Management



Global Management Team

Dalberg is managed as a single global firm by a group of partners based in offices around the world. The Dalberg partners work collaboratively across borders, drawing upon extensive experience in international development in the public and private sectors. Their mandate is four-fold: to ensure every one of our projects contributes to lasting impact for the world; to ensure we deliver disproportionate value for our clients; to make substantial contributions to the knowledge and insights within the development community; and to help our colleagues grow into true leaders in the development sector.


James Mwangi, Global Managing Partner

James Mwangi is Dalberg's Global Managing Partner, overseeing the activities of the firm's 10 offices and more than 120 staff from his base in Johannesburg. He has served a wide range of clients including governments, multilateral institutions, private foundations, major investors, and corporations across Africa and around the world. James has helped new organizations ranging from think tanks to private equity funds to develop business plans and implement launch strategies.

James has also led strategic reviews of several financial institutions seeking to stimulate development in Southern Africa via their investments. He has advised East Africa's largest bank on its overall strategy and helped two West African heads of state to create new decision-making processes.

Prior to joining Dalberg, James was a consultant at McKinsey & Company. He holds a degree in economics from Harvard University and has been awarded the Archbishop Desmond Tutu Leadership Fellowship by the African Leadership Institute.


Andrew Stern, Global Operating Partner

Based in the Washington DC office, Andrew Stern is Dalberg's Global Operating Partner, responsible for building the business and the professional development of the firm's staff. He also leads many of the firm's efforts to engage the private sector on global issues and development initiatives. Andrew helped to design and launch the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs, a program at the Aspen Institute that helps to build small businesses in developing countries, and serves on its Executive Committee.

Recently, Andrew helped to create innovative financing mechanisms for agriculture, clean energy, and youth employment. He has also worked with multilateral agencies and non-profit organizations on strategic planning, organizational transformation, innovative investing, and launching new programs.

Prior to joining Dalberg, Andrew was in Accenture's Government Strategy practice, where he assisted US agencies and international groups. He is the Co-Chair of mothers2mothers International, an innovative program preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV. Andrew holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, an MPP from the Kennedy School of Government, and a BA in Economics from Princeton.


Henrik Skovby, Partner and Executive Chairman, Dalberg Group

Henrik Skovby is the former Global Managing Partner and founder of Dalberg. In his current capacity as Executive Chairman of Dalberg Group most of Henrik time is dedicated industry innovation and establishing new business lines under the Dalberg brand. As a strategy consultant, Henrik's main focus has been corporate strategy and organizational reforms. He has led a series of institutional reviews in the development sector and has been involved in launching several global commissions and thought leadership initiatives.

Prior to Dalberg, Henrik worked at McKinsey & Company, where his focus was financial and public institutions. He began his professional career at the United Nations Development Program, where he worked on project management, budget matters, and strategic positioning of the organization. Henrik holds a Master's of Public Administration degree from Harvard University, a degree in Business Economics from Copenhagen Business School, and an undergraduate degree in Political Science from University of Aarhus.


Edwin Macharia, Partner and Regional Director for Africa

Edwin Macharia is Dalberg's Regional Director for Africa, based in Nairobi. He advises developing countries' governments, bilateral and multilateral donors, international organizations, foundations, non-governmental organizations and corporations on a range of issues including strategy, operational efficiency, and program implementation.

Edwin joined Dalberg from the Clinton Foundation where he held multiple roles focused on rural communities. As Director of Agriculture, he led the Foundation's thinking, operations and partnership-building in the agriculture space for a $100M initiative focused on effecting holistic development at the grassroots. Before that, Edwin was Director of the Rural Initiative for the Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative, charged with developing and supporting execution of programs that extend HIV/AIDS care and treatment services to low level heath facilities (health centers and dispensaries) across partner countries.

Prior to joining the Clinton Foundation, Edwin was at McKinsey & Company where he served clients in the financial services and pharmaceuticals sectors. Edwin holds a degree in Biology from Amherst College.


