Two USDA FAS insiders. One Wall Street capital-markets advisor. One engagement manager. One former USAID FFP analyst. One Emax generalist.

Jelani House

Engagement Manager · COR Liaison · Training & Handover Lead

Founder & Principal Consultant, House Strategies Group

Jelani is HSG's Engagement Manager and the Government's primary point of contact across this contract. He owns the biweekly reporting cadence (PWS 3.6.1), monthly COR dialogue (PWS 3.6.2), Technical Issue Coordination protocol (PWS 3.6.3), and the final 90-day USDA staff training and handover (PWS 3.7) including the competency assessment. From 2008 through 2024, Jelani supported HUD's Federal Housing Administration Office of Asset Sales — first as Senior Project Manager at Novad Management Consulting, LLC, then as Associate Director, Public Sector Financial Services at Guidehouse, LLP — 16 years of continuous federal-advisory execution. He is the architect of HSG's AI-augmented service delivery methodology and AI/Expert Reconciliation Log audit-defense framework. As HSG's 8(a) principal of record, Jelani is authorized to negotiate and execute on HSG's behalf.

• →Founder & Principal — House Strategies Group · SBA 8(a) Small Disadvantaged Business
• →16 years HUD/FHA Office of Asset Sales execution-layer experience (2008–2024)
• →Senior Project Manager, Novad Management Consulting · Associate Director, Public Sector Financial Services, Guidehouse
• →Architect, HSG AI-augmented service delivery methodology
• →AI/Expert Reconciliation Log — federal AI governance under OMB M-25-21/M-25-22, NIST AI RMF
• →Authorized 8(a) principal of record

Maurice W. House

Senior FAS Advisor · Title II Subject-Matter Expert

Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer, House Strategies Group

Maurice is HSG's Co-Founder and CEO, and HSG's senior USDA Foreign Agricultural Service subject-matter authority on this contract. He is a retired U.S. Senior Foreign Service Officer at the rank of Minister Counselor — the senior career rank of the U.S. Foreign Service — with 38 years inside USDA Foreign Agricultural Service. As Counselor for Agricultural Affairs at U.S. Embassy Islamabad (1995–1998), Maurice ran the first P.L. 480 soybean program in Pakistan, oversaw the $300 million USDA Commodity Credit Corporation GSM-102 program, and executed the first U.S. wheat export to Taliban-led Afghanistan — direct Title II execution in precisely the unstable, non-traditional operating environment this PWS describes. As Special Assistant to the FAS Administrator (2007–2008) he headed the interagency task force responding to the 2007–2009 global food price crisis; the framework his task force built was used as reference material by the President, the Secretary of Agriculture, and the National Security Council. From 2008–2010 he served as Deputy Administrator, FAS Office of Global Analysis, supervising 75 economists and analysts; from 2010–2014 he served as Minister Counselor at the U.S. Mission to the European Union in Brussels. From 1989–1992 he served as USDA FAS Asia/Middle East Export Credits Manager, managing a $1.2 billion U.S. Government agricultural export credit portfolio. M.S. Agricultural Economics, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

• →Retired Minister Counselor, U.S. Senior Foreign Service (highest career rank)
• →First P.L. 480 soybean program in Pakistan (Islamabad, 1995–1998)
• →$300M USDA Commodity Credit Corporation GSM-102 program oversight (Islamabad)
• →First U.S. wheat export to Taliban-led Afghanistan — direct PWS 3.3 analog
• →Head, 2007–2009 global food-price-crisis interagency task force (White House, USDA, NSC)
• →Deputy Administrator, FAS Office of Global Analysis (75 staff, 2008–2010)
• →$1.2B USDA FAS export-credit portfolio manager (Asia/Middle East, 1989–1992)
• →Brussels (US Mission to EU) + Beijing Minister Counselor postings
• →Counselor postings: Bangkok, Islamabad, Lagos; Attaché in Algiers
• →M.S. Agricultural Economics, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
• →Languages: French (advanced), Chinese, Thai

Kevin Latner

Senior FAS Advisor · Food for Progress Monetization SME · Cross-Cutting Programs Lead

Principal, Latner & Associates

Kevin is HSG's second USDA Foreign Agricultural Service insider on this contract — and brings two bodies of work that map almost one-to-one onto the PWS scope. First, his USDA Food for Progress execution history: Kevin led the commodity monetization piece of Food for Progress, including the market-assessment methodology for how to monetize particular commodities in particular markets to fund development activities. Food for Progress is the sister USDA program to Food for Peace, structurally analogous on every operating dimension that matters to this transition, making Kevin's execution history near-analog past performance for the RFQ. Second, his current consulting practice: Kevin advises on the transition of international development programs from grant-based give-away models into business-focused programs targeting positive externalities — a framework aligned with the current administration's policy direction away from open-ended grants and toward outcome-focused, market-anchored program designs, and directly applicable to the America First framing PWS 3.1 requires. His 25+ year senior FAS career spanned postings in Beijing, Chengdu, Tokyo, and Washington (1996–2010) — overlapping Maurice House's Beijing tenure — followed by Senior Director, China Office at the U.S. Grains Council (2010–11) and Executive Director, Cotton Council International (2011–14, three consecutive USDA FAS MAP/FMD Unified Export Strategy submissions for a $25 million global program). Currently Principal of Latner & Associates. M.S. Agricultural Economics + J.D. International Trade Law, UC Davis; California State Bar (1995). Conversant in Chinese, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish.

