future,” in February at which James Kunder, Acting Deputy Administrator of USAID, was the keynote speaker. He also introduced Millennium Challenge Corporation CEO, Ambassador John Danilovich, at the Third Anniversary Forum in January: “State of the MCC: Progress Made Agenda Forward.”

Matthew S. Mendis, Corporate Vice President, in his capacity as Trustee for the Global Village Energy Partnership (GVEP) met with former Vice President Al Gore at the Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy Solutions held in London, June 21, to discuss current policy issues. In April he addressed over 150 delegates at the 2nd South Asia Renewable Energy Conference held in New Delhi. Mendis called on the countries of South Asia to remove barriers and provide incentives for development of the vast renewable resources available in the region. He further encouraged the delegates to work toward fostering greater cross-border trade in clean energy and electricity.

Alain Streicher, Vice President, chaired the ESCO and Energy Efficiency Financing session at the second Asia Energy Week in Bangkok, April 24-26, and also presented on, “Strategic Sub Metering and Web-based Real Time Monitoring: The Road Toward Commoditization of Energy Efficiency.” He also spoke at the Asian Energy Week Conference held in Bangkok in April on the topic of NEXTEP, an energy-use monitoring system. He also served as Chairman of the Energy Efficiency and Energy Service Companies session.

IRG's USAID-funded ECO-Asia Clean Development and Climate Program led the post-conference workshop at The Asia Clean Energy Forum, June 26-28, which was held at the Asian Development Bank headquarters in Manila, Philippines. Both Matthew S. Mendis and Alain Streicher gave presentations at the Forum.

Thomas M. Catterson, Chief of Party, was quoted by CNN in a June 25th article about newly discovered herds of elephants on an isolated island in south Sudan.

Laurie Navarro, IRG-Philippines Manager, won the People's Choice Award in the World Bank's 2007 Global Development Marketplace competition in May for her innovative health project that works to reduce and treat health ailments among children aged 12 and under in exchange for recyclable goods.

The New Business Age, a Nepali magazine, published an exclusive interview in their April-May edition with Krish Krishnan, Senior Manager, who discussed the underlying issues of Nepal's hydropower development.

Beauty Jiji, Institutional Development Specialist, led the training component of the IRG co-sponsored Communication Strategy Development Workshop from June 18-22 in Namibia under the USAID-funded LIFE Program.

Regina C. Brown, Chief of Party (Senegal), spoke at the 9th Annual Africa Business Conference at Harvard Business School in February on “Social Entrepreneurship: Experience and Lessons for Africa” panel.

Dr. Charles K. Ebinger, Senior Energy Advisor, in April was nominated to the Board of the National Capitol Association of Energy Economists.

June – October 2006

Asif M. Shaikh, President and CEO, and Timothy R. Knight, Corporate Vice President, gave a lecture in Long Beach, CA at the Aquarium of the Pacific in June on the link between the rising number of natural disasters and the increasing world population.

Alain Streicher, Vice President, has been nominated to the Efficiency Valuation Organization Board, and in October, moderated the USAID-IRG co-sponsored Ukraine Industrial Energy Efficiency Initiative Financing Workshop.

Dr. Charles K. Ebinger, Senior Manager, gave a presentation on electric power restructuring to the National Energy Stakeholders Forum in October, and in June co-authored an article published in The Kathmandu Post on Nepali hydropower with Krish Krishnan, Chief of Party (Nepal).

Dr. Pradeep Tharakan, Deputy Chief of Party (Thailand), was quoted by the International Environment Daily in an October article about the recent Indian carbon credit purchase.

FRAME, IRG’s USAID-funded project hosted experts and entrepreneurs from around the world in DC at the international “Natural Products in Rural Enterprises” Workshop in October to help promote the potential for natural products.

John Acree, Senior Manager, is currently teaching a graduate course at the George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs, entitled, “Fragile and Transition States.”

Nishorgo, IRG’s USAID-funded Bangladesh protected area management program, held an architectural design competition. Hosted by the State Minister and US Ambassador, the design exhibition which opened in August boasted over 500 attendees.

Robert Winterbottom, Senior Manager, was quoted by Voice of America in an August article about desertification.

April – May 2006

Asif M. Shaikh, President and CEO, served as a panelist at the World Bank InfoShop and WWF-sponsored discussion on “Escaping Poverty's Grasp: The Environmental Foundations of Poverty Reduction” in June.

Timothy R. Knight, Corporate Vice President, was a panelist at the Stabilization and Reconstruction: Closing the Civilian- Military Gap Conference in Washington, DC in June discussing post-conflict policies and enabling effective responses.

Thomas Wheelock, Vice President, spoke on rebuilding infrastructure and IRG's experience in the Middle East at the London Superconference's May panel. Mr. Wheelock also presented the USAID-funded, IRG-written, Iraq Policy Guidance Papers to an audience at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in June.

Dr. Charles K. Ebinger, Senior Manager, was published in the Wall Street Journal, May 24th, with a Letter to the Editor written in response to the energy crisis in Nepal. He was also interviewed in April by the Voice of America on the current international energy problems. He attended the “Electricity Beyond Borders Forum” in Istanbul in June.

Anthony Pryor, Senior Manager, led a half-day session on “The Role of Knowledge Management and Communications in Mitigating Losing Knowledge in the Federal Government” during the June Government Internal Communications & Collaboration Conference sponsored by the Ark Group in Washington, DC.

Dr. Pradeep Tharakan, Manager, recently co-authored a paper to be published in August at the Proceedings of the World Renewable Energy Conference entitled, “The Challenge of Sustainable Development: Supplies of Petroleum in the Future,” held in Florence, Italy.

Nilu Basnyat, Environmental Manager (Nepal), in March, was nominated as a board member of the Alternative Energy Promotion Center (AEPC), for a two-year term.

Tamra Ayers, Recruitment Assistant, represented IRG in a panel discussion to discuss career opportunities in international development at Georgetown University in April.

October 2005 – April 2006

Asif M. Shaikh, President, moderated the Society for International Development's April Career Conference; and the February Development Conference which drew over 300 attendees from the Washington region. For their January publication, the Environmental Business Journal interviewed Mr. Shaikh for a feature article on IRG, “U.S. Engagement Overseas Drives IRG.” The State Department also interviewed Mr. Shaikh in November for two articles, the first on the topic of “Bird Flu in Africa”, and the second “Economic Growth in Africa.”

Matthew S. Mendis, Corporate Vice President, in April, spoke in New Delhi at the South Asia Conference on Renewable Energy held by the Associated Chambers of Commerce & Industry of India, and also spoke at USAID’s Office of Iraq Reconstruction discussion forum on IRG’s “Electricity and Economic Growth” paper. Mr. Mendis chaired the October 2005 Global Village Energy Program Partner Assembly for a roundtable discussion of Energy for Poverty Reduction.

Joan Ablett, Communications Manager, spoke at the State Department's February panel on Public Diplomacy and the use of media and culture to generate international understanding of US reconstruction efforts in countries emerging from conflict.