Management Changes at the MCC

John Danilovich just finished his first day on the job as the MCC's new CEO. And tomorrow he will find himself knee-deep in a muck of difficult issues facing the institution as it evolves out of its start-up phase into a full fledged foreign aid operation. With the return to Treasury of Clay Lowery, VP of Markets and Sector Assessments, MCC watchers already concerned with the low numbers of development experts and the lack of poverty reduction impact assessments of MCC programs, are wondering who in the MCC is the development policy and best practice balance to what appears to be an economic rate of return-focused country operations.Word on the streets is that Rodney Bent will be appointed to a new position in the MCC, VP of Policy and International Relations. Rodney is an extremely experienced and well-respected budget and accounting professional who played a critical role in the transition of Iraq. Less obvious is the development policy, international organization, and on-the-ground experience that the institution needs in such a critical position and the number of staff he will have to support his efforts. And what happens to the vacated VP for Markets and Sector Assessments post? As the MCC grows, it will be crucial for it to have a team of development and technical/sector experts to make sure the lessons learned from past foreign aid programs are not repeated and that country operations perform the due diligence assessments and civil society consultations necessary to bring poverty reduction with growth. Let me know what you think -- we will be pulling together some thoughts on staffing and institutional structure in the next few weeks.