DAI Welcomes New Board Members, Bids Farewell to Longtime Directors

May 06, 2013

DAI is delighted to welcome its two newest members of the Board of Directors: Maria Otero and Gail Steinel.

Maria Otero joins the board from the Department of State, where from 2009 until February 2013 she served as Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights, overseeing U.S. foreign relations on issues ranging from democracy and human rights to criminal justice and violent extremism. Born in Bolivia, Maria was—at the time of her departure—the State Department’s highest ranking Hispanic official, and she was the first Latina Under Secretary in its history.

Before joining State, Maria was President and CEO of ACCION International, a pioneer organization in the field of microfinance. She is steeped in the issues of gender and inclusive economic growth, having also served as the Economist for Latin America in the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)’s Women in Development office.

Gail Steinel is the owner of Executive Advisors, which provides consulting services to chief executive officers and leadership seminars to various organizations. Gail was for more than two decades a senior executive at Arthur Andersen, leading its Business Consulting Business. She steered her team through its sale to KPMG Consulting (later BearingPoint) and retired from BearingPoint in 2007 as Executive Vice President of Global Commercial Services.

Twice recognized as one of Consulting Magazine’s Top 25 Consultants, Gail is the executive-in-residence and leadership instructor for its leadership programs at the Yale School of Management. She has also lectured on leadership development at West Point and Harvard Business School, and is currently the co-instructor of Leadership in Crisis for Villanova’s Executive MBA program.

“We are delighted to welcome two extraordinary women to our Board of Directors,” said James Boomgard, DAI President and CEO. “Their range of experience and depth of insight will be an enormous help to DAI as we seek to serve new and existing clients around the world.”

At the same time as DAI welcomes its new board members, it bids farewell to two important directors who have been part of the DAI family, collectively, for 79 years. David Gunning and Tony Barclay stepped down from their board positions this month.

[Jean Gilson][5], Senior Vice President of Strategy and Marketing, awards outgoing Board Chairman David Gunning.

A close friend of DAI’s founders, David Gunning wrote the company’s original articles of incorporation in 1970 and has served on the board ever since, chairing it for the past 15 years. David was Vice Chairman of Cleveland-Cliffs, Inc., an international natural resources company, responsible for the implementation of strategic initiatives, and he served as Chairman, President, and CEO of Capitol American Financial Corporation (an insurance holding company) from 1993 until its sale in spring 1997.

Before joining Capitol, he was a partner at Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue. From April 1972 to September 1973, he was appointed to the Executive Office of the President of the United States, serving as Staff Assistant to the President and Assistant Director of the Council on International Economic Policy.

Tony Barclay is DAI’s former CEO and has served on the Board of Directors continuously since 1979. Tony began his development career in 1968 with Peace Corps service in Kenya, returning there for Ph.D. research in anthropology on a pioneering rural development project. He joined DAI’s development consulting staff in 1977, was named President in 1990, and succeeded Don Mickelwait, one of DAI’s three founders, as CEO in 1999.

Tony has been a board member of the Corporate Council on Africa, is past President of the Washington Chapter of the Society for International Development, is a founding board member of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, and served for three years as president of its nonprofit affiliate, the Center for U.S. Global Engagement. He currently teaches at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs, and serves on the boards of The Mountain Institute, where he is a Trustee, and Social & Scientific Systems, Inc., where he is Chairman.

“Dave Gunning and Tony Barclay have been giants in the history of our firm and wonderful servants to DAI from its earliest days,” said Boomgard. “Their legacy is a forward-looking company built on passion, principle, and performance. We thank them for their guidance and their counsel over the years, and wish them the very best in the next phase of their lives.”

From left: Tony Barclay, James Boomgard, David Gunning, and co-founder Don Mickelwait.