About Weidemann Associates
Weidemann Associates, Inc. is a leading international firm working in microenterprise development, economic development, Information technologies, and agriculture/agribusiness/rural development in the U.S. and developing countries. The firm has worked on projects worldwide, from Latin America and the Caribbean, Eastern Europe and the Caucuses, to Africa, Asia, and the Near East.
Founded in 1986, Weidemann Associates adopted a strategy and management structure to support growth while maintaining consistently high quality work. Principals of Weidemann Associates have experience in over 60 countries working with international organizations, as well as private businesses, state and local governments, and non-governmental and community development organizations.
The company implements both long and short-term projects, with expertise in microenterprise and microfinance; agriculture, environment, and natural resources; economic analysis; business development; community and economic development; gender analysis; education and training; institutional development; and online grants management and results reporting systems. The firm is known for its socio-economic research and analysis, its technical documents are regarded as state-of-the-art in the field. The firm is experienced in all phases of the project cycle including project design, implementation, management, monitoring, and evaluation.
As part of most projects, Weidemann Associates develops effective online results reporting services and a start-to-finish grants management system. Improved timeliness and accuracy of reported data and real-time online monitoring of performance for program administrators are the results. Also, in the information technology arena Weidemann Associates supports microfinance institutions in the evaluation and installation of management information systems.
Headquarters
Dr. Wesley Weidemann
President of Weidemann Associates, Inc., oversees all company programs and activities. As a technical advisor on the USAID-funded MicroServe Indefinite Quantity Contract he provides technical guidance on microenterprise and microfinance assistance, training, research, advisory services to USAID Missions and Bureaus, and communications and outreach services to the USAID Office of Microenterprise. He has participated in and provided technical supervision on implementation and quality control of 17 microenterprise and microfinance projects for the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and USAID. Dr. Weidemann has worked in 11 African countries: Cote d'Ivoire, Egypt, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Somalia, and Zambia; as well as India, Pakistan and other countries in Asia and Latin America. Dr. Weidemann has a Ph.D. in agricultural economics and business management from the University of Wisconsin.
Dr. Arvin Bunker
Vice President, specializes in micro and rural finance, firm and industry development, and microenterprise business development. He has more than 25 years of international and domestic financial and marketing experience. In Bolivia, he directed the startup of an agricultural and rural credit company. In five years, Dr. Bunker grew the company's clientele to 4,000 customers with a loan portfolio more than $10 million, and achieved a self-sustaining financial institution for the agricultural sector, with low loan delinquency rates that were among the best of any Bolivian financial institution. Dr. Bunker was CEO of a leasing company in Romania from 1997 to 1998 that provided agricultural and manufacturing equipment financing. He specializes in strengthening and improving rural and microfinance institutions by evaluating their business and regulatory environments, supporting their strategic planning, and developing alternatives for their administration and operations. He also has extensive experience with agricultural and credit cooperatives. Dr. Bunker has M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in agricultural economics from the University of Illinois. He is also a Microsoft Certified Professional and Systems Engineer with expertise in the design of microfinance management information systems. Dr. Bunker is fluent in Spanish.
Laura Vinoly
Laura Viñoly is the Principal Associate for Weidemann Associate Inc. A native of Uruguay, Ms. Viñoly is an international development professional with extensive experience in management consulting, enterprise development and market-driven agribusiness. She is a seasoned manager with more than eighteen years of experience in all aspects of project management including program design, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation. Her experience includes technical, managerial, and research support to development projects in over 20 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, and Asia. Currently, Ms. Viñoly provides management and executive oversight of all WAI projects, leads technical assignments in economic growth and enterprise development, and leads the implementation of the new business strategy and the development of company capabilities. Before joining WAI, she held several senior level positions, including Vice President for Project Management and Operations at Making Cents International, Vice President at IBI International, Deputy Chief of Party for the USAID-funded Botswana Natural Resources Management Project, Director at Chemonics International, and Senior Manager at Fintrac Inc. Ms. Viñoly started her international development career at the Organization of American States’ Regional Development and Environment Division after several years of private sector employment in Uruguay and Venezuela. Spanish is her native language and she has working knowledge of French.