Daniella Ballou-Aares, Partner and Regional Director for the Americas

Daniella Ballou-Aares leads Dalberg's North and South American offices. She advises leading foundations, international agencies, companies, and non-governmental organizations on strategies to increase their impact on the most pressing global challenges. Daniella founded Dalberg's global health practice and has supported the creation of innovative global initiatives such as the Pledge Guarantee for Health and the Affordable Medicines Facility - malaria.

Recently Daniella helped to devise the post-disaster development strategy for Haiti. Her clients have included major multilateral institutions, government agencies, foundations, and non-governmental organizations. She also advises companies and investors operating in emerging markets.

Before Dalberg, Daniella was a consultant with Bain & Company. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and was a fellow with the International Rescue Committee in Liberia. Daniella holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, an MPA from the Kennedy School of Government and a BS in Operations Research from Cornell University.


Gaurav Gupta, Partner and Regional Director for Asia

Gaurav Gupta is Dalberg's Regional Director for Asia, based in Mumbai, and also co-leads the firm's Energy and Environment practice. His work includes developing social impact strategies for multinational corporations, expanding energy access, assisting market entry into frontier markets, and helping to develop strategies to fight human trafficking.

In work outside of Dalberg, Gaurav has been a founding partner in a string of social ventures including two eco-resorts, a sustainable tourism online platform, an organic tea plantation, and an eco-friendly fair trade fashion label. He founded a leading Indian environmental non-governmental organization with Al Gore and JSW Group, and he also helped establish a leading public policy think-tank on Australian Aboriginal issues.

Gaurav is on the advisory boards of several rural energy and social entrepreneurship funds and sits on the curriculum advisory board for the Economics department at St. Xavier's College, Mumbai. Prior to Dalberg, Gaurav spent six years at The Boston Consulting Group in Sydney and London. He holds a BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford and an MA in Development Economics from Yale University.


Wijnand de Wit, Partner and Regional Director for Europe

Wijnand de Wit is Dalberg's Regional Director for Europe, based in Geneva. He also co-leads the firm's Strategy and Performance practice. Wijnand advises international organizations, corporations, developing and developed country governments, foundations, and NGOs on strategic planning, organizational transformation, financial management, and performance management. He has extensive experience in areas including global health, technology, and international trade.

Before joining Dalberg, Wijnand worked at KPMG Consulting in the Netherlands on financial management in the public and private sector. He has advised several large public sector organizations, including the Netherlands Ministries of Finance and Infrastructure, on the implementation of enterprise resource planning applications and on the implementation of results-based management. Wijnand holds an MBA from Nyenrode University and a Bachelor's degree from Rijswijk Polytechnic in logistics management. He is a Certified Management Accountant.


Jonathan Berman, Partner

Jonathan Berman is a Partner in Dalberg's New York office and leads the firm's corporate practice. He has more than 15 years of experience advising global corporations and governments, with a particular focus on the interaction between local development and the energy, mining, infrastructure, health, and financial sectors. Jonathan has led client engagements throughout Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America, focusing on frontier markets and providing counsel to business unit leaders, senior corporate executives, and key ministers.

Prior to joining Dalberg, Jonathan led the corporate practice at DAI, the world's largest private sector implementer of social and economic development programs, where his clients included several of the world's largest pharmaceutical, energy, mining, and infrastructure firms. He is active in the Corporate Council on Africa, the Woodrow Wilson Center, and the Council on Foreign Relations, where he is a member. Jonathan holds an MA in political economics from the University of California at Berkeley and a BA from Yale.


Shashi Buluswar, Partner

Shashi Buluswar leads Dalberg's Conflict, Human Rights, and Humanitarian Aid practice and also directs the firm's San Francisco office. His recent work has included helping the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to launch and manage large agriculture programs in Africa, developing the global strategy for an international non-governmental organization that provides entrepreneurship training to youth, shaping the strategy for a large-scale climate change initiative in China, helping the UN's Department of Peacekeeping to develop a plan to restructure its global support operations, and helping several corporations create innovative strategies for social responsibility and emerging markets. Shashi also teaches international development at the University of California at Berkeley.

