Our diverse team of professionals consistently delivers innovative and tailored solutions to effectively address today’s organizational challenges.
Dr. Theodore Burden – Director
Theodore Burden is a physician internist and a Director at Devconia, LLC. He has travelled professionally to several countries and regions and is very familiar with the local health issues and challenges confronting developing regions. He possesses a keen cultural understanding of how to tackle health and wellness problems faced in many countries and regions. Dr. Burden is also a co-owner of Urban Health Systems, Inc. UHS is a health provider and healthcare management organization incorporated in the State of Pennsylvania in 1984. Their principle function is oversight and medical directorship of a 500 bed county nursing home facility in Philadelphia. Dr Burden was introduced to the management and treatment of HIV/AIDS in the mid eighties. As the medical communities’ knowledge of HIV/AIDS change over time as both research and evidence based practices has alter the way we manage this disease. Dr. Burden has served as Attending Physician in the following institutions in Philadelphia: Albert Einstein Medical Center; North Philadelphia Health Systems and Temple University Hospital. In addition, Dr. Burden has traveled and worked in several emerging markets. His experience provides him with cultural sensitivity to meaningfully address various health challenges such as Malaria and high infant mortality rates among others. Dr. Burden is a Doctor of Medicine MD from Hahnemann University – Internal Medicine Residency at Pennsylvania Hospital; Clinical Instructor University of Pennsylvania Medical School. Dr. Burden also earned an MBA from Drexel University.
Constance Diané – Director
Constance Diané is director at Devconia LLC. She is a knowledgeable and skilled general manager, marketing and business development professional. Ms. Diané is a ten-year veteran of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) where she managed and coordinated a variety of marketing and business development initiatives. She meaningfully contributed to growing the firm’s revenues through her numerous roles in supporting and contributing to client service deliverables for fortune 500 companies. Ms. Diané has worked across multiple industry sectors and across functional areas including Governance Risk and Compliance (GRC), Process Improvement, Risk Management, Business Effectiveness and other advisory services. She possesses strong skills and knowledge in improving operational effectiveness in large matrix organizations with a keen eye to delivering cost savings. She enjoys providing practical, impactful value-added solutions to clients. She is skilled in project management, strategic planning, monitoring and evaluation. Ms. Diané holds a Masters in Business Administration.
Boubacar Diop – Manager
Boubacar Diop is an experienced Business Development Specialist at Devconia LLC. A seasoned international development and sustainability professional, Mr. Diop has extensive experience working in developing regions on various projects including oil palm agricultural development where he evaluated the socio-economic impact on local stakeholders. An agronomist with 26 years of public and private sector experience and over twelve year leading an International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), program analyzing, managing, and promoting all aspects of agriculture and environmental protection including food security, economic analysis, and rural community strategy planning. Mr. Diop has worked for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) where he worked with senior officers to further the goals and mission of this body. Mr. Diop possesses a keen awareness and understanding of the mining sector and its potential to improve livelihoods in communities. Mr. Diop has extensive knowledge and first-hand experience of socio-cultural and linguistic values. He is skilled in project management, strategic planning, monitoring and evaluation. Mr. Diop has extensive network of local community leaders, chiefs and civil society leaders, making him an invaluable asset for local stakeholder engagement. Mr. Diop earned his Bachelor of Arts in Agricultural Engineering and Master of Public Administration in Advanced Management at Columbia University’s School of International Public Affairs (SIPA) in New York.
Elizabeth C. During, PhD – Associate Director
Elizabeth During is an associate director at Devconia LLC. A seasoned cultural anthropologist has extensive knowledge and first-hand experience of Africa from a cultural and linguistic perspective. Ms. During has done extensive work on various ethnic groups with an appreciation of inter-ethnic relationships, traditions and dynamics. She has also worked on Africans in the diaspora and their relationships with their respective homelands, an important factor for capacity building, critical skills transference and sustainable economic development. Ms. During is an experienced researcher, trainer and consultant on community affairs. She has successfully worked on a Ford foundation funded research on the study of African religions. She has collaborated and coordinated a number of projects with various stakeholders including non-governmental organizations on a wide range of issues including gender equality and other issues. She is deeply committed to development and capacity building in developing regions and other developing regions through a strong understanding and sensitivity of local cultural norms and traditions. Ms. During earned her Masters of Arts in Anthropology from Hunter college in New York and her Doctorate Degree in Anthropology from Columbia University in New York.
