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| Overview
> Our Sectors > Cross-Sector Services |
Staff Contacts
Nicholas Thomas
(B.Sc., Geography and Surveying; M.Sc., Remote Sensing)
Nicholas Thomas is an ARD Associate and Geographic Information Systems specialist with more than 16 years of experience in the application of geospatial technologies for agricultural development and sustainable environmental management. He has worked in the private, governmental and not-for-profit sectors and has implemented geospatial activities in Africa, Europe, Central and South America, the Middle East, Central Asia, and the United States of America.
As manager of the geospatial group, he is responsible for integrating these technologies into projects being implemented by ARD. This integration involves conducting short term technical assignments around the world, contributing to project work plans, providing corporate backstopping on ARD projects that use geospatial technology and creating a successful business development framework through educational and marketing initiatives.
Prior to joining ARD, Mr. Thomas worked at CIAT, Colombia as the remote sensing analyst in the land use management group, at ICARDA in Syria as the GIS Facility manager and as the corporate industry manager for both the Environment and Agriculture sectors in Redlands, California for ESRI Inc. He speaks Spanish fluently and has a working knowledge of Arabic and French.
Jeff Saussier
(M.S., Marine Sciences; B.S., Biology)
Mr. Jeffrey Saussier is a senior associate at ARD, specializing in Performance Monitoring & Evaluation. His responsibilities include facilitating results development and producing monitoring plans for procurement bids, program M&E system start-up, instrumentation and data quality assessment, and on-going technical support. With 30 years of experience in the field of international development as a manager, trainer, and technical specialist, he has lived and worked in West and East Africa (primarily The Gambia, Ghana, Somalia, and Kenya, with extensive experience in Ethiopia, Uganda, and Malawi), as well as the Balkans (primarily in Albania, with work in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, and Romania), in poverty reduction programming, micro-credit, natural resources management (including fisheries, forestry, and transfer of productive land base to the citizenry), and democracy and governance (local government capacity building and anti-human-trafficking). His work in performance monitoring specializes in developing causal linkages indicators and tools for measuring results at several levels, organizational and institutional assessments and tracking systems, participatory planning and evaluation methodologies, and rapid rural appraisals. He worked extensively on civil society capacity building to engage the World Bank/IMF Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRSP) process. He also taught international courses in the Non-Profit Management Master’s program at Regis University (Denver) and conducted the county-level food security and vulnerability assessment in Colorado, the first of its kind in the U.S.
Mr. Saussier, who holds a Master’s degree in marine sciences, is a member of the American Evaluation Association (AEA), International Development Evaluation Association (IDEAS), and the International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI).
Joe LeClair
(M.A.., International Development)
Joseph Le Clair has 10 years of international experience in the fields of monitoring and evaluation (M&E), performance monitoring plan (PMP) design, development, and implementation, impact assessment, program management, and training. Previously, Mr. Le Clair was the monitoring and evaluation (M&E), management information systems (MIS), and reporting director on the USAID-funded Iraq Community Action Program (ICAP) II project based in Erbil and Kirkuk, Iraq. Among the Alliance Partners of the ICAP II program, Mr. Le Clair stood out in the field of M&E, often providing M&E-related guidance and advice on important deliverables, such as the Performance Management Plan (PMP) and the ICAP II Baseline Assessment Report. An analytical and logical thinker, he has developed countless PMPs and logical frameworks for projects ranging from agriculture, economic development, conflict management and resolution, trade, to food for development programs. Mr. Le Clair conceptualized, designed, and implemented the M&E system for the $5.7 million, USAID-funded, Rwanda Agribusiness Development Assistance Project (ADAR) project. An expert trainer, he has conducted trainings in both domestic and international settings, and has designed and facilitated trainings in Iraq, Cote d’Ivoire, Mali, Afghanistan, Nepal, Uganda, Macedonia, and Rwanda for local professionals in both French and English. He has provided training to a variety of audiences on project objectives, performance tracking, and data collection methodology and best practices. Mr. Le Clair is well-versed in a variety of quantitative and qualitative data collection methods, including survey design and administration, focus group design and facilitation, and key informant interviews.
Mr. Le Clair holds a Master of Arts in International Development from Brandeis University.
Ruth Nakitare
(M.Sc., Geographic Information Systems; Certificate, Web Development and Design; B.Ed., Science)
Ruth Nakitare is an ARD associate and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Specialist with a strong working knowledge of Geographic Information Science and its numerous applications. Ms. Nakitare has over 11 years professional experience, the last 7 of which have been dedicated to implementing various customized geospatial solutions for foreign governments, multinational organizations and U.S. federal and local governments. Ms. Nakitare is experienced in designing, developing and managing spatial databases; spatial data modeling and analysis, cartography, project management, programming for GIS, and the development, deployment, and maintenance of spatial Internet applications.
Most recently, Ms. Nakitare has been providing technical assistance as a GIS database management consultant for the USAID-funded Property Rights and Artisanal Diamond Development Pilot Program (PRADD) in Central African Republic.
