Management Systems International

Management Systems International (MSI) was founded in 1981, and "is a privately held consulting firm, located in Washington, D.C., which provides management consulting services to U.S. government agencies, multilateral organizations, universities, foreign governments, non-profit organizations and private corporations. MSI's services focus on four specialties: development of the private sector, increasing democracy and transparency in governments as well as organizations, environmental conservation, and developing management and governance systems in countries in transition. The company has approximately 90 employees and annual revenue of approximately $20 million.


 * "The majority of MSI's work is with the U.S. federal government; the company holds several indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contracts (ID/IQ) with the U.S. Agency for International Development for various consulting assignments, including the supervision of USAID missions and projects, as well as more general technical assistance in decreasing government corruption and increasing the productivity of resource-based industries."

Staff

 * Stephen Schwenke, a director of development initiatives

Iraq contracts
"On June 25, 2003 MSI signed a contract with USAID to monitor and provide performance evaluations of the agency's technical assistance programs in Iraq. Under this Monitoring and Evaluating Program Performance contract, MSI is to monitor and evaluate all non-construction activities financed by USAID. This means that MSI will be "focusing on the extent to which USAID programs meet stated objectives in key functional areas," Lawrence Cooley, CEO of MSI, told the Center for Public Integrity.

"According to a list of contracts received from USAID by the Center through a Freedom of Information Act request, MSI's contract is worth about $15 million. Cooley said the contract is worth approximately $5 million for one year, with options for two more years."

On 24 August 2006 "The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has awarded the cooperative agreement for the Iraq National Capacity Development Program (NCD) to Management Systems International, Inc. (MSI), a Washington, D.C. based consulting firm. NCD is a two year, plus one option year program valued up to $165 million." [ http://www.usaid.gov/iraq/]

Afghanistan contracts
"In March 2003, MSI was awarded a $3.5 million contract by USAID for the Support for Democratic Initiatives project in Afghanistan. Working with the Asia Foundation as its subcontractor, MSI is slated to "procure services necessary to support the Bonn process," an international effort to make Afghanistan more democratic, according to the list of contracts released to the Center for Public Integrity by USAID under a Freedom of Information Act request. The company will also help establish a Policy Management Unit in the office of the president to help strengthen that office.

"According to a USAID official, the $3.5 million was the initial obligation on the contract, which is potentially worth up to $14.7 million." 

Government ties

 * Lawrence S. Cooley, "the founder, president and chief executive officer of MSI has been an adviser to cabinet and sub-cabinet level officials in the U.S. Departments of State, Interior, Agriculture, Health and Human Services and the Small Business Administration.


 * Molly Hageboeck, "who serves as technical director on several of MSI's projects was USAID's chief of staff in the 1980s.


 * Keith Brown, "a senior associate at MSI, lived in East Africa from 1990 to 1992, where he worked as a specialist for USAID in Kenya as well as a private consultant to the Peace Corps in Tanzania.


 * Carolyne Barnes, "a senior associate, worked on personal service contracts with USAID for 12 years before joining MSI.


 * Mike Hendricks "was an evaluation official at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for nine years."

USAID

 * "Responding to field missions’ growing demand for technical assistance support, the Office of Democracy and Governance, Bureau for Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance (DCHA), created a new rapid response mechanism, the DCHA/DG Bullpen, which has grown in size and reputation since its inception in 2004 under the direction of the firm Management Systems International (MSI; www.msiworldwide.com).


 * "The Bullpen is designed to meet the needs of field Missions as well as USAID/Washington in a wide range of democracy and governance sub-sectors. MSI has assembled an impressive roster of experts composed of core staff and consultants, including former senior USAID personnel with extensive field experience. Bullpen experts can perform both short-term analytical work such as democracy and governance (DG) assessments and medium-term assignments such as supplementing Mission staff. Specific areas of expertise include monitoring and evaluation; conflict management and mitigation; post-conflict reconstruction; multi-stakeholder dialogue; strategic planning; civil society, elections, rule of law; cross-sectoral linkages; good governance; and policy change.


 * "One of the principal advantages of the DG Bullpen is the speed with which Missions can access the mechanism by interacting directly with MSI. The Bullpen’s streamlined procedures are designed to expedite the rapid deployment of DG experts to the field for various technical assistance projects, to fill open positions, or bolster Mission staff on a short-term basis."

Clients
Various US Government departments and multilateral organizations, see.

Non-Profit Organizations
 * Advocacy International
 * African American Institute
 * African Development Foundation
 * African Wildlife Foundation
 * American Association for the Advancement of Science
 * Appropriate Technology International
 * CARE USA
 * Catholic Relief Services
 * Center for Development and Population Activities (CEDPA)
 * Conservation International
 * Counterpart International
 * Experiment in International Living
 * Ford Foundation
 * Institute for International Education
 * International Red Cross
 * International Women's Media Foundation
 * La Clinica del Pueblo
 * National Academy of Public Administration
 * National Rural Electric Cooperative Organization
 * Operation USA
 * Partners of the Americas
 * Rockefeller Foundation
 * Salesian Missions
 * Share Our Strength
 * Transparency International
 * US Federation for International Scouting
 * World Learning
 * World Resources Institute
 * World Vision
 * World Wildlife Fund

Contact

 * Web: http://www.msiworldwide.com

Related Sourcewatch articles

 * Robert Herman
 * Michael Lund