Executive Management
Joan C. Parker
President & CEO
A native of Michigan, Parker's early development experience began in Kenya with her PhD research in Agricultural Economics for Michigan State University. Parker later joined DAI (Development Alternatives, Inc.) and went on to develop and lead several of organization's notable projects in microfinance, microenterprise development and HIV/AIDS response. She is known for working at the interface between technical areas, such as her pioneering work in HIV/AIDS and microfinance, and conflict recovery and market access. Over her last four years with DAI, she served on the Executive Team, leading functions of knowledge management, marketing and communication, new business development, human resources and strategy development. Since 2007, Parker has worked as strategic consultant to U.S. industry, expanding private sector investments to the international development arena. The Counterpart Board cited her proven leadership in public and private sector programming, in international team development and management, as well as in development initiatives that have had global reach as key reasons for her selection.
Mary Au
Vice President, Finance & Compliance
Mary comes to Counterpart from MSI International, where she served as Deputy Chief Financial Officer for over two years, managing annual revenues of over $170 million, primarily with USAID contracts. Mary brings significant experience in the not-for-profit world to Counterpart.
She served as the Chief Financial Officer/Director of Finance for the Eurasia Foundation, Inc. from 2006-2008. Before that, she was the Chief Financial Officer for Wild Aid, Inc, an international environmental non-profit. Mary also brings domestic non-profit and government financial experience, serving as Director of Operations and CFO for the Massachusetts Office for Victim Assistance in Boston, MA.
Mary holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Boston College and an MBA from Arizona State University. She is also certified in corporate compliance and ethics and is a certified fraud examiner.
Sibel Berzeg
Vice President, Government and Civil Society Strengthening
Sibel Berzeg has more than 18 years experience designing, implementing, assessing, monitoring and evaluating a wide range of civil society programs spanning the Middle East, Eurasia, Central Asia, Southeast Asia and Africa. Sibel brings to Counterpart the valuable perspective of having worked for USAID, and for the private and non-profit sectors on international development programs.
Sibel has eight years project design, management and development experience in the field (7 years Chief and Regional Executive) in seven countries spanning the former Soviet Union and Iraq, managing more than 130 expatriate and local staff and approximately $4 million annually in funding for more than 50 different projects.
As Director for New Initiatives (2005-2009) for Counterpart's Civil Society practice area, Sibel was Proposal Lead for approximately $15 million annually in successful civil society proposals to USAID and other donors; specialized in monitoring and evaluation systems for proposed and funded programs; was responsible for set-up of new programs in the field, including the development of work plans, performance frameworks and operational launch; among other responsibilities.
In her current position, Vice President for Civil Society Development, she leads Counterpart's civil society new business development, and serves as a member of the company's Executive Team which determines and assesses the overall direction and strategies for management and growth of the organization. Sibel concurrently serves as Director for the $207 million USAID-funded Global Civil Society Strengthening program, and as such is responsible for program development, management and implementation of a wide range of civil society programs around the world and for managing nine world class consortium partners and five resource partners.
As a specialist in Monitoring and Evaluation, Sibel is the principal designer and implementer of a wide range of assessment and performance monitoring systems and tools to measure performance against targets. She has intimate knowledge of USG and EC development programs, regulations, management systems and priorities. She also currently sits on the Boards of Directors of two non-profit organizations in Georgia and Ukraine.
Tim Ogborn
Senior Vice President
Tim has over 28 years experience in the international development field. He spent much of his early years working with farmer and grass-roots community groups on building capacity for agricultural, pastoralist, and livelihoods development in different regions around the world, with particular time in East Africa.
His comes to Counterpart from Save the Children, where he served as Associate Vice President, Livelihoods, and was responsible for technical leadership and new business development around all livelihood and food security programs. Prior to Save the Children, he held leadership roles and served on the executive team of Heifer International for five years. He holds a BSc in Mathematics from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, U.K. and a MSc in Agricultural Engineering from Silsoe College, Cranfield Institute of Technology, U.K. At Counterpart, Tim oversees the practice areas of Livelihoods and Economic Development (LED) and Nutrition Health and Human Services (NHHS). He also leads the consolidation and development of Counterpart’s cross-cutting thematic expertise in gender, health and climate change.
