Senior Staff

Thomas C. England
President and CEO

Thomas England has over 40 years of experience in policy and management positions in both the public and private sector with a specific expertise on international development programs. He is an expert in local economic development, regional development, decentralization, local governance, advocacy and the relationships of public and private sectors, and has managed USAID projects for over 20 years.

Previous to co-founding ME&A, Mr. England served for eight years as a principal of the National Center for Municipal Development (NCMD) in Washington, where he represented the interests of local governments, providing policy and federal program coordination for his clients. He spent two years at the local government level, while on a Federal Intergovernmental Personnel (IPA) assignment, as Director of Development for the City of Dunkirk, New York, managing the city's first community development and housing assistance plan, and supervising urban renewal, business and economic development activities. He began his federal government career as a Management Intern and then management expert with the U.S. Information Agency before serving as an Economic Development Analyst with the U.S. Office of Economic Opportunity. Mr. England is a co-founder and Director of the Albanian American Trade & Development Association, and co-founder and board member of the Corridor VIII LED Network, a regional public-private development association in the Southern Balkans. He received a B.A. in Political Science from State University of New York, and an M.P.A. from the Graduate School of Public Affairs at State University of New York at Albany.

Teresita Perez
Executive Vice President
Chief Contracts Officer

Teresita Perez has over 30 years of experience in international development, providing worldwide technical assistance and support to USAID and other international agencies. Ms. Perez has held a variety of senior level positions throughout her career and is an expert in international programs/projects management, government contracting, institutional development and support. Ms. Perez’s international project management experience includes overseeing government-funded projects in the U.S., the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean. She is a co-founder and officer of ME&A where she provides leadership in the development and implementation of the company's institutional and entrepreneurial leadership to design, and implement organizational development, strategic plans for business and market development. She is ME&A's Chief Contracts Officer, and Team Leader of the Program and Grants Administration practice.

Previous to her work with ME&A, Ms. Perez served as Special Assistant to the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, Presidential and National Commissions Appointment Office; as Senior Policy Analyst at the U.S. Conference of Mayors; as Director of Private Enterprise Development at Creative Associates International; co-author of a study of federal support for the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; evaluator of bi-lingual education programs and served as Psychologist for the Rochester, NY, school system. In addition, Ms. Perez is experienced in real estate development and investment. Ms. Perez holds both a Bachelor of Arts and a Master's degree in Psychology from the University of Puerto Rico. She is fluent in English and Spanish.

Carlos L. Beale Caballero
Senior Vice President
Team Leader: Governance, Democracy, and Public Administration

A co-founder of ME&A, Carlos Beale provides his cross-cutting expertise to oversight responsibilities in a number of the firm’s core areas, particularly in Governance, Democracy and Public Administration, and Economic Growth through Regional and Local Economic Development Strategies. Has over 30 years of experience to specializing in local government and municipal management related to urban planning and local economic development; capital improvement programs and investment planning; building construction permitting; municipal strategic planning; zoning, land use, and site development; procurement of services; citizen participation; geographic information systems; real property cadastre systems; and training.

Mr. Beale provides technical assistance to ME&A projects related to municipal planning, zoning, land development, citizen participation, capital improvement planning and investment, program assessment, policy development and geographic and land information systems. In previous roles, he served three years as a Planning Consultant for the Puerto Rico Land Administration and was President of GEODATA, Inc., a firm specializing in computerized geographic information systems. He graduated magna cum laude from the University of Puerto Rico and has a Master’s Degree in City and Regional Planning (MRP) from Cornell University. Mr. Beale is fluent in English and Spanish.

Donald Smith, Ed.D.
Vice President for Learning Technologies

Dr. Donald Smith heads ME&A’s Learning and Performance Enhancement practice. He brings to ME&A his more than 45 years experience in Instructional Systems Design as coach, designer, facilitator, and evaluator. He has been a manager, educator, and organizational change architect with both private and public sector enterprises. He has worked as a learning and management consultant in Canada and the United States as well as 39 other countries.