Prior to joining ARD in 2008, Ms. Nakitare worked as a GIS Analyst/Programmer for a consulting firm in Washington, DC, where she developed various geospatial-based tools for: United States Agency for International Development (USAID); the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Nigeria; the French multinational petroleum corporation Total; the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA); the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA); the Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency (CSOSA); the District of Columbia's Department of Transportation (DDOT), Office of the Chief Technology Officer (DC OCTO) and the Office of Zoning (DCOZ).
From 1997–2002, Ms. Nakitare worked for the Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI), an eastern Africa GIS software distributor, where she was responsible for GIS software sales and marketing for Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Djibouti.
Ms. Nakitare is fluent in English, French, and Kiswahili.
Lynnette Wood
(Ph.D., Applied Mathematics)
Lynnette Wood is a senior associate at ARD. She has more than 20 years of experience in technical planning and project management, data analysis, and data modeling with an emphasis on linking scientific data to policy needs. Her technical areas of specialty include applying quantitative methods to the measurement of institutional and organizational performance. She also has extensive experience in the design and conduct of public opinion surveys.
Dr. Wood has designed and refined a methodology for using quantitative instruments to measure governance effectiveness, beginning with the measurement of commune effectiveness in Mali in 2000. Since that time, she has further developed the methodology and applied in successfully in a wide range of local and sub-national government entities—as a rating system for municipal government and mancomunidad performance in Honduras, and as a municipal “ranking” tool in Bolivia and Jordan. Used in this way, the methodology provides a transparent and quantifiable tool for selecting government entities to receive donor assistance. In Jordan, the methodology was later adapted by the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation as an innovative methodology for conducting a proper and fair selection process. In Kyrgyzstan, she further expanded the methodology for use as a tool for monitoring and evaluating progress at the central government level to improvements in indicators upon which eligibility is determined for Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) Compact assistance.
Dr. Wood is also experienced in public opinion survey design and data analysis. She led a technical team to conduct a nationally representative, scientifically designed opinion survey on knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of Bangladesh citizens related to democracy and governance issues. She also contributed to the design of a country-wide survey intended to reveal information about the effectiveness of local communal governance in Honduras; a statewide survey of dairy farmers’ attitudes and practices of best management practices in Vermont; a survey of commune effectiveness for local governance in Mali; a workforce survey in Georgia; and most recently an nationwide public opinion survey on governance issues in Kyrgyzstan.
Dr. Wood is also an adjunct lecturer in the Community Development and Applied Economics Department of the University of Vermont where she conducts and coordinates research and outreach activities to address the institutions, socioeconomic factors, and policy environments that affect rural communities. She recently completed a role as Co-Principal Investigator for a 5-year USDA project to develop a model and analytic framework for understanding the long-term spatial and temporal dynamics of alternative management scenarios for watershed phosphorus management. In addition to day-to-day management of researchers, her role on this project included leading the identification of phosphorus management issues of interest to the public and interpreting the implications of the research results on public policy.
A trained facilitator, Dr. Wood also has extensive experience in strategic planning, workflow and process analysis and design, participatory planning and group facilitation. She has a basic command of French.
Kim G. Glenn
(B.A., Sociology/Psychology)
Kim Glenn is a senior associate and manager of the Information and Knowledge Management Services Group. He has over 25 years of international experience providing consulting and project management services to USAID, the United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA), international organizations, and foreign governments. His experience spans multiple sectors, including Democracy and Governance, Environment and Natural Resources, Water Resources and Infrastructure, and Agriculture. In recent years, Mr. Glenn has developed particular expertise in land registration systems, including the legal and regulatory reforms necessary to initiate and maintain them. He has been providing technical assistance to Timor-Leste since 2003 and served as Chief of Party for the USAID-funded project to Strengthen Property Rights in Timor-Leste. He provided technical assistance over a 5-year period to the government of the Philippines to computerize their nationwide land registration system. He provided technical and project management experience to ARD’s land tenure projects in Albania. Mr. Glenn led a team of consultants to develop a USAID/Egypt Results Package (Activity Description) leading to a U.S. $40 million project to support the application of information and communications technologies for economic growth and democratic government. He has had multiple USAID-funded assignments to support the legislative and judicial application of information and communications technology in the West Bank and Gaza, Egypt, and Rwanda. In Jordan, he conducted MIS-related assessments and feasibility studies for the USAID-funded Water Policy Support Project, working in the Jordanian Ministry of Water and Irrigation. He designed the MIS for the $18.2 million USAID Emergency Assistance to Palestinians (RAFEED) project to track and administer emergency assistance grants to NGOs. He designed the MIS for the USAID/Peru Pro-Decentralization project (PRODES) to monitor and evaluate support to over 500 municipalities. He is an experienced trainer, and trainer of trainers (ToT).
Prior to joining ARD in 1998, Mr. Glenn worked as an independent consultant for nine years. From 1981–1989 he worked for PLAN International in Haiti, Indonesia, and the Philippines, then managing the introduction and application of computer technology in their field offices worldwide. He is a career YMCA Professional Director having worked in the U.S., Zimbabwe, Kenya, and Zambia. He speaks French fluently and has a working knowledge of Spanish and Indonesian.
Information & Knowledge Management
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