+1-661-731-3579
email: jonthiele@global.t-bird.edu

Mr. Thiele has very strong economic development experience ranging from strategic planning for regional development to firm-level assistance, from program concept & design to micro-enterprise support.

With over 15 years' experience in development, he has worked with SME, credit, agribusiness, business development services, linkages & clusters, business environment, and trade. Association support, organizational development, and community-based development are key areas of expertise along with training, capacity building, and grant making. He has proven general management success with four chief of party postings and three start-ups of multi-million dollar development projects. He has demonstrated cross-cultural skills with supervisory experience of staff in over twenty countries.

Currently in a headquarter's role, he leads the design and implementation of multi-faceted anti-poverty programs in eight post-conflict countries. 44,000 women, the poorest victims of war, are the beneficiaries. Strategic assessment, program design, planning, leadership, and staff development are strengths.

He has a master's degree from Thunderbird and an honors BA in economics with undergraduate study in Germany. He has written well regarded essays on development issues. He speaks Russian with high proficiency and German with moderate proficiency. He has worked in central Asia, the Balkans, the far East, the Caucasus, eastern Europe, and several countries of Africa. He also has ten years professional experience in the US focusing on marketing management, marketing communications, and budgeting.

Master of International Management, Thunderbird, 1982.
Bachelor of Arts Cum Laude, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, 1981.

USAID's GDA Design, Washington, 2009
Environmental Management & Compliance, Montenegro, 2006.
Peer Review Panel, US Department of Commerce Good Governance Program, 2003.
Islam and the West, Oxford, 2002.
Monitoring and Evaluation Design and Use, Delhi, 2000.
Micro-finance Partnerships, Delhi, 2000.
Gender Equity in Program Design, Tbilisi, 1999.
USAID Financial Regulations & Compliance, Budapest, 1998.

Economic Development Specialist, Women for Women International, Washington
March, 2008, to present

Design and implementation of multi-faceted economic development programs in eight countries.

- Analysis of market opportunities for micro-enterprises, business groups, and cooperatives.
- Implementation planning and guidance.
- Mentoring field staff.
- Proposal writing.

Leadership of a large agribusiness program funded by USAID.

- Very successful business and trade promotion program, implementation of EU standards.
- Economic development: practical, firm level business development; significant regional trade activities; grant making.
- Management of daily operations: four field offices, a dozen local subcontractors; 36 staff; annual budget of three million.

Leadership of an economic development program funded by USAID.

- Largest community development program in the world; economic development and decentralization; very large grant component.
- Guide the team through a recovery from a difficult IG investigation and forensic audit.
- Management of daily operations: five expats, 65 staff; annual budget of six million.

Leadership of a local government support program funded by USAID.

- Work with ten municipalities across the country to guide budget & finance reform, improve organizational efficiency, and change economic policy at the local level.
- Provide technical assistance to local government officials and community stakeholder teams, design and deliver seminars and workshops, prepare all reports.
- Produce strategic economic development plans in ten municipalities.
- Management of daily operations: coordinate field teams, subcontractors, and five project offices; two expats, 15 staff, and three subcontractors; small grant program.

Regional Director, Eurasia Foundation, Central Asia
August, 2001, - August, 2003

Chief of Party for a large-scale grant-making program funded by USAID.

- Management: three country offices, over twenty employees, grant making of over one million dollars annually.
- Daily operations: review over 300 grant applications and approve 60 each year, coordinate with European and international donors and programs.
- Project components: grants from $3,000 to $200,000; program outreach activities for targeted NGO development and institution building, local level decision making.
- Target beneficiaries: established and new NGOs across civil society categories, smaller rural communities.

Chief of Party for economic and community development project funded by the US Department of Labor.

- Project start-up: hire and supervise 15 FSN, open regional offices, and write and implement the project's annual plan.
- Daily operations: identify and recruit partners at the national and local level, manage and monitor the program budget of over $1.5 million per year.
- Project components: community development through economic renewal program and pilotfund grants, services to dislocated workers and their families.
- Target beneficiaries: people about to lose jobs, communities effected by job loss, and Chernobyl and coal mine workers (in collaboration with G7 programs).