Dr. Smith’s major contributions to human and institutional capacity development have been in the areas of learning and organizational needs assessment; organizational renewal strategies; multicultural and diversity learning; employee planning, management and leadership; time management and personnel planning; managing transitions; executive coaching, multilevel team building; and, evaluation of program impact, employee performance, and organizational results. Dr. Smith has published articles on numerous aspects of learning and performance technologies. He holds a Ed.D. in Education from the University of Toronto, Canada, and a Master’s Degree in Education from the State University of New York, Albany. He also holds a Certified Performance Technologist (CPT) Certification from the International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI). Dr. Smith is fluent in English and Spanish.

Ranjit Gupte, C.P.A.
CFO and Vice President of Finance

As CFO, Ranjit Gupte supervises financial and corporate administration including accounting, finance, human resources, and strategic financial planning. Mr. Gupte is ME&A’s principal liaison with external auditing firms and financial institutions. He has over 30 years of experience working in the U.S., Singapore, India and Malaysia in such roles as CFO, Controller, Chief Accountant, Chief of American Operations, Audit Manager and Director of Productions. As CFO and Vice President of Finance for ME&A, he oversees the financial portfolio of the entire company.

Mr. Gupte’s work experience includes industries such as automotive, garment manufacturing, air conditioning, refrigeration, machine tools, chemicals, audio recording & preservation, management consulting and government contracting. He has previously worked for Deloitte, BearingPoint and Tata Group and is a Certified Public Accountant, Certified Global Management Accountant and Chartered Accountant (India). He obtained his MBA from University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Mirela McDonald
Vice President for Evaluation Services and Proposal Development
Team Leader: Evaluations and Assessments

Mirela McDonald has garnered over 16 years of experience in project management, planning, and administration, and is well versed at managing the complexities of several international development projects. She has worked in both public and private sectors and has broad experience working in multi-cultural environments both in the United States and abroad. While in Albania, Ms. McDonald worked as the Project Officer for the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development where she coordinated the planning and implementation for a number of infrastructure and private sector development projects sponsored by the EBRD.

Prior to joining ME&A, she served as the Finance Operations Manager at Viamericas Corporation, a firm offering money transfer services to the Latin American population based in the U.S., and served as the Executive Director of the Albanian American Trade & Development Association. Ms. McDonald earned her B.S. in civil engineering from the University of Tirana, Albania, and holds a Master’s Degree in International Management and an MBA in Business Administration from the University of Maryland. She is fluent in English, Italian and Albanian.

Moenes E. Youannis
Vice President for Operations
Team Leader: Water and Coastal Resources

Moenes Youannis is implementing ME&A's Water Infrastructure Technical Assistance Program. He has garnered over 27 years of extensive management experience in the conceptualization, design, negotiation, planning, implementation, performance management planning, and monitoring of programs funded by USAID in Egypt. Previously he served as a USAID Authorized Representative and Team Leader for programs totaling more than $400 million in the areas of multidisciplinary infrastructure, water sector policy and regulatory reform, institutional strengthening and commercialization of water and wastewater utilities, design, construction, and construction management of water and wastewater infrastructure, housing, upgrading of informal settlements and community empowerment and upgrading.

Prior to joining ME&A, Mr. Youannis was a consultant for Tetra Tech where he developed and presented a manual for USAID on the Use of Host Country Contracts and Fixed Amount Reimbursement Agreements. He has spent several years as a USAID Authorized Representative and Team leader, and Project Officer for the water sector, and multidisciplinary infrastructure. Mr. Youannis holds a B.S. in architecture from Ain Shams University in Cairo, Egypt, and was part of the Development Studies Program at American University, in Washington, DC. He is fluent in English and Arabic.

Loren L. Schulze, Ph.D.
Director of Marketing and Business Development 
Team Leader: Environment

Dr. Loren Schulze serves as senior advisor in a number of policy and program areas, particularly related to water, food security, agriculture, climate change and environmental issues. He brings to ME&A more than 23 years of experience working for USAID and 30 years of international development experience in the design, implementation and evaluation of activities involving water issues, environment and natural resource development, biodiversity assessment, environmental policy, and agriculture. He has residential professional experience in Eastern Europe and Latin America with short-term experience in the New Independent States, Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia, and Africa.

