Dear Colleagues,
What started as a newsletter written in the quiet of mid-summer has been overtaken
by a series of exciting NGS activities, progress, and news to share with you! We
remind ourselves that we must be intentional about pausing and reflecting on all that
we are learning through our work, and that we must celebrate ALL the wins, however
small. As we enter the closing weeks of fiscal year 2022, I hope that you have had a
chance to do the same. Thanks for staying engaged with NGS.
NGS HQ Team Expands
The NGS team has grown exponentially since our last newsletter! We are thrilled to
welcome Michael Barluk as a Senior Director to oversee and grow our DRG
Portfolio. Richard Sacco has joined our team as Research Analyst on the Syria Context
and Third-Party Monitoring subcontract to DT Global. We have also hired three new
Project Associates to support our ongoing projects and business
development: Katharine Rubinetti, McKenzie Cromer-Deshmukh, and Gina Golden. We
continue to expand our office space as well, taking on a third private office in our co-
working space.
NGS Wins New Work in Georgia
NGS is pleased to announce that we are returning to do more good work in Georgia with
Tetra Tech ARD! Under the recently awarded USAID/Georgia Local Governance
Program (LGP), which aims to enhance the effectiveness, accountability, and citizen-
responsiveness of targeted local governments, NGS will coordinate Gender and Social
Inclusion (GESI) efforts and contribute to the ongoing Political Economy Analysis (PEA).
We look forward to spearheading GESI initiatives throughout all LGP activities.
The Final Laps in NGS’s Successful USAID/Cambodia OW4C Project
As our Cambodia One Window for Citizens (OW4C) project wraps up next month, NGS’s
local teams have been busy launching final initiatives and gathering final statistics.
OW4C’s three tech-enabled solutions link citizens to information on government
services and empower citizens to safely provide feedback on the government’s delivery
of services. Ourr tech tools were developed and refined with user-centered design to
identify the most used government administrative services offered at the OWSOs and
key pain points in accessing those services. OW4C has fostered a citizen-government
dialogue for improved service delivery and created a cadre of committed youth
volunteers who know how to promote increased transparency and higher quality of
government services.
Democracy Rising
In support of USAID’s Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance (DRG) Center Support (and in close collaboration with prime contractor WWC Global), NGS continues to provide long- and short-term expertise to DRG’s technical teams. The DRG Center project team is getting stronger with two new hires: Gretchen King serves as the Summit for Democracy (S4D) Year of Action Coordinator, supporting coordination between USAID/DRG Center and the U.S. Department of State, and providing support and coordination to the cohorts to ensure concrete objectives and outcomes. Likewise, NGS consultant Teresa Cannady supports the Justice, Rights, and Security (JRS) Team to bolster the evidence base for successful JRS-related development activities, facilitate training to build the capacity of Agency staff, and provide technical support to USAID Missions globally on the design and implementation of justice, rule of law, security reform, and human rights-related programs and activities. Of particular note is Teresa’s ongoing support of the roll-out of the Agency’s first-ever Rule of Law Policy. NGS’s International Social Movements/Collective Action Expert, Benjamin Naimark-Rowse, has been working with the Civil Society and Media (CSM) Team to produce a timely, important resource: Social and Behavior Change in Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance : A Primer. In July, we welcomed new DRG Center Program Associate, Alissa Haskins, who supports technical and management aspects of the DRG Center and its operations. NGS is also in the final stages of hiring an Anti-Corruption Specialist, and more roles will be opening up shortly. Please keep an eye open and feel free to refer candidates our way!
Rapid Response and Ample Travel for OTI NGS continues to provide fast and flexible support for USAID’s Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) as a major subcontractor on the Institutional Support Services (ISS) contract. Following the completion of the start-up phase, activities continued to ramp up as our team of Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) advisors traveled to provide timely support for key areas of OTI’s SWIFT programming. Since the start of activity in February, the NGS team has traveled to 18 countries to support ongoing OTI requirements in 13 TDYs. Additionally, NGS hired and onboarded two Administrative and Operations Specialists, and recruitment is underway for an additional position.
A Long-Awaited Milestone The award of a GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS) is a real milestone in the life of a government contractor, and NGS is pleased to announce that we have received our GSA MAS award in August. We anticipate that it will open up opportunities for us to pursue new projects and to align ourselves with new partners.
Spreading the Good Word As NGS’ team grows, company communications evolve as well! We are collaborating with our fabulous PR specialist, Tamara Edwards of TE&Co., to formalize our communications strategy and to revamp our website. Our new website will replace the 2018 version with lots of new content, including where we’ve been working, what we’ve been doing, our team, and our successes. It will be much more dynamic than the current version and allow us to share updates in a timely fashion. You may also note that we have redesigned our logo to reflect the NGS identity.