Prior to joining Dalberg, Shashi was an Associate Partner at McKinsey & Company, a Senior Vice President at Zurich Financial Services, and a Visiting Professor at Northwestern University. He holds a PhD from the University of Massachusetts in Computer Science (Robotics), and an MBA from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. Beyond his professional interests, Shashi recently made a critically acclaimed documentary film about the India-Pakistan conflict that has been featured on National Public Radio, Al Jazeera, and other media.


Paul Callan, Partner

Paul Callan is a partner in Dalberg's Washington DC office and Co-Leader of the firm's Strategy and Performance practice. He has provided advice on strategy, organizational development, design of new initiatives, and change management to many United Nations agencies, the World Bank, regional development banks, non-governmental organizations, donors, and governments.

Paul has worked in 30 countries and across multiple sectors, ranging from the launch of a global e-schools initiative and studying the use of mobile phones for educational applications, to evaluating the Roll Back Malaria Partnership, to strategic planning for the International Council for Research on Women, to developing ideas for using social media to tackle absenteeism by health workers and teachers. His recent work includes change management for the UN's "Delivering as One” initiative in eight pilot countries and strategic reform at the Inter-American Development Bank

Paul recently presented at The Economist's Ideas Economy conference and the Inter-American Development Bank's Strategic Partners Dialogue. Paul holds a PhD in physics from Harvard University and a BA from Trinity College Dublin.


Thomas Carroll, Partner

Tom Carroll is a Partner in Dalberg's Washington DC office. He has extensive strategic advisory experience in a wide range of industries, including agriculture, health, media, telecommunications, consumer goods, and financial services. His recent projects have been focused in the agricultural sector: a comprehensive market analysis of global and sub-Saharan Africa horticulture markets; market analysis, stakeholder outreach, facilitation, and investment planning in the cashew market; and developing public-private partnerships across a host of commodity markets. He has also led projects on the commercialization of agriculture technologies and the development of permanent mechanisms for enabling technology commercialization in frontier markets.

Prior to joining Dalberg, Tom was an associate at Booz Allen Hamilton in Washington DC, where he helped to lead the strategic planning/performance management practice. He worked on program design and implementation of a partnership for supply chain management sponsored by the US Agency for International Development, in addition to projects for other federal agencies. Tom holds an MBA from Yale School of Management, where he was awarded the Samuel B. Sutphin Fellowship, and a BA in government from the University of Notre Dame.


Veronica Chau, Partner

Veronica Chau is a Partner in Dalberg's Washington, D.C. office. She leads the firm's work on strategic evaluations of global organizations, impact evaluations of funds and initiatives, and social impact metrics. She has served as the principal investigator or evaluation advisor for the many of the firm's major impact evaluations, including the independent evaluations for multilateral institutions, bilateral donors and foundations.

Veronica has also worked with social impact investors to develop innovative approaches for measuring and communicating the impact of investing in small and growing businesses in emerging markets. She has been a consultant with the Boston Consulting Group, International Trade Canada, and the United Nations Conference for Trade and Development. Veronica holds a Masters of Public Policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University as well as a Bachelors of Arts in Economics from the University of Waterloo (Canada).


Sonila Cook, Partner

Sonila leads Dalberg's Energy and Environment practice and directs the firm's New York office. Her work has included assisting the US government with a strategy for Haiti's energy sector and assisting New York City with its engagement of consumers to combat climate change and improve environmental quality. She has also designed an innovative financing mechanism for climate change projects within the UN Development Program (currently operational as the MDG Carbon Facility), developed business models to engage the private sector in the phasing out of CFC technologies in various parts of Latin America, and created the business plan for an innovative technology to produce non-food biofuels.

Sonila also led the development of the first ever market-based assessment of the capacity of non-governmental organizations and multilateral agencies to collaborate with companies, in collaboration with the United Nations Global Compact and the Financial Times. Prior to joining Dalberg, Sonila worked for McKinsey & Company, where she served organizations in the financial and media industries and the non-profit sector. She holds an MBA from Columbia University and an undergraduate degree in Economics from Harvard University.


Wouter Deelder, Partner

Wouter Deelder is a partner in Dalberg's Geneva office. He focuses on the design of business models and financial mechanisms for investment in several aspects of international development. Recently, Wouter helped to create the Affordable Medicines Facility - malaria, a pioneering innovative financing mechanism. He has also worked extensively on market failures in markets for global health commodities and on issues in research and development for global health.

