IBI

David Colvin

As Senior Advisor and President of the Board of IBI, Mr. Colvin provides guidance for the firm's partnering and new business initiatives, and delivers technical assistance and training on a range of international development projects. Prior to assuming this role, he served as IBI’s President and CEO. During his tenure at the firm since 2006, IBI has emerged as one of USAID’s leading small business partners.

Mr. Colvin applies field-tested methods to improve the performance of organizations around the world, in line with IBI’s emphasis on local solutions, the priorities of host country partners, and the donor community’s evolving approaches to development. He makes frequent presentations at industry events to share IBI’s experiences and lessons learned, and to stay abreast of the approaches that work best in today’s fast-changing world.

Mr. Colvin has worked to improve the performance of institutions and individuals in Africa, Asia and Europe. He has conducted specialized field work and led trainings in Problem-Driven Iterative Adaptation (PDIA) and Human and Institutional Capacity Development (HICD), helping clients focus on solving problems that matter.

Prior to joining IBI in 2006, Mr. Colvin served for seven years in the U.S. Department of State as a public diplomacy officer, completing assignments in Washington, Cote d’Ivoire and Tanzania. He also worked for three years as Managing Editor of The Middle East Journal, published by the Middle East Institute in Washington, DC.

Mr. Colvin earned his undergraduate degree in Middle East Studies from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, and a Master's degree in Political Science from the American University in Cairo. He is a Certified Performance Technologist (CPT) by the International Society for Performance Improvement and holds a Certificate in Human Performance Improvement (HPI) from the American Society for Training and Development. He speaks fluent French, and basic Arabic and Kiswahili.