Brenda Lee Pearson

President

Brenda Lee Pearson, Founder and President of Cui Prodest is a seasoned global leader with an extensive track record in guiding large organizations to achieve social, economic and political change. She focuses on the organizational and strategic development of institutions, governmental offices, businesses and programs to efficiently and powerfully impact the lives of people. Brenda is a dynamic results-oriented executive with 30 years of proven success growing, managing and leading complex programs in more than 50 countries.

She brings wide-ranging international perspectives, problem-solving acumen, language fluency, high-level management and operational skills and creativity to deliver results. Brenda has managed programs with 50 staff and annual budgets of $70 million and published more than 200 policy documents, articles and conference presentations. She previously served as a D-1 level Director at the United Nations World Food Programme in Rome. Earlier in her career, she was a political director and communications advisor to American presidential and senate campaigns.

Education | PhD studies (ABD) at Maastricht University, Netherlands | MA degrees in International Economics and American Foreign Policy from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, Washington, DC

Dr. Maia Giorbelidze

Applied Research, Evaluations, Data Analytics,

Digital Transformations & AI,

Strategic Communications, Organizational Change Management

Grants, Proposals, Fundraising

Dr. Maia Giorbelidze grew up in the shadow of war in her native Georgia and is an expert in Eurasian and Russian politics. She has extensive experience in political economy analysis, data analytics, outcome metrices and results-based management in support of organizations and private sector companies. Maia created monitoring, evaluation, and learning systems to track progress and deliver evidence of achievements in Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Jordan, Yemen and the Philippines. She supports businesses in assessing existing operations and systems, sustainability of supply chains, ESG targets, and devising strategies to boost productivity and optimize workforces.

Education | PhD in Business Administration, and MBA degree from Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Georgia

Dr. Andrew T. Green

Applied Research, Evaluations, Data Analytics

Digital Transformations & AI

Strategic Communications, Countering Disinformation and Malign Influences

Dr. Andrew Green brings 25 years of applied research and academic experience in Economic Growth, Education, and the Governance sector, including rule of law, anti-corruption, civil society, election processes, media and organizational development. Andrew provides expert technical assistance to a wide variety of clients for strategic and programmatic planning and produces knowledge management products and platforms for adaptive management. He was the technical leader for USAID’s Analytic Task on Authoritarian Resurgence that assessed risks in closing civic space and corruption in infrastructure and extractives. He has been Team Leader for numerous Evaluations, Assessments and Political Economy Analyses in Europe and Central Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Asia.

Languages | English (native) | Czech (fluent) | Russian & Slavic Languages (proficient)

Education | PhD in Political Science from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign |

Visiting Professor at Georgetown University

Screen Shot 2022-03-07 at 8.12_edited.jpg

Dr. Sarah Eissler

Monitoring, Evaluations, Data Analytics

Digital Transformations & AI

Rural Development, Environment, Natural Resources

Dr. Sarah Eissler specializes in gender, rural development, monitoring and evaluation. She provides technical assistance in women’s empowerment, gender-sensitive analytics, gender-mainstreaming, social inclusion, gender and agriculture, and mixed method research designs. Sarah has designed and led impact evaluations for international development clients and academic institutions.

Global experience | Europe | Asia | Africa

Networks | Universities, Academic Institutions | Bilateral Development Agencies | International Financial Institutions | Public International Organizations

Languages | English (native) | French (proficient) | Spanish (proficient) | Portuguese (proficient)

Education | PhD in Rural Sociology and Human Dimensions of Natural Resources and the Environment from Penn State

Dr. Lawrence Robertson

Applied Research, Evaluations, Data Analytics

Digital Transformation & AI

United Nations Agencies

Dr. Lawrence Robertson has led more than 50 performance evaluations the United Nations Development Program, USAID and other development agencies. He consistently finds innovative solutions to addressing closing civic space, network strengthening and activism. Post-conflict resolution and governance are the foundation of his career as a senior political economist with more than 25 years designing and leading reconstruction and stabilization efforts for the U.S. State Department and USAID, where he served as a foreign service officer for 8 years. He led political economy analysis teams in 6 countries, including Russia and Ukraine during his career.

Education | PhD in Political Science from University of California, Los Angeles | MA in Russian and East European Studies from Stanford University, California

Screen%2520Shot%25202020-01-28%2520at%252011_edited_edited.jpg

Claire Grimes

Strategic Communications, Media Relations

Digital Transformation, AI, Cybersecurity

International Organizations

Claire Grimes guides our digital programming in support of open, secure, and inclusive digital ecosystems that advance democracy, counter digital authoritarianism, promote digital literacy and provide equitable access to underserved communities. She is an expert on strengthening communication and citizen participation in issues related to freedom of expression, empowering civil society, reducing corruption and building capacity of governing institutions and journalists and media actors to operate safely. During her 25 years with the United Kingdom Foreign and Commonwealth Office and NATO, she served as NATO Deputy Director of Security Intelligence in Brussels. Earlier in her career, she served as a spokeswoman for United Nations Peace-keeping Missions in Gaza and West Bank, Macedonia and Croatia.