James Hochschwender
Senior Managing Associate, manages the Raising Rural and Agricultural Incomes with a Sustainable Environment (RAISE Plus) Indefinite Quantity Contract as well as the Agriculture Knowledge and Program Support (AKPS) Task Order. He has more than 25 years of international and domestic organizational, management systems, strategic planning, micro and SME financial and marketing experience. He also specializes in strengthening and improving commercial, rural and microfinance institutions by evaluating their business and regulatory environments, supporting their strategic planning, and developing alternatives for their administration and operation. Previously he managed and provided technical assistance under the MicroServe Indefinite Quantity Contract. Amongst other business and strategic planning work, he led the team that developed the plan for Nike’s first independent distributor in Russia. He also is an executive coach. He has a B.A. in Anthropology and an MBA in Economics and International Business from NYU. Mr. Hochschwender has worked in 48 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean and Europe, Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Russia. He is fluent in Spanish and has a working knowledge of French.
Jason Bahoney
Jason Bohoney is an international development professional with extensive experience in enterprise development, management consulting and industry value chain strengthening. His areas of expertise include strategic planning, project management and evaluation, training development and financial management. He currently works as a Senior Managing Associate at Weidemann Associates, after serving as Chief of Party for the Agriculture Technology Program for Turkmenistan project. Prior to joining Weidemann in November 2010, Jason held several long-term senior level positions, including Deputy Chief of Party on the Kazakhstan Small Business Development (KSBD) project, Senior Industry Advisor on the SENADA project in Indonesia, and Enterprise Improvement Director on the Enterprise Development Project (EDP) in Kyrgyzstan. Jason also completed a short-term assignment as Grants Manager for the Agricultural Vouchers in Afghanistan (AVIPA+) project. In addition to development work, Jason has significant private sector consulting experience through working 5 years as a consultant for Accenture in change management. During the past 13 years, Jason has successfully led multi-functional teams to improve the competitiveness of firms and industries in the following countries: Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Indonesia, Norway, Palestine, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and the United States. Jason completed his Master of Business Administration degree from Vanderbilt University in 1997 and a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from the University of Cincinnati in 1993.
Steve Thomas
Steve Thomas is a Senior Operations Manager. He has over twenty years business experience, eleven of which were with USAID as an independent consultant and then as the Project Manager on the Information Technology, Communications, and Management Information Systems contract for the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance. He is responsible for Operations including accounting & finance, human resources, IT, and office administration. He has a BS in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research from Virginia Tech and an MBA in Financial Management from the University of New Mexico.
David Soroko
Senior Managing Associate Mr. Soroko is an Agricultural Economist with over 30 years of agriculture, agribusiness, food security, counterinsurgency and stability experience in Africa and Asia. He has lived and worked in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRoC), Kenya, Zambia, Madagascar and Iraq. He has a thorough knowledge of market driven agricultural development including producer organizations, agricultural finance, agribusiness competitiveness, value chain analysis, food standards, supermarkets, policy research, trade, public/private partnerships and capacity building. Mr. Soroko worked as a personal services contractor and Foreign Service Officer for USAID for more than 23 years. During that time he managed multi-cultural staff addressing agricultural development issues, providing famine and disaster relief, conserving natural resources, countering insurgency and promoting stability. He designed, completed the award and managed USAID’s $500 million Rural and Agricultural Incomes in a Sustainable Environment Plus Indefinite Quantity Contract. He also managed USAID/Iraq’s largest Cooperative Agreement, the $1.3 billion Community Stabilization Program, a non-lethal counterinsurgency program and the most important civilian contribution to Multi-National Force Iraq’s 2006-7 “surge”. Mr. Soroko has short term experience in Mali, Tanzania, Mozambique, South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Uganda, Cape Verde, Namibia, Egypt, Macedonia, Colombia, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. Mr. Soroko is fully conversant with USAID procurement, program management, compliance and program evaluation requirement and has an MSc. from Michigan State University.