Wouter is active in the firm's energy and environment practice, having managed projects on the design of a global methane fund and business models for second-generation biofuels. He was the lead author of Dalberg's landmark study on franchising in frontier markets, which outlined strategies for distributing essential goods and services, and has helped the public and private sector with investment strategies for agriculture in Africa.

Wouter worked previously for Bain & Company. He holds a master's degree from the London School of Economics as well as bachelor's and master's degrees from the Erasmus University Rotterdam.


Serena Guarnaschelli, Partner

Serena is a Partner in Dalberg's Geneva office and an expert in access to finance, strategy and performance, and economic development. She has advised senior decision-makers in public and private organizations on diverse topics with a focus on impact investments, strategic planning, and performance management. Recently Serena has worked on an overview of innovative financing mechanisms for food security and agricultural development for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, a review of a leading insurance company's strategy and operations for serving the low-income market, and a review of policy adoption processes for pediatric malaria medicines in endemic countries. She has also conducted an assessment of private sector development investments in Serbia and Kenya, with a focus on agriculture and energy.

Serena was a senior manager at McKinsey & Company, where she served Fortune 500 corporations on complex strategic planning and growth questions, especially in the financial services and private equity industries. Serena has also worked with Mercy Corps in Darfur, where she built an operational office providing public health and education support. Serena holds a PhD in social sciences from Caltech and a Laurea in International Economics from Bocconi University.


Angela Hansen, Partner

Angela is the leader of Dalberg's Agriculture and Food Security practice and Director of its Johannesburg office. She has a depth of experience helping clients enhance performance, meet objectives, and design results-based strategies. She is also a skilled facilitator of multistakeholder and cross-sector dialogues.

Angela's work ranges from policy to practical implementation in areas such as sustainable land and water management, food security, agricultural market access, and infrastructure. She has worked with national governments, regional bodies, and apex organizations across the African continent and has also advised bilateral and multilateral organizations, international non-governmental organizations and leading foundations at the global level. She is active in the field of agricultural finance, regularly speaking and writing on the topic.

Angela was educated at the University of Minnesota (BSc), Columbia Business School, and the University of Cape Town (MBA). She has professional experience in Europe, North America, South America, Asia, and Africa.


Madjiguene Sock, Partner

Madji Sock directs Dalberg's Dakar office and manages the firm's activities in West Africa. She has more than 14 years of experience implementing and managing projects in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, and the United States. Madji has supported a number of development projects and organizational transformation initiatives in sectors as varied as agriculture, health, information and communication technologies, economic development, and many others.

Madji's recent engagements have included serving on the functional review of the president's office in a West African nation, assessing private financing needs in the health sector in Cameroon, supporting the organizational transformation of a Belgian technical assistance fund in Senegal, and the review of an organization responsible for the development of agricultural infrastructure in a region of Burkina Faso.

Prior to Dalberg, Madji worked for Deloitte Touche Tomatsu in Washington DC, where she managed a project to promote Black Economic Empowerment in South Africa's agricultural sector and served on one of the world's largest corruption investigations in Indonesia. Madji holds an MBA in International Management from the Thunderbird School of Global Management and is a Certified Fraud Examiner.


Daniel Altman, Director of Thought Leadership

Daniel Altman serves as an economic advisor within the firm and helps the firm to distill and disseminate its most powerful ideas for raising livings standards. He has been involved in projects serving a wide range of clients, from governments and multilaterals to foundations and major international corporations. Recently he authored the 2011 Thematic Report of the Global Campaign for the Health Millennium Development Goals with the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation. He also oversaw the preparation, analysis, and publication of the 2011 Dalberg Survey of Social Enterprise.

Before coming to Dalberg, Daniel founded North Yard Economics, a not-for-profit consulting firm serving developing countries. Daniel also served as an economic advisor in the British government and was an economics columnist at The Economist, The New York Times, and The International Herald Tribune. He holds the AB, AM, and PhD degrees in economics from Harvard University and teaches as an adjunct at New York University's Stern School of Business.