Project manager for an agricultural lending program with over $1.2 million in assets.

- Bank management: provide direct oversight and guidance for all bank operations as a member of the board of directors.
- Borrower training: direct field staff in loan monitoring and collection efforts.
- Target beneficiaries: rural population, some SMEs.
- Country operations: manage country offices in Armenia, oversee staff, budgeting, accounting, programming areas.

- Act as CARE's regional expert on economic development activities.
- Designed and wrote projects for credit union development and for employment generation among internally displaced persons and refugees.
- Project elements: income generation, economic opportunity, job creation, micro- and small enterprise assistance, business services, and asset building methodologies.
- Target beneficiaries: very poor and vulnerable households, small and micro-enterprises, business service centers.

Chief of Party for a three year agribusiness and trade development project which offered a comprehensive set of integrated programs.

- Project start-up: hired and supervised 14 FSN and 2 expat staff; opened new offices; and wrote and implemented the organization's procedures.
- Daily operations: identified and recruited clients and collaborators; designed and implemented training activities; staged annual trade fairs and training sessions in three countries; administered PL480 monetization; and managed and monitored the program budget of over three and a half million dollars.
- Project components: association support, capacity building of consultants, training workshops, bank training, and regional trade promotion activities.
- New business development: Secured 21% increase in funding for the project.

Business Management Advisor, North Kazakstan Business Support Center
May 1994 - May 1996

As the first American in this soviet industrial town, I opened and operated a business center which provided business development services. As a Peace Corps volunteer,

- Designed and implemented a loan program targeted at small farms. With initial funding of $100,000 our 97% collection rate enabled us to secure an additional $25,000 in funding.
- Assisted local businesses in planning and reorganizing.
- Assisted in loan applications up to $3 million.
- Acted as regional liaison for assistance programs located in the capital, and completed three new grants and loans in 18 months.

Short-term Assignments

Grants Advisor, East West Management Institute, Cambodia
November, 2003, - March, 2004

Design new, aggressive grant making program to complement a very large human rights, lawyer training, and rule of law project. Projected grant budget of four million dollars.

- Prepare processes and personnel to write RFPs, review grant applications, and implement an objective approval process; initiate a diligent grant management and reporting process.
- Also established the project's Admin & Finance procedures and policies; hired and trained staff.

Project Start-up Advisor, International Republican Institute, Kyrgyz Republic
August - October, 2003

Open new office, conduct country-wide assessment of the political environment, and design a training program for new and existing political parties to foster improved public/private policy dialogue between parties, NGOs, and government.

Privatization/Restructuring Consulting, Land O'Lakes, Zambia
July, 2001

Consulting to the Ministry of Agriculture, Farms, & Fisheries on the privatization of assets in agricultural education and extension services.

NGO Advisor, Academy for Educational Development, Central Asian Republics
May - November, 1996

Directed the conversion of the project's five resource centers into financially self-sustaining operations in six months.

- Supervised managers and staffs in five countries,
- Guided the development of fee-for-services programs,
- Designed business plans to lead to four self-sustaining NGO's, and
- Implemented a financial planning and reporting system for each NGO.

Marketing Consultant-- Prior to going overseas, I was a successful independent consultant for over six years with a specialization in marketing planning and campaign development. Projects included:

- Management systems review: integrated multi-channel sales organization for a regional petroleum distributor;
- Marketing policy: revised pricing policies for a Fortune 100 automotive products company;
- Distribution strategy: conducted master franchise sale in western Europe;
- Campaign development: numerous business to business direct marketing campaigns;
- and many more domestic and international marketing management issues.

Product Manager, Fort Howard Paper

- Full P/L for a $130 million line of institutional paper products
- Two successful new product launches
- Distributor price policy development and monitoring

Sales Administrator, Newell Group

- $50 million consumer products company
- Budget development and control
- Pricing analysis in distribution channels

Languages

Russian: high proficiency
German: middle proficiency

Citizenship United States