December 18, 2006

Paola I. Lang Joins ACDI/VOCA

ACDI/VOCA today welcomed Paola Lang as vice president for programs. In this newly created position she will coordinate portfolio planning and expansion, program monitoring and reporting, non-traditional business development and overseas outreach and representation.

Ms. Lang brings 22 years of international development experience ranging from project management in most regions of the world to technical work in business development at the macro and micro levels. Prior to joining ACDI/VOCA, Ms. Lang was a senior member of the business development team at DAI. Previously, she served as VP for economic policy and general business at Nathan Associates and VP of program development at Pact. In all of these capacities, Ms. Lang increased new business and developed systems and procedures for greater efficiency and efficacy.

Chief Operating Officer Bill Polidoro said, “Paola is the absolute right person to help ACDI/VOCA grow and become better organized.”

Ms. Lang’s field work, which has been funded by USAID, the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the African Development Bank and private clients, has ranged from organizing sales of PL 480 commodities in Africa, to restructuring troubled banks in Bangladesh, to managing social investment funds in Guinea to spurring enterprise growth in Croatia.

Ms. Lang earned her M.B.A. in finance and accounting at the University of Texas at Austin and her B.A. in French at Wellesley College. She is fluent in French.

For 44 years and in 145 countries, ACDI/VOCA has empowered people in developing and transitional nations to succeed in the global economy. ACDI/VOCA delivers technical and management assistance in agribusiness systems, financial services, enterprise development and community development in order to promote broad-based economic growth and vibrant civil society. ACDI/VOCA currently has approximately 90 projects in 40 countries and revenues of approximately $85 million.