In 2009, Dr. Schulze joined ME&A as a Senior Program Advisor and is responsible for providing policy development, marketing, and business development. He has served on the project design teams for ME&A in Tajikistan, Armenia and Peru, among others. Dr. Schulze earned both his M.S. and his Ph.D. from the University of Georgia; he is fluent in English and Spanish.

Magda Avetisyan
Chief of Party, ASPIRED Armenia

Magda Avetisyan currently serves as Chief of Party with ME&A for the USAID funded Armenia Clean Energy and Water (CEW) Program in Yerevan, Armenia. The CEW Program is a four-year activity designed to support Armenia in improving sustainable management of water and energy sectors. With over 20 years of management experience, she has worked on a wide range of development projects with other international organizations such as CHF International, World Learning, International Executive Service Corps, International Fund for Agricultural Development, YMCA, and Human Dignity and Peace Foundation (HDPF).

Before joining ME&A, Ms. Avetisyan held several senior management positions including Deputy Country Director and later Acting Country Director for the USAID Small Scale Infrastructure Program and Deputy Chief of Party for the USAID BRIDGE Public Works Program. She also served as Training Coordinator for World Learning/International Executive Services Corps under the USAID NGO Strengthening Program and Project Manager/Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist for the HDPF Project supporting people with disabilities in Armenia. Ms. Avetisyan holds Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in engineering from the Yerevan State Engineering University; she is fluent in English, Russian and Armenian.

Evan Scott Thomas, Ph.D.
Chief of Party, EVELYN Food For Peace

Dr. Scott Thomas is a senior international economist with more than 25 years of experience in economic development and growth. He has worked in more than 40 developing countries and economies in transition. Dr. Thomas currently serves as ME&A’s COP on the Food for Peace Evaluation and Learning (EVELYN) mechanism contract to provide quality evaluation data to the USAID Office of Food for Peace.

Previously, he has held positions spanning quantitative economic modeler; macro and sectoral policy economist; economic and institutional assistance program administrator, senior economist and private sector development specialist; senior associate in enabling environment reform and agribusiness development; team leader for enabling environment reform, institutional strengthening and urban planning, and COP for monitoring and evaluation management services. He has managed and led teams working for clients ranging from U.S. government entities such as USAID, MCC and TDA, to multilateral organizations including the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank, as well as private sector clients. Dr. Thomas has published on a variety of economic growth topics such as economic policy and institutional reform, trade and development policy, privatization, property rights, private sector development and social policy. He holds a doctorate in agricultural economics from the University of California, and is fluent in English and Spanish.

Randal Joy Thompson, Ph.D, CPT
Chief of Party, USAID Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Initiative, El Salvador 

Dr. Randal Thompson is an international development professional with over 30 years of experience as both a consultant and Foreign Service Officer. She is currently ME&A’s Chief of Party (COP) for the USAID M&E&L Initiative in El Salvador.  She specializes in monitoring and evaluation (M&E), human capacity development, social sector development, and civil society development. She previously served as COP on three USAID M&E Projects in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Liberia, and Iraq. As a Certified Performance Technologist (CPT), Dr. Thompson has conducted Human and Institutional Capacity Development (HICD) assessments of the education sector in Morocco and Jordan, the social science research sector in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the social welfare and health sectors in Romania. She also helped to build the capacity of research companies in Iraq, Liberia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina.  As a USAID Foreign Service Officer for 28 years, Dr. Thompson served in Cameroon, Morocco, Nicaragua, Romania, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, and Washington DC. 

Dr. Thompson holds a Ph.D. in Organizational Systems from Fielding Graduate University as well as an MBA and MA in Philosophy from the University of Chicago. She has published numerous articles and book chapters and is currently editing a book on Leadership in International Development. She speaks English, French, and Spanish, as well as basic Russian and Romanian.  

Carlos Torres, Ed.D.
Chief of Party, Data for Development, Tanzania

Dr. Carlos Torres is ME&A’s COP on the USAID-funded Data for Development Project in Tanzania. He is a senior international development manager with more than 20 years of experience conducting monitoring and evaluation (M&E) programs in more than a dozen countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. He has evaluated numerous projects focused on education, youth development, economic growth, democracy and governance, and health and nutrition, funded by various international donors, primarily USAID. 

