Denis Gallagher
Chief of Party, The Compete Project | denis_gallagher@dai.com
A product of New York City neighborhoods, Denis Gallagher decided nearly 40 years ago to travel to Europe to finish his undergraduate degree in business economics. After a spell as an early United Nations (UN) volunteer planner for transport and infrastructure investment in Lesotho, Denis joined Enterprise Ireland (Irish Trade Board) in the 1980s and learned the intricacies of best practices for promoting small businesses entering international trade and the regulatory and policy initiatives that support investment and growth. Opportunities arising from Enterprise Ireland cooperation agreements allowed Denis to undertake assignments for the World Bank, the British and Irish governments, and UN agencies largely focused on policy and regulatory reform to enhance trade and investment. During the 1990s, he returned to the United States to work for a Fortune 50 information technology company managing new venture investment opportunities in international emerging markets and, later, worked for a number of private implementing partners for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Since joining DAI in the late 1990s, Denis has served as Managing Director of ECIAfrica, a subsidiary partly owned by DAI that manages projects in southern Africa; led business environment reform work under USAID’s Technical Assistance for Policy Reform II project in Egypt; was Chief of Party for the USAID Trade Capacity Program in Southern Africa; and was country director for the Support to Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprise Development (BIZPRO) project in Moldova. Denis is currently the Chief of Party on USAID’s new “The Compete Project” in the Palestinian Territories, building on his work as the senior policy advisor to the USAID-funded Market Access Program in the early 2000s.
- M.S., economics, London School of Economics
- B.B.A., public administration, City University of New York/University of Liverpool
“Maximum focus and maximum flexibility... are in need of balance in building momentum for development whether in emerging markets or developed economies. Innovation, the design of possible solutions, and their practical implementation with partner-clients fuels the development cycle.”
— Denis Gallagher