Seattle Town Hall Meeting Opens Dialogue
on Millennium Challenge Account

October 14, 2004 

SPEAKER BIOS

Paul Applegarth, CEO Millenium Challenge Corporation

Paul Applegarth has lived and worked in developing countries in Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe, and Africa. Immediately prior to heading the MCC, Mr. Applegarth was a Managing Director of Emerging Markets Partnership (EMP), an asset management firm that specialized in international private equity and debt investments in emerging markets. He was also Chief Operating Officer of the Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund (EAIF), an innovative public/private sector initiative sponsored by the British and European governments, which combined public sector monies with private sector funds and investment skills to develop infrastructure in sub-Saharan Africa.

Before his tenure at EMP, Paul Applegarth was responsible for several innovative equity and debt transactions at American Express/Lehman Brothers. Mr. Applegarth served as the Chief Financial Officer of United Way of America as a key part of the management team that cleaned up that organization following a scandal. As a result of his efforts, The United Way of America returned to operating profitability and after the turn-around won Financial World magazine’s award as 1994 Charity of Choice.

Mr. Applegarth’s career in development reaches back to his service as an army officer in Vietnam, where he headed an advisory team working to establish schools and train medics in remote parts of the Mekong Delta. After returning from service and receiving his J.D. and M.B.A., he held various leadership positions at the World Bank for a nine-year period. Paul Applegarth is a graduate of Yale University and Harvard Law School, and earned an M.B.A. with High Distinction from Harvard Business School where he was a Baker Scholar. Mr. Applegarth was a White House Fellow in 1981-82.

Amadou Lamine Ba, Ambassador of Senegal

Amadou Ba became ambassador of Senegal to the United States in the fall of 2002. His professional expertise and experiences focus on international development, particularly international agriculture and environmental issues. Prior to this position Ambassador Ba spent several years teaching natural sciences and biology. He was co-executive of HDNA (Human Rights, Democracy, and New Leadership in Africa), an international NGO with branches in Dakar and Washington. This organization was committed to strengthening the image of Africa around the world by promoting the rule of law, good governance, and institutional reform.

Ambassador Ba also was a member of the Executive Bureau of the US-Africa initiative promoting linkages between Africa and the US for trade, investment, information technology, education, and good governance. He also held several consultant positions with USAID concentrating on international development in Niamey, Republic of Niger, The Gambia, and Guinea-Bissau. He received his Bachelors of Science, M.S. and PhD from the Ohio State University.

Mary E. McClymont, President and CEO, InterAction

Mary McClymont is the President and Chief Executive Officer of InterAction, the largest alliance of U.S.-based international development and humanitarian non-governmental organizations. InterAction’s 160+ members work in every developing country and enjoy broad support from the American Public. Under her leadership, InterAction has placed a greater focus on the effectiveness and coherence of US assistance programs, working actively to influence the new Millennium Challenge Account Initiative.

Previously, she served at the Ford Foundation, as Senior Director of the Peace and Social Justice Program, and as Acting Director, Deputy Director, and Program Officer in the Rights and Social Justice Program. She also was the National Director for Legalization of the Migration and Refugee Services, U.S. Catholic Conference; Senior Staff Counsel, the National Prison Project of the American Civil Liberties Union; Trial Attorney, Civil Rights Division, U.S. Department of Justice; and Assistant Director for Corrections, National Street Law Institute, Georgetown University Law Center. She has an LL.M. in International Legal Studies from the American University Washington College of Law; and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.

Richard E. Stearns, President, World Vision, United States

Richard E. Stearns is the president of World Vision in the United States. In this role since 1998, he is responsible for overseeing World Vision’s fundraising, advocacy, church partnerships and domestic programs, as well supporting the organization’s relief and development programs in nearly 100 countries.

Stearns began his career in marketing for the Gillette Company. From 1977 to 1985, he held various roles with Parker Brothers Games, culminating in his appointment as president in 1984. In 1987, he joined Lenox as a division president and was named president and CEO of Lenox, Inc. in 1995. In this position, he was responsible for Lenox China and Crystal, Lenox Collections, Lenox Retail, Gorham Silver, Dansk and Hartmann Luggage, overseeing six manufacturing facilities, 4,000 employees and $500 million in annual sales.

In 1998, Stearns felt called to leave his 23-year career as a corporate executive to become president of World Vision, an organization he and his wife had supported for more than a decade. Stearns has brought best practices from the corporate sector to World Vision’s non-profit environment. Since 1998, World Vision’s revenues in the United States have risen 75 percent, while overhead has decreased by five percent. In addition, Stearns has made the fight against the global AIDS epidemic an organizational priority.

Stearns holds a bachelor’s degree in neurobiology from Cornell University and a master’s degree in business administration from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.