Previously, Dr. Torres served as COP for the Nigeria Monitoring and Evaluation Managements Services II Project, where he was responsible for providing M&E services to USAID/Nigeria.  He also served as Acting COP for the M&E Services Program in Iraq, where he was responsible for the management and supervision of evaluation teams going in-country to provide evaluation services to the USAID Mission in Iraq.  Earlier Dr. Torres was Senior M&E Manager of USAID Evaluation Services and Program Support in Kenya, and he also has worked for the U.S. Peace Corps and Arthur Anderson Consulting. He holds a doctorate in education from the University of Cincinnati and is fluent in English, Spanish, and Swahili.

Roman Tsutskiridze
Chief of Party, HICD 2020 Georgia

Roman Tsutskiridze has more than 20 years of experience in international development in Georgia, including 15 years for USAID sponsored activities. He currently serves as a Chief of Party with ME&A for the five-year USAID Georgia Human and Institutional Capacity Development 2020 (HICD 2020) Activity, designed to assist USAID Georgia in addressing its partner organizations' administrative limitations and performance gaps that impede the effective implementation of key reforms, including those related to the European Union Association Agreement, the Open Government Action Plan, and civil service reform.

Prior to ME&A, Mr. Tsutskiridze served as Chief of Party and Deputy Chief of Party for the HICD 2020 predecessor project, HICD PLUS. His earlier international development experience includes a variety of USAID - and EU -sponsored activities. Mr. Tsutskiridze holds an M.S. in Civil and Industrial Engineering and Construction Management. He has completed multiple courses related to Human and Institutional Capacity Development (HICD) and is a Certified Performance Technologist (CPT). He is fluent in Georgian, English, and Russian.

Raymond Waldron 
Chief of Party, Feed the Future PEEL

Raymond Waldron has more than 30 years of experience in international development. He is currently Chief of Party (COP) on the Feed the Future Global Program Evaluation for Effectiveness and Learning (PEEL) for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). PEEL support to USAID’s Feed the Future Initiative through population-based surveys and performance and impact evaluations. These services allow USAID to better understand how Feed the Future activities are being implemented, how well they are performing, and how they are perceived by beneficiaries.

Mr. Waldron has served as COP and senior USAID manager for multiple contracts, grants, and cooperative agreements in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Middle East, including the Alternative Development and Livelihoods Program in Colombia and Ecuador; water and sanitation programs in Ecuador and Peru; democracy and governance in Egypt; food security, micro-enterprises, watersheds and coastal zones management in Honduras, Peru, Costa Rica, and the Eastern Caribbean; and rural value chains in Armenia, Zimbabwe, Mali, Haiti, Egypt, Guatemala, Peru, Niger, and Sudan. He has conducted population-based surveys and cereals value chains in Mali and final performance evaluations in Ethiopia and Liberia. Mr. Waldron holds an M.S. in Resource Economics and Statistics and has completed advanced studies at the Foreign Service Institute, the Federal Executive Institute, and Harvard Business School. He is fluent in English, Spanish, and French. 

Duane Beard
Senior Associate

Duane Beard has more than 35 years of senior management experience including 18 years of international development experience in Eurasia. He recently served as ME&A’s acting Chief of Party (COP) for the Feed the Future Global Program Evaluation for Effectiveness and Learning (PEEL) Project. He also served as ME&A’s COP on USAID’s Safe Drinking Water Project in Tajikistan and the Clean Energy and Water Program in Armenia. In addition, he has been COP for USAID’s Macedonia Local Government Activity, the Civic Initiatives Project in Russia Far East for the Institute of Sustainable Communities, and the Local Government Reform Project in Moldova. Earlier, he served as COP for the Local Government Initiative in the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Urban Development & Housing Reform Program in the Kyrgyz Republic. For the Peace Corps, Mr. Beard served as Country Director in Kyrgyzstan, the Solomon Islands and the Republic of Kiribati, and worked in rural development in Micronesia.

Mr. Beard has extensive experience in successfully managing multiple projects simultaneously, and leading existing projects through challenging transition periods. In addition to his international experience, he has 20 years of local government experience in the U.S., including 14 years as a county administrator. Mr. Beard is conversant in Russian and several other Eurasian languages and holds a Master’s Degree in Regional Planning/Geography.