Paul Fengler
Paul Fengler, a Managing Associate with Weidemann Associates, Inc., currently leads new business efforts and manages existing projects. He has over 10 years of experience working in the developing world including 8 years’ experience with USAID-funded projects. In addition to management and new business Mr. Fengler has provided technical assistance in the area of private sector initiatives, communication strategy and procurement. From July until October, 2010, he worked in French on a Millennium Challenge Account Procurement project (MCA) in Bamako, Mali, during which he performed quality control and auditing of legal documents. From November until December of that same year he prepared reports, analyzed contracts, led trainings and created a systems map for procurement steps for MCA Mozambique. Mr. Fengler also is an experienced entrepreneur, having co-founded and run successful companies in both Latvia and Canada, including the largest magazine on corporate social responsibility in Canada – Corporate Knights - with a quarterly circulation of over 105,000. In 2008, Mr. Fengler was selected among 10 Americans to participate in the Alfa Fellowship Program, a year-long exchange program based in Moscow, Russia, that gives “future American leaders in Russian-American relations” the opportunity to live and work in Russia. During his time in Russia, Mr. Fengler worked in Alfa Bank and traveled, attended meetings and lectured on economic/international policy in various Russian cities including Tver, Perm, Novosibirsk, Tomsk, Sochi, St. Petersburg and Astrakhan. In addition to Russia, Mr. Fengler has lived and worked significantly in 7 foreign countries including Armenia, Canada, China, Hungary, Latvia, Mali and Mozambique. Mr. Fengler speaks 3 foreign languages fluently – Russian, Latvian and French and has recent working experience reading and writing in both Russian and French. He holds a B.A. from McGill University in Montréal, Canada, and an M.A. in International Commerce and Policy from the George Mason School of Public Policy.
Charles Yesolitis
Charles Yesolitis has 10 years of experience in business development for various fields including four years of international development experience with USAID-funded programs. Mr. Yesolitis will be working on the RAISE Plus IQC/Agriculture Knowledge and Program Support (AKPS) task order and will use his experience from living and working in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East as well as East Africa to support Weidemann Associates in project management and business development. He recently spent a year as the M&E Specialist for the USAID Enterprise Development and Investment Promotion (EDIP) project in the West Bank and is experienced with complex value chain development programs. During his tenure on the project, Mr. Yesolitis coordinated logistical preparations between USAID, Google and local ICT industry associations to conduct an international software development workshop in Ramallah, the first of its kind in the Palestinian Territories. Mr. Yesolitis also supported the research, assessment and writing efforts on the USAID East Africa Value Chain Assessment. Prior to his work in international development, Mr. Yesolitis worked in the private sector for SAITCO, Inc., the official distributor for Chrysler/Jeep/Dodge in Central Asia, as Manager of Business Development in Atyrau, Kazakhstan where he provided marketing research from the field and led efforts to expand exports of U.S. vehicles into the region. Mr.Yesolitis has a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in International Business and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Russian from James Madison University. He also holds a Master of Arts degree in International Commerce and Policy from the George Mason School of Public Policy.
Elina Pavlova
Program Associate, Elina Pavlova provides technical and project management support to the RAISE Plus IQC/Agriculture Knowledge and Program Support (AKPS) task order. Utilizing her language capabilities and experience of living and working in Europe and East Asia, prior to joining Weidemann Associates, Ms. Pavlova interned with a D.C. based NGO on projects pertaining to anti-Human Trafficking, social protection, health and education programs in Russia and the CIS region. She has also worked for an International business consulting firm, as a Special Assistant to the CEO , assisting in business and legislative consulting activities. Ms. Pavlova received a B.A. in international affairs and a concentration in international development from the George Washington University.