Vicky Hausman, Partner

Vicky Hausman is a Partner in Dalberg's New York office. She leads the firm's Global Health practice and its work on the use of information and communications technology in development. Vicky has advised Fortune 500 companies and leading institutions in global health such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, United Nations Foundation, GAVI Alliance, Open Society Institute, World Bank, and GBCHealth.

Vicky has worked across disease areas and health systems, including financing, supply chain, procurement, and human resources. She has designed innovative solutions, including a financing tool to increase access to medicines that secured a $20M guarantee from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Vicky was also recently commissioned by the World Bank to author the health chapter of its flagship report on mobile for development.

Prior to joining Dalberg, Vicky was a consultant with The Boston Consulting Group and a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer. She holds a master's degree from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and a BA from Harvard. She serves on the board of the African Medical Research and Education Foundation.


Michael Tsan, Partner

Michael is a Partner based in Mumbai who helps lead Dalberg's access to finance, renewable energy, and program evaluation work in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and East Africa. Michael specializes in developing and assessing inclusive business models and base-of-the-pyramid-focused market transformation programs for off-grid products and services.

Michael works regularly with social enterprises, multinational corporations (MNCs), development agencies, foundations, and specialized non-governmental organizations in the renewable energy, gender, access to finance, health, and agriculture sectors. A sample of his recent engagements includes a social business and corporate social responsibility strategy for a leading pharma MNC in Asia, a growth strategy for a high-profile agricultural extension NGO, the midterm evaluation of the International Finance Corporation's advisory services portfolio in South East Asia, and an ex-post evaluation of the World Bank Group's Lighting Africa program.

Prior to his work at Dalberg, Michael spent six years at McKinsey & Company in the US, Europe, and Asia. He earned a JD from Yale Law School, a mini-MBA from Tuck Business School at Dartmouth, and a BA in Economics and History from Swarthmore College. Michael sits on the steering committee of the South Asia chapter of the Aspen Development Network of Enterpreneurs and writes and speaks regularly on inclusive business and renewable energy issues.


Yana Watson, Partner

Yana Watson is a Partner in Dalberg's New York office. Yana supports leaders in the private and public sectors in developing strategy, quantifying investment and business opportunities, designing programs, facilitating partnerships, and evaluating impact. Her expertise extends across a range of industries including agriculture, consumer goods, housing, mobile technology, and financial services.

Currently, Yana is facilitating a multi-donor effort to structure an innovative financing mechanism for agricultural investments in frontier markets. She is also leading an organizational effectiveness review for a development agency focused on gender equality and empowerment. Recently, Yana led an engagement in Afghanistan for the U.S. Agency for International Development, developing an agricultural investment strategy with metrics for increased food security and economic development. In addition, she has been involved in Haiti's post-earthquake reconstruction through initiatives ranging from branchless banking for financial inclusion to balanced scorecards for performance management.

Prior to joining Dalberg, Yana was with The Boston Consulting Group. Yana's other professional experience includes work with VISA International, Women's World Banking, and Arthur D. Little. Yana holds an MBA from The Wharton School and a BA from McGill University in Political Science.


Adrien Couton, Associate Partner

Adrien Couton is an Associate Partner based in Mumbai who leads the firm's water and sanitation work. His work focuses primarily on expanding access to water and sanitation in partnership with development institutions, multinational corporations, and entrepreneurs.

Adrien was previously chief executive of Naandi Water, the largest base-of-the-pyramid water utility in India, set up as a joint venture between Naandi Foundation, which is a leading Indian non-governmental organization, and Danone. Prior to Naandi Water, Adrien worked with Acumen Fund as Global Manager of the Water and Sanitation portfolio and the Agriculture portfolio. He previously helped launch GEWP, a social venture distributing drip-irrigation systems to smallholder farmers in India. He also worked as a consultant for the World Bank.s Water & Sanitation Program (WSP) and at McKinsey & Company.

Adrien holds a Masters in Management from HEC, Paris; a Masters in Political Science from the Sorbonne; and a Masters in Public Administration from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He is an Acumen Fund Fellow, a Yale World Fellow and an Asia Society Asia 21 delegate.

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