Gather with international development leaders
Constant changes and challenges are confronting the international development community. Attend the 11th Annual PSC Development Conference to hear directly from USAID, State Department, and other senior government leaders on the topics that matter most to your company.
PSC’s Council of International Development Companies will have its 12th Annual Development Conference on December 10, 2024. This half-day conference will explore the factors shaping the evolution of international capacity building, related shared government and international development company (IDC) objectives, and the roles and contributions of IDCs supporting U.S. government agencies’ critical missions
Featured Speakers
Michele Sumilas is Acting Deputy Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development. Deputy Sumilas previously served as the Assistant to the Administrator of the Bureau for Planning, Learning and Resource Management (PLR). PLR strengthens the Agency’s policy voice and leadership in the interagency by better aligning budgetary considerations, planning processes, implementation discipline, and monitoring and evaluation with our development and humanitarian priorities.
Before that, she served as the Assistant to the Administrator of the Bureau for Policy, Planning and Learning. She previously served as Executive Director of Bread for the World, an anti-hunger Christian advocacy organization. Her government experience includes serving as USAID Chief of Staff and Deputy Chief of Staff during the Obama administration, and on the House Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations. Prior to serving in government, Sumilas worked at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Global Health Council.
Sumilas attended Mount Holyoke College and received her Master's Degree in public health from Johns Hopkins University's Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Erin Elizabeth McKee serves as the Assistant Administrator in the Bureau for Europe and Eurasia (E&E) at USAID.
Prior to joining the Bureau for Europe and Eurasia, Assistant Administrator McKee served as the United States Ambassador to the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, to the Solomon Islands, and to the Republic of Vanuatu from 2019 to 2022. Prior to her ambassadorial appointment, she served as the Deputy Chief of Mission at U.S. Embassy Jakarta, and Mission Director for USAID/Indonesia and USAID/ASEAN, also in Jakarta.
Assistant Administrator McKee is a member of the Senior Foreign Service, with the rank of Career Minister, and brings a wealth of foreign policy and development experience to her position. Prior to her tour in Indonesia, Assistant Administrator McKee served as the Senior Deputy Assistant to the Administrator for the Human Capital and Talent Management Office (HCTM). She also served as the Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator for the Bureau of Policy, Planning and Learning (PPL). Preceding her assignments in Washington, D.C., Assistant Administrator McKee was the USAID Regional Mission Director for Central Asia. There she was responsible for direct management of USAID’s programs in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. Before her assignment in Central Asia, Assistant Administrator McKee was the supervisory contracting officer at USAID’s missions in Iraq, South America (covering Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay and Brazil), and West Bank-Gaza. From 1995 to 1999 she served as a private enterprise officer, then as the chief of the economic growth office in USAID/Russia. Assistant Administrator McKee was recruited as a Foreign Service Officer in 1995 from the private sector.
Before her U.S. government career, Assistant Administrator McKee served as the general manager and then Executive Director for Capital Investment Group’s (CIG) Russia operations, and earlier for Morrison Knudsen, Inc.’s international mining division throughout the former Soviet Union. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, and a master’s degree from the University of Washington. She speaks Russian, Spanish, and Bahasa Indonesia.
Dwight Deneal is the assistant administrator for the Office of Small Business Programs at NASA Headquarters in Washington. In this role, Deneal provides executive leadership, policy direction, and management for programs that help ensure small businesses are given a fair chance to work with the agency.
Having joined NASA Feb. 14, 2024, Deneal brings over a decade of experience leading small business and federal acquisition programs to the agency. Prior to his arrival at NASA, he served as the director for the Defense Logistics Agency’s Office of Small Business Programs, where he supervised all small business programs and contracting activities.
Prior to that, Deneal also served as the director for the Small Business and Industry Liaison Programs at the U.S. Coast Guard, part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. In this capacity, he led all small business and socio-economic related guidelines, policies, regulations, and was the authority for planning and carrying out acquisition activities in support of small business programs. Deneal’s experience also includes supporting the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Education, and U.S Department of Navy.
In addition to his NASA role, Deneal serves as the vice chairman of the Federal Interagency Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization Directors Council. This organization of federal small business program officials meet regularly to exchange and discuss information on small business methods, issues, and strategies.
A native of Columbia, South Carolina, Deneal graduated from Hampton University in Hampton, Virginia, where he earned a bachelor’s in Business Management. He also is a graduate of Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government Executive Education program. Deneal was the recipient of the 2018 U.S. Department of Homeland Security Chief Procurement Officer Excellence in Industry Engagement Award. He is married and has two children.
Paul K. Martin was confirmed by the United States Senate as Inspector General for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) on December 18, 2023. Prior to his current role, Mr. Martin served for 14 years as Inspector General at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
Mr. Martin has also served as Vice Chair of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC) since its formation in April 2020. Congress established the PRAC at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic to facilitate oversight of the federal government $5 trillion in pandemic relief funding.
Before his NASA appointment, Mr. Martin served as the Deputy Inspector General and held other leadership positions at the U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General (OIG) for more than 12 years.
Mr. Martin also spent 13 years at the U.S. Sentencing Commission in a variety of positions before joining the Department of Justice OIG, including 6 years as the Commission's Deputy Staff Director. Mr. Martin was one of the Sentencing Commission's first employees when the agency was created in 1985 and helped develop the first set of federal sentencing guidelines.
Mr. Martin began his professional career as a reporter with The Greenville News, a daily newspaper in Greenville, S.C. He holds a B.A. in Journalism from The Pennsylvania State University and a Juris Doctor from The Georgetown University Law Center.
Mr. Martin is married to Rebekah Liu, an attorney working in Washington, D.C. A native of Pittsburgh, PA, he and his wife have three daughters.
Featured Sessions
Registration options
In-Person Registration
In-Person Access
Includes:
- Registration for one person
- Access to all event sessions
- Buffet lunch
- Post-event happy hour
- On-demand sessions
Virtual Registration
Live Virtual Access
Includes:
- Registration for one person
- Access to all event sessions
- Q&A audience access through chat function
- On-demand sessions
Government Registration
Access for Government
Complimentary With Valid Government Email Address
Includes:
- Registration for one person
- Access to all event sessions
- In-person or live virtual access
- All event sessions
- On-demand sessions
Plan Your Trip
PSC's Development Conference is located at the Westin Arlington Gateway Hotel in the Washington, DC Metro Region. Conveniently near two major airports, Metro, bus routes, and plenty of on-site parking.
Things to Do in the Area
Driven by innovation and urban cool, Ballston is a lively neighborhood featuring the Ballston Quarter complex surrounded by quiet park-laced areas.