Lillian Rosen
Program Associate, provides project management support to the RAISE Plus IQC/Agriculture Knowledge and Program Support (AKPS) task order. Prior to working at Weidemann Associates, Ms. Rosen was a Project Manager at Management Systems International where she worked as a member of the Analytical Services team on the Analytical Services IQC/DCHA/DG Training and Information Management (Support) Outreach task order. She has experience in advocacy, communications, and event planning from her fellowship at the American Jewish Committee and internships at the National League of Cities with the Leadership Training Institute, the Voice of America in the Office of Public Affairs, and the Center for Democracy in the Americas. She has spent time living and studying abroad in Central and South America and in the Northern Mediterranean. She received both her M.A. in International Peace and Conflict Resolution and her B.A. in International Development from American University. Her Master's research focused on guerilla gardening, non-violent resistance, and localizing peace.
Shayan Pal
Program Associate, Shayan Pal provides project management support to the Raise Plus IQC/ Farmer to Farmer task order and brings over two years of international development experience to Weidemann Associates. Mr. Pal joins Weidemann with project management experience on numerous USAID-funded contracts in a variety of focal areas including healthcare, governance and economic growth, and education. Prior to joining Weidemann Associates, Mr. Pal worked on the USAID-funded Health Promotion Program in Iraq (HPPI) at Cardno Emerging Markets USA, Ltd. His experiences at Cardno also entailed developing alternative livelihoods assessments for a Papua New Guinean community with an impending mine closure and researching ideal Armenian economic sectors for value-chain development. At the Corporate Council on Africa, Mr. Pal helped identify African investment opportunities for American businesses and facilitated dialogue between African ministries and American business contacts. Mr. Pal has international experience with the HOPE Foundation in Kolkata, India, where he analyzed the impact of the Foundation’s funding and reporting mechanisms on their ability to positively target Kolkata’s vulnerable population. Mr. Pal earned his Bachelor’s degree in History from the University of Rochester and a Master’s degree in Public Policy with an International Development concentration from American University.
Alysia Whitcomb
Alysia Whitcomb, Client Relations Manager, is responsible for making contact, building, and establishing relationships with other organizations and companies in order to further Weidemann’s mission of partnership, stewardship, and service. Ms. Whitcomb adds breadth and depth to Weidemann’s core mission with the purpose of helping developing countries around the world.
Brenna Ranzen
As a Program Associate, Ms. Brenna Ranzen provides project management support for USAID Task Orders focusing on agriculture and rural economic development that fall under Weidemann Associates’ RAISE Plus IQC Small Business Set-Aside. As an intern at Weidemann Associates, Ms. Ranzen assisted in new business recruitment for USAID projects designed to develop micro and small enterprises, as well as other new business endeavors in Southern Africa. Prior to joining Weidemann, she studied Portuguese and volunteered in the rural areas outside of Sao Paulo, Brazil where she taught English to low-income students in an after-school enrichment program. She holds a B.A. degree in Political Science and International Studies with concentrations in Development and African Studies and a minor in Spanish from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.
Rekha Sharma
Rekha Sharma is responsible for Office Management and assists with Human Resources and operations. She has over 20 years of experience in a variety of industries. She worked in the Telecommunications Sector, were she achieved reduction in operating expenses through process improvements, vendor negotiations and consolidations. She was responsible for organizing events in 5 continents, project price proposals, cost projections and analysis, accounts payable and receivable. She was also a teacher of economics and social sciences. She was instrumental in executing her schools drug abuse prevention program and community service events with the elderly. She also led the way in establishing a framework for greater collaboration between parents and teachers to improve student performance.
Field Teams
Akmyrat Yazhanov
Mr. Akmyrat Azhanov is a veterinary expert who comes with over 15 years of experience in the public sector. Through his work, Mr. Azhanov has been able to create vital contacts in the Government of Turkmenistan that enable him to facilitate a variety of activities applicable to the development of the livestock sector for the country. His career started by working with small holder famers in rural Turkmenistan to help identify infectious diseases in cattle. His research experience as Head of the Veterinary Supervision Department of the Veterinary Association provides a broad base of understanding for the contemporary issues critical to the advancement of animal production techniques and the development of agricultural markets in Turkmenistan. Most recently, Mr. Azhanov coordinated training activities for all veterinarians in Turkmenistan for a regional UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) project to combat Avian Influenza. Mr. Azhanov holds veterinary degrees from the Saratov Veterinary Institute in Russia and the Turkmen Agriculture University in Ashagabad, Turkmenistan. He has native fluency in the Turkmen and Russian languages.