• →USDA Food for Progress commodity monetization lead — sister USDA program to Food for Peace; near-analog past performance for this RFQ
• →Market-assessment methodology for monetizing specific commodities in specific markets to fund development activities
• →Current consulting practice: transitioning international development from grant-based give-away models to business-anchored programs with targeted positive externalities
• →Framework directly aligned with the current administration's policy shift away from open-ended grants — operationalizes the America First framing PWS 3.1 requires
• →25+ years U.S. Foreign Agricultural Service: Beijing, Chengdu, Tokyo, Washington
• →Director, USDA FAS Agricultural Trade Office Chengdu (2008–10)
• →Attaché, US Embassy Beijing (2005–07; overlapping Maurice's tour)
• →Senior Director, China Office, U.S. Grains Council (2010–11)
• →Executive Director, Cotton Council International (2011–14; $25M global program)
• →Three consecutive USDA FAS MAP/FMD Unified Export Strategy submissions
• →Principal, Latner & Associates
• →M.S. Agricultural Economics + J.D. International Trade Law (UC Davis); CA Bar 1995
• →Languages: Chinese, Italian, Japanese, Spanish

Audrey McGuirePMP

Senior Capital-Markets Advisor · Bilateral Co-Investment Architecture

Chief Executive Officer & Founding Partner, Emax Financial & Real Estate Advisory Services, LLC

Audrey is HSG's Senior Capital-Markets Advisor on this contract and the senior firm principal contributed by HSG's teaming partner Emax. She is the Chief Executive Officer and founding partner of Emax Financial & Real Estate Advisory Services, LLC (founded 1989, WOSB, GSA Schedule 47QRAA18D0094). Audrey started her career as a Wall Street investment banker and brings forty-plus years of public-private real estate, capital-markets, and federal financial advisory experience to the engagement. She holds a B.S.F.S. in International Economics from Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service and is a Project Management Institute PMP. Over the past decade Audrey has led, as Engagement Manager or Senior Advisor, multi-year and multi-million dollar federal advisory engagements for the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Air Force Civil Engineer Center, the General Services Administration, the District of Columbia, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Her career-long expertise spans Military Housing Privatization Initiative (MHPI) deal architecture, Public-Private Ventures (PPV), enhanced-use leasing, federal portfolio management, government budgeting, capital-market financing structures, asset valuation, feasibility analysis, and program risk evaluation — the precise capital-markets and deal-architecture toolkit the administration's bilateral co-investment doctrine asks federal contractors to apply to foreign-aid programming. On this contract, Audrey provides senior firm oversight at no additional cost to HSG (her time is included in the Emax fixed subcontract value), with focus on PWS 3.1 America First framing, PWS 3.4 Geography & Commodity Prioritization, and PWS 3.5 Non-Emergency Programming.

• →Chief Executive Officer & founding partner of Emax (founded 1989; 37-year continuous federal advisory practice)
• →Career began as a Wall Street investment banker — direct capital-markets discipline applied to public-private federal advisory
• →B.S.F.S. International Economics, Georgetown University School of Foreign Service
• →PMP — Project Management Institute
• →Multi-year federal engagements: VA, OSD, AFCEC, GSA, DC, HUD
• →Expertise: MHPI/PPV deal architecture, enhanced-use leasing, federal portfolio management, capital-market financing, asset valuation
• →Partner, Emax Fund (real estate investment fund)
• →Direct deal-architecture credential for the administration's bilateral co-investment foreign-aid doctrine

HSG's Senior Analyst is a direct HSG W-2 employee, named at award, with prior United States Agency for International Development Food for Peace programming experience. The position is structured as a $120,000 annual salary HSG hire (with benefits) rather than a contingent contract role — providing the engagement with both federal-grade FFP execution experience and HSG-owned employment continuity. The Senior Analyst is on-site at USDA HQ Washington, DC three days per week for the full twelve-month period of performance, carrying deliverable production across all five PWS scope areas under the direction of HSG's Engagement Manager and senior FAS advisors.

• →Prior USAID Food for Peace programming experience (required for hire)
• →HSG W-2 direct employee — not a contingent contract role
• →Three days per week on-site at USDA HQ Washington DC for the full 12-month POP
• →$120,000 annual HSG salary structure with benefits
• →Deliverable production lead across all five PWS scope areas
• →Works under direction of Engagement Manager + senior FAS advisors
• →Continuous on-site presence anchors USDA stakeholder relationships and biweekly reporting cadence