Contact the Global Partnership Initiative
Email: Partnerships@State.gov
Phone: (202) 647-2200
Fax: (202) 647-7631
Mail:
Global Partnership Initiative
Harry S Truman Building, US Department of State
2201 C Street NW Suite 6817
Washington, DC 20520
Kris M. Balderston
Special Representative for Global Partnerships
Kris M. Balderston serves as the Special Representative for Global Partnerships at the Global Partnership Initiative within the Office of the Secretary of State. Prior to his role at the U.S. Department of State, Kris was Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s first Legislative Director in January 2001 before serving as her Deputy Chief of Staff from 2002-2009. As Deputy Chief of Staff, Mr. Balderston accomplished numerous successful private-public partnerships under the direction of then Senator Clinton with multiple stakeholders in the State of New York. At the Global Partnership Initiative, Kris leads global public-private partnerships in support of the Secretary’s priorities, including two flagship initiatives launched in 2010, the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves and Partners for New Beginning, as well as two new endeavors in 2011 on diaspora engagement and investing with impact. More»
Jim Thompson
Deputy Special Representative for Global Partnerships
Jim Thompson serves as Deputy Special Representative for Global Partnerships in the Global Partnership Initiative within the Office of the Secretary of State. He is the Managing Director of the office and provides leadership on partnerships for water, food security and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Programming. Jim served as the Acting Director of the U.S. Department of State’s Global Partnership Center and is the former Acting Director of the U.S. Agency for International Development's (USAID's) Global Development Alliance, which is the Agency's business model for the replicable use of public-private alliances. He was responsible for overall management and strategy of the activity and managed major corporate partner relationships for the Agency. Jim has 20 years of Government experience, previously serving at USAID as a Food for Peace Officer and a Program Officer in the Europe and Eurasia Bureau. He also was a Contracting Officer at USAID and at the U.S. Department of Energy and has used his acquisition and assistance experience to create new public-private partnership models.
Jim has taught management courses throughout Africa, Latin America and Europe for the USAID, and he was also responsible for developing the alliance builder training program delivered by Global Development Alliances both in Washington and at USAID missions globally. Jim is a frequent speaker on public-private partnerships and practitioner building numerous alliances. Jim was a Rotary Ambassadorial scholar to New Zealand in 1990 and completed his Master of Arts in Political Studies at the University of Auckland, New Zealand.
Gloria Cabe
Senior Advisor
Gloria Cabe serves as Senior Advisor at the Global Partnership Initiative in the Office of the Secretary of State, focusing on democratic governance and human rights issues. Prior to this role, she worked at James Lee Witt Associates, a crisis and emergency management consulting firm, where she provided guidance and support for several of the firm’s clients as Managing Director of International affairs in numerous countries including the Maldives, Budapest, Albania, Greece, Trinidad, Tobago, and tsunami affected countries in south and southeast Asia. Under her management, the International Practice grew significantly, with the practice opening an office in Beijing, China, in 2008 and entering into many partnership agreements around the world, from Australia, to Norway to Greece.
Prior to joining James Lee Witt Associates, Gloria's previous private sector experience included serving as President of Emerging Market Strategies, Vice President and COO of the Corporate Council on Africa, and Vice President of The Ridley Group, all based in Washington, D.C. Gloria has over 20 years experience in public service as a senior advisor to the highest level executives at the state, federal and international levels of government, including as Counselor to the Chairman and Board of Directors of the Export-Import Bank of the United States. While serving 10 years as a member of the House of Representatives in the Arkansas State Legislature, Gloria provided leadership in many areas and served as Floor Whip for Governor Bill Clinton; and in 1991, Gloria became the Chief of Staff for Governor Clinton, where she shepherded the most successful legislative program in the Governor's 13 year tenure.
Thomas Debass
Director for Global Partnerships
Thomas Debass serves as a Director for Global Partnerships in the Global Partnership Initiative, responsible for economic growth, global finance, and entrepreneurship; as well as leading the Department’s Diaspora engagement efforts. Prior to joining S/GPI, he was Lead Economist in the Office of Investment Policy with the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) in Washington, DC. At OPIC he was responsible for economic evaluation and monitoring of OPIC-supported private investment projects in emerging and frontier markets. Thomas also served as a senior technical advisor in USAID’s Global Development Alliance (GDA) and Economic Growth, Agriculture and Trade (EGAT) teams. In this dual role, Thomas designed and launched new and innovative partnerships around Diaspora-led activities; and also coordinated EGAT/MD's work on microfinance’s transition to private capital, loan guarantees, and broader financial sector partnerships.