Murad Nobatov
With over 20 years of agribusiness experience in the public and private sectors, Murad Nobatov serves as the Private Sector Agribusiness Specialist for the Agriculture Technology Program in Turkmenistan. Mr. Nubatov was the leading specialist at the Department of Plant and Seed Ministry of Agriculture of Turkmenistan and a senior specialist of State Inspection and Protection of Land on the State Agro-Industrial Committee. Since 1992 Mr. Murad Nobatov has been the leading specialist on the harvesting and production of cotton at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Glaucus Ginning Industry, in Turkmenistan. From 1986 to 1999 he directed the Byuzmeinsk Wholesale, Retail Plant and Trade Produce Association of Turkmenistan. Mr. Nobatov also led "NBM Impex", a private firm for the production of flour and pasta products. During this time he was also involved in directing the Department of Grain Production and Harvesting as well as the Grain Association, specifically focusing on grain inspection in Turkmenistan. Thereafter, he worked on projects under the auspices of the USAID ''farmer-to-farmer'' program with Winrock international as an agronomist and agriculture specialist. Prior to joining Weidemann Associates Inc., he was the deputy director of the company "ZYNAT AG". The firm was engaged in the production of agricultural products such as cotton, grain and livestock. Mr. Nobatov received a degree in Agronomy from the Turkmen Agricultural Institute, Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.
Zulya Achilova
Ms. Zulya Achilova is the local M&E Specialist and Training Manager for Agriculture Technology Program in Turkmenistan for Weidemann Associates Inc. She has 10 years of experience working with international organizations such as the EU Project, “Support to further economic reforms and sustainable agriculture development in Turkmenistan,” at which time her responsibilities included preparation of trainings and all organizational issues related to trainings as well as conducting Office Management work. Ms. Achilova began her career at the WI Agribusiness Consulting firm in the Lebap region of Turkmenistan. As Office Manager she identified new potential assignments and participants, traveled throughout the Lebap velayat, met with individual farmers, farmer groups, representatives of other private agribusiness enterprises, discussed and identified challenges and needs for technical assistance in production, processing, and marketing of agricultural products, and then developed scopes of work by gathering detailed and specific information for new short-term business consulting projects. Ms. Achilova has also been involved in organizing cooperative efforts between two international Agriculture Projects -TACIS Integrated Support for Food and Industry in Turkmenistan and WI Farmer-to-Farmer Program. As a result of this collaboration, the Soybean Project was carried out in cooperation with dozens of small and medium size businesses and farmers. Ms. Achilova holds a degree in History and Law from the Pedagogical Institute, in Lebap, Turkmenistan. She is fluent in English and has native fluency in the Turkmen and Russian languages.
Luiza Ergeshyieva
Luiza Ergeshyieva is responsible for all administrative and financial duties required to run a smooth office environment at the local office in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. She has been responsible for keeping accounting records, distributing wages, managing banking activities, allocating funds, managing balance sheets, working with contracts, executing agreements and upholding mutually beneficial relations with service providers. Prior to her supporting the Agriculture Technology Program, Ms. Ergehyieva served as an Office Manager at CLAS, a private consulting company. She provided logistical and administrative services, supervised service personnel, coordinated implementation activities of third-country and in country programs. She also assisted in organizing workshops and seminars, managed daily administrative operations, established work priorities, resolved problems related to financial matters, and regulated procurement of supplies. Through her accounting experience, Ms. Ergeshyieva has also managed accounting of medical equipment and storage and allocated funds for medical relief during catastrophic events. Luiza has finished the Bank College in Ashgabat in 1999 and has received a diploma in economics and bank programming and operations. She is fluent in English and has native fluency in the Turkmen and Russian languages.