Education | BA in Arabic and Politics, University of Durham, United Kingdom | Diploma in Arabic Language & Literature, University of Damascus, Syria

Ghada El Sherif

Applied Research, Evaluations, Data Analytics

Digital Transformation and Digital Ecosystems

Women, Youth, People with Disabilities

Ghada El Sherif is an expert in conducting assessments and performance evaluations for international clients including UNWomen, UNFPA, UNDP, USAID and US Department of State. She has deep technical expertise in gender equity and equality, preventing and mitigating gender-based violence, youth economic empowerment, and inclusive workforce development. Ghada has conducted 20 evaluations and baseline studies on gender and youth issues in Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, and Tunisia. Ghada collaborates closely with the Giza Systems Education Foundation to support people with disabilities in the use of digitally fabricated tools to marginalized communities.

Global experience | Africa | Middle East and North Africa | Europe | Canada

Languages | English (native) | Egyptian Arabic (native) | other Arabic dialects (fluent)

Education | MA in Planning and Urban Development from the University of British Columbia, Canada

Geoffrey%252520Mazullo%252520-%252520BMA%252520Ceremony%252520-%252520January%25252026%25252C%252520

Geoffrey Mazullo

Applied Research, Evaluations, Data Analysis

Strategic Communications, Organizational Change Management

Adult Learning Methodologies, Training, Capacity Building

Grants, Proposals & Fundraising

Geoffrey Mazullo is an executive-level director of oversight and monitoring programs in corporate governance; corporate social responsibility (CSR); environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting; investor relations; socially responsible investment (SRI); and sustainable development in Central Europe and the former Soviet Union. Under his direction, he helped establish corporate governance structures at the Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), Investor Responsibility Research Center (IRRC) and launched of long-term financial sector development projects in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Egypt, Moldova, Poland, and Russia. He is an accomplished instruction designer and trainer who has delivered courses on sustainable finance in more than 30 countries.

Education | MSc London School of Economics and Political Science | BSFS Georgetown University. Graduate studies in Germany and Poland

Screen Shot 2020-01-27 at 12.08.34 PM.pn

Ellen Goldstein

Executive Management

Organizational Change, Results-Based Management

Leadership Mentoring and Coaching

Ellen Goldstein’s 35-year career as a senior executive with the World Bank included appointments as the Country Director for Bangladesh, Nepal, Burkina Faso, Western Balkans, Myanmar, Cambodia and Lao PDR. Ellen led large, multicultural teams in the design and implementation of strategies to foster economic development and reduce poverty in low- and middle-income countries with complex social, political and historic contexts. Ellen is author of the 2023 highly acclaimed book "Damned if You Do: Foreign Aid and My Struggle to Do Right in Myanmar." As a certified leadership coach, she brings together results-based management theory and leadership coaching to help leaders and teams define priorities, build a shared vision, align institutions, improve team dynamics and overcome visible and hidden barriers to successful achievement of results.

Languages | English (native) | French (fluent) |

Education | MA in Public Affairs, Princeton University, MPH in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore

Screen Shot 2022-04-05 at 9.05_edited.png

Dr. Nisha Onta

Applied Research, Evaluations, Data Analytics

Gender and Youth

Environment

Dr. Nisha Onta is an expert in gender and climate change. Her expertise in cross-cutting sectors of gender and climate change supports private and public sector clients. She has provided training in women's leadership, women’s economic empowerment and mainstreaming gender in programs and policies. Nisha has also provided technical support to conduct M&E, developing gender mainstreaming documents and facilitated discussions between investors and entrepreneurs in the context of gender lens investing. She is a guest lecturer for the Environment Development and Sustainability Interdisciplinary Program in Graduate School of the Chulalongkorn University, Thailand. Her PhD thesis title is “Gender and Caste Relations in Climate Change Adaptation: The case of Burgaon village, Humla district, Nepal.” She was a recipient of NORAD fellowship and UNDP Human Development Academic Fellowship. Nisha has been engaged in research in South Asia and Southeast Asia related to climate change adaptation, livelihood diversification and gender and climate change.

Languages | Nepali (native) | English (fluent) | Hindi (fluent)

Education | PhD in Environmental Development from Graduate School of the Chulalongkorn University, Thailand

Corinne Annalisa Scala

Democracy, Human Rights, Civil Society, Media, Peacekeeping, International Diplomacy

Corinne Annalisa (Corinna) Scala has five years’ experience in the field of heritage digitization,
documentation, digital technologies and capacity building training for young professionals. She supports
the creation of digital preservation strategies and risk assessment frameworks to safeguard global
cultural heritage. As a consultant to the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and
Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) she revised learning modules within the First Aid and
Resilience for Cultural Heritage in Times of Crisis (FAR) curriculum for implementing digital preservation
strategies to protect cultural heritage in active conflicts Ukraine, Sudan, and Ethiopia. She also
developed capacity-building initiatives for young conservation professionals to improve their technical
skills in preservation of recorded sounds and images—both analogue and digital. Corinna is a Technical
Advisor for Museum Mapping Giallorino Project at the National Gallery of Art (NGA) in Washington,
supporting conservation, scientific research and photography labs to explore 16 th century pigments,
painting techniques and structures of paintings on a microscopic level through infrared x-radiology. She
was awarded the highly competitive graduate fellowship at the NGA Italian and Spanish Painting
Department and studied at the Prado Museum in Madrid.

Global experience | Middle East and North Africa | Europe | Africa

Education | PhD in History of Art, Temple University, Philadelphia | MA degree in History of
Art, Courtauld Institute of Art, London, United Kingdom