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Clark Abt, an engineer, environmentalist, entrepreneur, educator and social scientist, is the founder and past president of Abt Global Inc. He served as Abt’s President from 1965 to 1985, Chairman of the Board of Directors from 1986 to 2005, and was then elected Chairman Emeritus. He is the author of 10 books on social and economic policies and advanced technologies, as well as many articles.Clark Abt was born in Cologne, Germany, in 1929, and came to the United States in 1937. He entered the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a freshman in aeronautical engineering in 1947 and graduated with a bachelor's degree in general engineering in 1951. He then served four months in the Merchant Marine as an ordinary seaman, followed by a year at Johns Hopkins University as an English instructor, obtaining an M.A. from the Department of Writing, Speech and Drama for this master thesis, “A Year of Poems.”

Dr. Ndombour Gning Cisse is a biologist and scientist with 16 years of experience in public health and environmental health management, particularly in malaria vector control in Africa. She has experience in all aspects of insecticide spraying operations, including planning, training, supervision, human resources talent management, leadership development, strategic planning, project implementation, and capacity development assignments in four countries.

Francesca Lawe-Davies is a senior development specialist with more than 18 years of experience in government, non-government, private sector, and multilateral development organisations. She has broad experience leading teams in complex development programs across Southeast Asia and the Pacific. Francesca has worked with government and civil society leaders at all levels, providing strategic and technical advice and guiding programmatic support on education policy and delivery, decentralisation, village governance, peacebuilding, and gender-based violence prevention and response services.

Jessen Carroll is a human resources (HR) professional with more than 20 years of experience overseeing all aspects of HR, organizational communications, governance, and administration functions. She has experience leading organizational integrations and change management efforts. She also has operations management, business analysis, business process improvement, and project management experience. She can balance tactical day-to-day operational needs with a strategic grasp of long-term business objectives. 

Gerald Adolph is an expert in growth strategy, acquisition strategy and merger integration planning for corporate and mission driven organizations. He led the Global Mergers & Restructuring Practice and was elected senior partner over a 35-year career with Booz Allen Hamilton and its successor strategy companies.Adolph was one of the lead practitioners and developers of Booz's very successful capabilities-driven approach to strategy.  During his consulting career he has primarily focused on assisting clients with growth strategies, new business development, innovation strategy and business redefinition. He often works with companies/entities undergoing very significant industry disruption.

Leonard M. Hicks, whose 20+ years of experience in business operations and financial management includes leading large-scale growth and transformation for Lockheed Martin and the Mission Essential Group, is Abt Global’s chief financial officer and a member of the executive management team. He is a proven entrepreneur who brings best-in-class leadership and collaborative approaches to problem solving.

Dereje Dengela is an epidemiologist and entomologist with more than 25 years of experience in planning, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of malaria control programs. He has extensive managerial experience, having supervised as many as 94 professionals. He has held senior positions with the government of Ethiopia, worked on projects for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and served as a national malaria program officer in Ethiopia. He supported the Ministry of Health of Ethiopia in mobilization of financial resources from donors, particularly the Global Fund. Dengela has authored or co-authored more than 30 publications in peer-reviewed journals.

Didar Ali Didar is technical advisor for monitoring, evaluation, research, and learning (MERL) in Abt’s International Technical Practice (ITP). He has more than 10 years of experience in MERL, project design, and management in the areas of agriculture, food security, economic inclusion, civil society, governance, health, and education. He also has experience in women’s rights advocacy, including designing and implementing advocacy plans and organizing national and international events.