Wilfred Ebun-Cole – Associate Manager
Wilfred Ebun-Cole is a Manager and senior consultant to Devconia. A Community Development practitioner and Agronomist by training, Mr. Ebun-Cole comes with extensive experience in the international development field spanning over 17 years. He has been directly involved in many participatory community development programs in diverse cultural settings. He led and managed numerous projects and is versed in program conception through design and implementation, monitoring and evaluation, project lifecycle and culturally relevant impact assessment. Mr. Ebun-Cole has collaborated with many government ministries, non-governmental organizations, local communities and groups in Africa and Europe as well as with multilateral organizations such as the United Nations, and its affiliate UNDP, European Union and the Department for International Development. Mr. Ebun-Cole’s many accomplishments include – building local capacity of small-scale fruit out-growers at Eloc Farms in Ghana; reviewed the emergency food response efforts of CAFOD partners in Zambia and Malawi during the 2005/06 drought in both countries and made recommendations for capacity strengthening in emergency preparedness and response and provided technical support in an advisory capacity to Ministries of Agriculture in emerging markets regarding their Agricultural Strategic Plan. Mr. Cole has Certificate in Extension and Adult Education; University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA and M. Agric Sc. (Agronomy); Kuban Agricultural Institute.
Anne de la Bouillerie Goeke – Director
Anne de la Bouillerie Goeke, has over 25 years of leadership experience in planning, developing, and maintaining programs using sustainable, holistic approaches for businesses, social enterprises and community building worldwide. She has worked on a wide range of initiatives and programs, including: ecotourism, ecological community development, fair-trade, waste management, urban youth programs, economic policy reform, local organic farming collectives, energy, agricultural initiative, health & wellness programs and ‘green’ markets.
Anne has designed programs to engage government, businesses, local leaders, and international development partners to participate as stakeholders in coming up with comprehensive plans to address major challenges in the implementation of a myriad of projects. She is also adept at assisting organizations in developing sound Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives. Additionally, Anne is an expert in local stakeholder analyses, engagement and management through the phases of stakeholder issue identification, prioritization of issues, scenario planning and strategic recommendations. This process is essential to an organization’s local engagement and project success by way of eliminating potential disruptions and ensuring business continuity.
Stephanie Jadotte – Administrative Officer
Ms. Jadotte is the office and project administrator at Devconia LLC. She is an experienced international development and public administration professional. As a bilingual (English & French) administrator, Ms. Jadotte has successfully managed numerous projects some requiring bilingual skills. She has worked across industry sectors abroad and in the United States. Some of which include the healthcare sector, legal and professional services. Ms. Jadotte has a strong interest in international development and cross-cultural management to assist organizations to succeed in emerging and developing countries while having a positive and sustainable impact in the communities in which they operate. Ms. Jadotte earned her Masters in Public Administration from the University of the District of Columbia in Washington D.C. and earned her Bachelor of Law at the State University of Haiti – School of Law and Economic Sciences.
Kenneth Johnson –Director
Kenneth Johnson is a Director at Devconia LLC, leading the strategic advisory and business development efforts. He specializes in international business development, private sector development, and international trade with a focus on emerging regions. He helps organizations better assess political, social and cultural risks for improved business performance and increased shareholder value. Mr. Johnson has worked with several governments and businesses to spur economic growth improve livelihoods and build local capacity. His engagements have included working with Development and Economic Development Agencies. Among many other engagements, Mr. Johnson worked with the private sector companies and multilateral institutions, such as the World Bank, to identify and provide practical economic development strategies, provided ongoing training at the U.S. Department of State’s Foreign Service Institute (FSI); cross-cultural business negotiations training at Johns Hopkins University’s Carey Business School. He brings a deep understanding of local political, social and cultural understanding to assist clients in frontier markets mitigate risks and address regulatory compliance issues. Prior to Devconia, Mr. Johnson spent over fifteen years at leading international professional services firms in the United States, including Ernst & Young, Accenture, and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), where he served as Marketing and Business Development Executive in his last two roles. Mr. Johnson holds a certificate in business studies from the London Chamber of Commerce & Industry and the Royal Society of Arts and is a graduate of Baruch College, The City University of New York.
