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CIDC Now Spotlight
March 2024
Welcome to the Ides of March, well almost. But unlike Caesar, we here at PSC have nothing but good tidings to report, with plenty of upcoming important activities and initiatives for our CIDC community. First, a quick look back at a past event – our March 5 conversation with Senator Mark Warner where more than 120 came to hear and discuss the impact of the looming, and now partially averted, government shutdown. Thanks to member engagement, he even extended his time with us.
Speaking of Congress, we are making great strides to filling all the tables for our April 17 CIDC on the Hill Day. This event – which returns to the glory of the spacious Rayburn Foyer – will offer our members a superb opportunity to engage with staff and members of Congress who are as passionate about U.S. foreign assistance as you are. Our expert Government Relations team is working overtime to get the word out to the relevant offices. Additionally, this year we will be releasing our CIDC Compendium that same week - American Development Companies: Addressing the Needs of a World in Crisis. PSC will be promoting the Compendium with a week-long ad blitz in DEVEX as well geo-targeting the Rayburn Building that whole week. Contact me or find more information here. Thanks again to the following companies who have already signed up – it’s still not too late to join them:
Abt Associates
Cadmus
Chemonics
DAI
Deloitte
DT Global
International Development Group
Making Cents
Palladium
Panagora Group
Social Impact
Tetra Tech
A few upcoming meetings to flag. Tomorrow, Friday March 15, USAID will host a joint PSC/InterAction meeting regarding privacy concerns related to Partner Vetting – please register here if you have not yet done so.
Speaking of registering, the Coalition for Racial and Ethnic Equality in Development (CREED, of which CIDC is an Ally and which has many in CIDC partners) has certainly registered with USAID. Administrator Power will be on-hand for CREED’s second anniversary on March 26, starting at 2pm. Register here.
This month's CIDC meeting on March 21 has quite a line-up of speakers who asked to speak with CIDC, with three different presentations. As a result, this will be an ALL VIRTUAL meeting. Also, please note the earlier start time. Our speakers will include USAID Ombudsman Crista Wise, Katies Stohs from USAID’s Office of Compliance, and a deep dive into USAID’s FY25 Budget Proposal with Roman Napoli. Register here.
We will also have an “off cycle” virtual meeting with USAID E&E officials on Ukraine, Tuesday April 23, at 11 a.m. – please register here.
Our “From the Field” stories this month highlight the impact of Abt Global (formerly Abt Associates) and their work in sub-Saharan Africa to bring clean and reliable energy to health facilities and how DAI successfully mobilized more than $1.4 Billion in public and private investment in global development thru AID’s INVEST program.
Please contact me to help us get the word out about the great work CIDC members are doing to make the world a better place.
Paul Foldi Vice President, International Development Affairs
Crista Wise
Ombudsperson, Bureau for Management's Office of Acquisition and Assistance (M/OAA), USAID
Katie Stohs
Responsibility, Safeguarding and Compliance Division Chief, USAID
Roman Napoli
Deputy Assistant Administrator, Bureau of Planning, Learning and Resource Management, USAID
When:
Thursday, March 21
Where: This will be an ALL VIRTUAL MEETING
Click here to register.
From the Field
(photo credit: Getty Images)
Abt Global: Working with USAID to Power Health with Clean Energy
Across sub-Saharan Africa, at least 100,000 health facilities lack access to reliable electricity and internet connections. This gap threatens health when clinics can’t keep the lights on for nighttime services or reliably provide patients with oxygen and other life-saving care. Without reliable power, they also can’t refrigerate vaccines and other temperature-sensitive medical commodities or use the digital tools that modern medicine relies on.
DAI: Making Blended Finance Work for Climate
by Sharon D‘Onofrio, Director of Learning for the USAID INVEST project, implemented by DAI.
Blended finance represents more than just a financial strategy; it's a key opportunity to influence the direction of capital flow in response to a shared global challenge—the climate crisis. DAI has been managing the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) INVEST program since 2017, during which time it has become one of the Agency’s largest blended finance initiatives, mobilizing more than $1.4 billion in public and private investment for global development.
More Proposed Regs/More Comments Submitted
Since our last update, PSC has been as busy as ever ensuring that our members’ concerns regarding proposed regulations are heard. In response to the December 26, 2023 DoD Proposed Rule on Cyber Security Maturity Certification (CMMC), PSC submitted nine pages of comments on February 26, 2024.
On March 11, PSC submitted comments regarding proposed FAR changes related to Improving Consistency Between Procurement and Nonprocurement Procedures on Suspension and Debarment released January 9, 2024, including the comment that, PSC believes, “…that the goal of consistency between the FAR and the NCR would be further promoted by revising the FAR to remove the immediate exclusionary effect of proposed debarment (but) PSC does not agree with the Government’s assumptions, within the proposed rule, that there is an increased business risk to the Government in the procurement context than in nonprocurement transactions (e.g., grants, cooperative agreements, contracts of assistance, loans, loan guarantees).”
FY24 Q2 Business Forecast
Thanks again to all the CIDC members who submitted their questions (more than 250!) which PSC forwarded to M/OAA. The next Business Forecast Call/Partner Update will be Tuesday, March 26 at 9:00 am. Be sure to register here for the link.
Abt Associates is now Abt Global.
Deloitte recently published a report: Empowering Women Business Leaders In Africa’s Digital Transformation.
Panagora Group has appointed Ben Feit as their new COO.
Tetra Tech received a Climate Change Business Journal Business Achievement Award in the Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience category for the development of a technology suite of tools to support forest management planning and decision making across target states in India through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Forest-PLUS 2.0 program.
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