Prior to his development finance career, Thomas worked as a consultant for agricultural research project in East Africa; and served as research associate for USAID-supported Integrated Pest Management – Collaborative Research Support Program (IPM-CRSP) in Bangladesh and Uganda. Thomas is a graduate of Virginia Tech with a master’s degree in Applied Economics and a bachelor’s in Economics. He also has an Executive Certificate in International Business Management from the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University.
Lala Faiz
Senior Partnership Advisor
Lalarukh (Lala) Faiz serves as the Senior Partnerships Advisor in the U.S. Secretary of State’s Office of Global Partnership Initiatives. She leads GPI’s Investing With Impact initiative and manages other economic growth partnerships. Previously, she served as a USAID Foreign Service Officer where she developed new business opportunities through public-private partnerships in emerging markets such as Colombia, Ecuador and South Africa and structured credit guarantees to increase access to rural finance. Prior to that, she consulted for Booz Allen Hamilton, Healthcare Redesign International and numerous NGOs. Lala began her career as a researcher at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke/National Institutes of Health. She holds her BA in Neuroscience and History from Oberlin College and her Master of Public Health from the University of California, Berkeley.
Robert R. Haynie
Global Partnerships Liaison
Robert Haynie serves as a Senior Advisor and Special Assistant to Kris Balderston, the U.S. Special Representative for Global Partnerships in the Office of the Secretary of State's Global Partnership Initiative (S/GPI). Before joining the State Department, Robert worked in Booz Allen Hamilton's Diplomacy and International Development practice helping a variety of clients across a range of multi-sectorial projects. During Robert’s time at Booz Allen Hamilton, he worked with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) implementing competitiveness projects in Serbia for select industries to receive targeted programmatic investments. Before joining Booz Allen Hamilton, Robert worked with USAID’s Global Development Alliance (GDA) on public-private alliances and participated in USAID's Emerging Markets Development Advisors Program in Jordan for a year to support a local non-profit organization helping Jordanian small and medium-sized enterprises. Robert also lived in China for three years working with Microsoft Corporation managing regional operations and process re-engineering projects. Robert has a Bachelors of Science in International Affairs with a focus in Chinese studies and an MBA from Georgetown University with an honors certificate in International Business Diplomacy from the School of Foreign Service.
Jacob Moss
Director of U.S. Cookstoves Initiatives
Jacob Moss is the Director of U.S. Cookstoves Initiatives at the Global Partnership Initiative in the Office of the Secretary at the U.S. Department of State. In this role, Jacob coordinates U.S. government cookstoves work across all U.S. federal agencies and leads U.S. government cooperation with the UN Foundation and the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves. Prior to coming to GPI, Jacob was instrumental in conceiving and developing the Cookstove Alliance. Earlier, he led efforts to create the EPA-led Partnership for Clean Indoor Air – a forerunner of the Alliance – and chaired an informal cross-agency working group on cookstoves-related topics. In other roles at EPA, Jacob has served as a senior energy advisor for high-priority domestic energy initiatives and coordinated international air quality efforts for EPA. Jacob has also held positions with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, the U.S. Peace Corps, Clean Water Action, GE Capital, and IBM. He holds a Master in Public Affairs degree with a certificate in Science, Technology, and Environmental Policy from Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School, and a Bachelor of Science degree (Engineering Physics) from Cornell University.
Deena S. Shakir
Global Partnerships Advisor
Deena Shakir is a Presidential Management Fellow in the Global Partnership Initiative, where she serves as a Global Partnerships Advisor. She leads the office's efforts to engage global diaspora communities in the development of and diplomacy with their countries of origin via public-private partnerships and was a key architect in the launch of The International diaspora Engagement Alliance (IdEA). Deena has previously worked with USAID's Global Development Alliance, The Aspen Institute, Aga Khan Foundation, World Affairs Council, Global Philanthropy Forum, BBC News, and Al Arabiya News. She also has experience with the Dubai School of Government, UAE Prime Minister's Office, and the French Institute for International Relations. She is a graduate of Harvard University, where she received honors in Social Studies and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, and she holds a masters degree in Arab Studies from the Georgetown School of Foreign Service. Of Iraqi origin, has served as a Director on the Board of the Harvard Arab Alumni Association since 2007, where she leads their effort to recruit students from the Arab world. She also serves on the board of the Abraham Path Initiative, and the Harvard Alumni Association.