Ernest Opong – Associate Director
Ernest Opong is an Associate Director at Devconia LLC. He is an experienced international development practitioner and mass communications expert. Mr. Opong has a wealth of experience in local stakeholder engagement and in promoting sustainability and responsible supply chain management in West and Central Africa. He is also the editor-in-chief of an outreach newspaper – Amandla. He has taught Communication Studies at the Borough of Manhattan Community College. Mr. Opong is also the director of Diaspora Strategy and Engagement at the Center for Media & Peace Initiative, a New York think tank. He has a BA in Philosophy from the University of Lagos, Nigeria and studied Mass Communication for his graduate degree at the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
Christian Palmer – Director
Christian Palmer is a Director at Devconia. An engineer with 30 years experience in the field, primarily in developing regions. Mr. Palmer has consistently leveraged his technical engineering knowledge and expertise to address infrastructural needs in a way that is culturally attuned, taking into account the needs of local stakeholders. Fully appreciating Africa’s infrastructural challenges, Mr. Palmer has championed the cause for more sustainable infrastructure throughout the continent from sustainable housing to critical bridges and infrastructures needed to link communities and markets in order to catalyze development. As such, he has managed numerous development projects requiring his technical skills and knowledge of the local terrain. Recognizing his accomplishments and the need for sustainable housing, Mr. Palmer served on the Board of Directors of several development corporations. Mr. Palmer also comes with a strong private sector background having worked for and consulted with multinational companies including Mobil Oil where he served in the capacity of Field Engineer and as General Manger for Afritone Oil. Mr. Palmer holds a Master of Science degree in Engineering from Volgograd Polytechnic Institute.
Earl Rasmussen, P.E. – Sr. Adviser
Mr. Earl Rasmussen, P.E. is former Army Lieutenant Colonel and a Senior Advisor with Devconia, LLC. He has over 20 years in the military where he has had assignments with major commands to include XVII Airborne Corps, VII Corps, and HQ US Army. Additionally, he was a principle technical advisor for multiple Defense Department organizations. Mr. Rasmussen has been involved in international business and international relations over the past 10 years. He has traveled extensively internationally forming strong international relationships. His international interests are primarily in US-Eurasian and US-African relations. He has supported senior management across multiple organizations in analysis, strategy development, and program oversight. Following his military career he was a Vice President for Strategy and Director for Organizational Transformation. Mr. Rasmussen holds a B.S. degree in Physics from the U.S. Military Academy and a M.S. degree in Computer Science from the University of Illinois. He has certifications in program management and is a licensed Professional Engineer.
Linda Saunders – Manager
Linda Carew Saunders is a Manager at Devconia, LLC. She comes with over seventeen years of development experience working at the International Monetary Fund (IMF). She is a procurement expert having managed various procurement functions and processes vital to development management and sustainability. She has worked in an advisory capacity assisting with various programs developed for poverty reduction and ultimately jobs creation. Ms. Carew Saunders is dedicated to supporting a strong private sector development as the main vehicle for sustainable growth in emerging markets. She possesses deep understanding of local political and social dynamics of many emerging countries as well as the aspirational goals of many cultures in Africa, specifically in the Western sub region. As a strong supporter of universal education in developing regions, Ms. Carew Saunders has championed and promoted mobile libraries in emerging regions to include remote villages and she co-chairs an educational and literacy project in Sierra Leone. Additionally, her interest in the economic and social mobility in various emerging markets. This led her to serve as a board member of the Immigrant and Refugee Foundation based in Maryland. Ms. Carew Saunders is a graduate of Business Administration from the University of Maryland.