CORY O’HARA
Nairobi
Summary
Dynamic leader with extensive experience in driving innovative and impactful private-sector development initiatives. Proven expertise in project design, management, partnership development, and capital mobilization. Results-based leader with a proven capability to deliver.
Overview
24
24
years of professional experience
Work History
Director, Office of Economic Growth and Integration
U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Nairobi
01.2023 - Current
- I lead USAID’s largest economic development team, including the management of 45 American and Kenyan experts focused on creating jobs through increased trade and supply-chain partnerships, increasing incomes for smallholder farmers, and expanding access to essential energy, water, and sanitation services.
- I oversee a diverse, multidisciplinary team that designs, manages, and evaluates a $600M portfolio of more than 30 activities spanning ten countries.
- I lead USAID external engagement with a range of senior government officials from Kenya and East Africa, as well as private-sector partners, including companies, foundations, and NGOs.
- I developed and led the execution of a strategy focused on achieving large-scale impact as measured by key performance indicators and targets for job creation (100,000), private capital mobilization ($800M), increased incomes for 800,000 farmers, and expanded access to essential services benefiting several million East Africans.
- I introduced and scaled technical innovations across our portfolio, including the establishment of two revolving funds that have lent more than $40M to firms and microfinance providers.
- I created USAID's largest private-sector partnerships team, which successfully developed 100 supply-chain partnerships with companies to advance their sourcing and sustainability objectives.
Director, Private Sector Center of Excellence
U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Nairobi
01.2020 - 01.2022
- I managed a team of 13 investment, energy, and partnership experts overseeing a portfolio of bilateral and regional activities exceeding $200M, focused on job creation and mobilizing private financing across East Africa.
- I partnered with the Development Finance Corporation on more than $200M in closed transactions across a range of sectors through supporting companies to meet DFC financing conditions.
- I authored a joint U.S.-Kenyan strategy focused on growing Kenya’s apparel sector, which successfully generated record exports of more than $500M and created 30,000 new jobs.
- I developed more than a dozen partnerships with leading U.S. companies focused on expanding their apparel production, while also ensuring respect for dignified working conditions, increasing the economic empowerment of women in the workforce, and ensuring environmental compliance and sustainability.
- I developed a portfolio of new partnerships focused on increasing environmental sustainability through the reduction of plastic waste, and the development of alternative packaging solutions.
Team Leader, Trade and Investment
U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Accra
01.2016 - 01.2020
- I supervised a team of trade, investment, and finance experts focused on designing innovative, co-invested partnerships aimed at creating jobs and increasing incomes.
- I designed and managed a portfolio of partnerships with leading U.S. and international firms to responsibly source several hundred million annually in food and cosmetic ingredients from West Africa, including shea and cashews.
- I designed and managed the $140 million West Africa Trade and Investment Hub, which executed approximately 100 supply chain development partnerships, mobilized more than $400 million, and created more than 74,000 new jobs.
- I designed an innovative $2M first-loss grant in collaboration with the Development Finance Corporation that unlocked a zero-subsidy DFC guarantee enabling $30M+ in lending to small and medium enterprises across West Africa.
Deputy Director/Division Chief
U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Washington DC
01.2011 - 01.2015
- I supervised a team of nine trade, commercial law, and private sector development experts.
- I provided technical support, training, and procurement vehicles in support of a USAID portfolio of several hundred million dollars.
- I represented USAID in the USG interagency and in international fora on key trade, regulatory, and private-sector development topics.
- I designed and managed the first USAID global public-private partnership to improve the development and implementation of standards and technical regulations in developing countries.
- I developed a $30M multi-donor facility to support the implementation of the new WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), in partnership with the World Bank and other donors.
- I managed a wide range of interagency partnerships with the Department of Commerce, Customs and Border Protection, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, and the Federal Trade Commission to leverage the best expertise and tools available to advance development objectives.
Trade and Investment Advisor
U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
01.2008 - 01.2011
- I served as a technical advisor to USAID country offices to design and procure trade and business environment reform projects in more than 50 developing countries.
- I served as project manager for more than $40 million in contracts, grants, and interagency agreements, providing specialized expertise in areas such as customs and border modernization, commercial law reform, and administrative/regulatory simplification.
- I managed hundreds of expert consultants, including the negotiation of budgets, terms of reference, and the review of deliverables.
- I designed and managed a jointly financed collaboration with the United Kingdom to execute a transit audit of five East African countries that informed the creation of a $1B trade infrastructure facility.
Enterprise Development Specialist
U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
01.2005 - 01.2008
- I served as a technical advisor to USAID missions on programs related to enterprise development and business environment issues.
- I acted as USAID liaison to the World Bank and International Finance Corporation to structure joint technical collaborations to remove regulatory barriers in 40 countries.
- I designed and managed partnerships with the World Economic Forum and the World Bank to scale up activities to benchmark and improve the business environment and improve economic competitiveness.
Presidential Management Fellow/International Project Manager
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
01.2003 - 01.2005
- Managed a large and complex set of defense cooperation projects in Kazakhstan, designed to prevent the spread of biological weapons technologies and expertise.
- I served as the project manager responsible for cost, schedule, and performance oversight for large architecture, engineering, construction, and technical assistance contracts designed to secure biological weapons, and to improve government capacity for infectious disease prevention and response.
- I negotiated agreements on technical assistance programs to employ scientists with biological weapons expertise, to improve national and local disease monitoring and response capabilities.
- I designed and managed partnerships with other civilian and military organizations to leverage highly specialized biological weapons expertise from across the USG.
Teaching Assistant
UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND COLLEGE PARK
01.2001 - 01.2003
- Led discussion and review sessions for two economics courses: one course focusing on microeconomics, and another exploring the role of institutions and transaction costs in economic development.
Education
Masters - International Economic and Security Policy
University of Maryland
College Park, Maryland05.2003
Bachelor of Science (BS) - History
Towson University
Towson, Maryland05.2001
Skills
- International Development
- Project design and management
- Partnership development
- Strategic planning
- Negotiation
- Staff management
- Team building
- Finance
Training
- COR/AOR contract and grant management certification (Department of Defense, USAID)
- USAID Technical Training (Economic Growth Overview, Development Credit Authority, Global Development Alliance, Private Sector Engagement and Partnerships, Public Financial Management, Macroeconomics, Fiscal Reform, Commercial Law Reform, Trade and Investment, Financial Sector Development, Agriculture)
- Foreign Service Institute: French (intermediate 3/3), Spanish (intermediate 3/3)
References
References available upon request.
Timeline
Director, Office of Economic Growth and Integration
U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
01.2023 - Current
Director, Private Sector Center of Excellence
U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
01.2020 - 01.2022
Team Leader, Trade and Investment
U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
01.2016 - 01.2020
Deputy Director/Division Chief
U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
01.2011 - 01.2015
Trade and Investment Advisor
U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
01.2008 - 01.2011
Enterprise Development Specialist
U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
01.2005 - 01.2008
Presidential Management Fellow/International Project Manager
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
01.2003 - 01.2005
Teaching Assistant
UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND COLLEGE PARK
01.2001 - 01.2003
Masters - International Economic and Security Policy
University of Maryland
Bachelor of Science (BS) - History
Towson University
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