Three USDA FAS career officers. The FFP Emergency Indicator Handbook's original author. Wall Street capital-markets discipline. Continuous on-site coverage at USDA HQ DC.

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

Diana L. CaleyPhD, PMP

Senior M&E Advisor and Training Lead

Senior M&E Advisor and Training Lead (HSG Independent Contractor — at-will, remote, ~2 days/wk target across the 12-month POP), House Strategies Group

Diana is HSG's Senior M&E Advisor and Training Lead — leading the M&E architecture across the deliverable portfolio (primary authorship of the Programmatic Reporting Guide, M&E elements of the Risk Management Guide, and M&E content embedded across other process guides) and the 90-day USDA Staff Training and Handover phase under PWS §3.7 (including competency-assessment design and administration). Her engagement is governed by a Restated and Amended Independent Contractor Agreement countersigned May 25, 2026 — at-will, remote, targeting an average cadence of approximately two days per week across the twelve-month POP. She authored the USAID Food for Peace Emergency Indicator Handbook (199 indicators) — the definitive reference document defining the standard and custom performance indicators, measurement protocols, data collection methods, baseline and target-setting methodologies, and reporting frameworks USDA has now adopted for FFP Title II programs. She co-authored the BHA Monitoring and Evaluation Technical Guidance establishing institutional standards for monitoring, evaluation, compliance verification, and accountability across U.S. government emergency food assistance programming. Diana brings 18 years of progressive M&E experience across 19 countries — including direct field experience in three of the seven FY25 NOFO priority countries (Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Rwanda). At USAID's Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance she served most recently as Regional Humanitarian Advisor in Pretoria (October 2023–September 2025), providing strategic M&E oversight for a $305 million multi-country humanitarian portfolio across 7 Southern Africa countries. Previously at BHA she served as Acting Team Lead / Senior M&E Advisor at the GS-14 grade, supervising a 25-person M&E team responsible for monitoring, evaluation, compliance verification, and operational data management across $8–10 billion in global humanitarian programming. Earlier she served as M&E Advisor in the USAID Office of Food for Peace, providing strategic M&E advisory for approximately $920 million in Food for Peace emergency and development food security programming in DRC, Uganda, and Bangladesh, including directly managing the midterm evaluation of a Food for Peace program in DRC. Diana holds an active U.S. Government Top Secret security clearance — above the PWS-required T2 Public Trust. She holds a PhD in Nutrition and Food Studies from New York University (dissertation: validity and reliability of the FIES, CSI, FCS, and HDDS food security measurement instruments in real-world urban Kampala field conditions), a BA in International Affairs from George Washington University, and a Project Management Institute PMP (2025).

• →Author of the USAID FFP Emergency Indicator Handbook (199 indicators) — predecessor framework from which the FY25 NOFO standard performance indicators descend
• →Co-author of the BHA M&E Technical Guidance — institutional standards for monitoring, evaluation, compliance verification, and accountability
• →Active U.S. Government Top Secret clearance — above PWS-required T2 Public Trust; State-to-USDA transfer post-award
• →18 years progressive M&E experience across 19 countries; direct field experience in 3 of 7 FY25 NOFO priority countries (DRC, Kenya, Rwanda)
• →Acting Team Lead / Senior M&E Advisor (GS-14), USAID BHA — supervised 25-person team for $8–10B global humanitarian programming
• →M&E Advisor, USAID Office of Food for Peace — $920M FFP portfolio oversight (DRC, Uganda, Bangladesh)
• →Regional Humanitarian Advisor, USAID BHA Pretoria — $305M multi-country portfolio across 7 Southern Africa countries (Oct 2023–Sep 2025)
• →35+ M&E trainings delivered across 5 countries (Senegal, Niger, DRC, Kenya, Washington DC) for USG, partner, and host-government staff
• →Civilian-military humanitarian assistance training delivered to U.S. Department of Defense and intelligence officers at AFRICOM (Stuttgart)
• →Author of FFP Performance Indicator Reference Sheets for Emergency Programs + sample size estimation calculator + target-setting toolkit (published on USAID.gov; adopted by 8 partner projects in 4 countries)
• →PhD Nutrition and Food Studies, New York University (2016); BA International Affairs, George Washington University
• →PMP, Project Management Institute (2025); Languages: English (native), French (professional ILR 3/3), Spanish (intermediate)

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

Kevin is HSG's Episodic Senior Advisor on retainer for this engagement — providing senior strategic counsel at milestone-touchpoint cadence rather than continuous engagement labor. He brings 34 years with the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service as an agricultural economist and diplomat, culminating as Agricultural Counselor at U.S. Embassy Nairobi, Kenya (2016–2020) with responsibilities over Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Malawi, and Burundi. Kenya and Rwanda are two of the seven FY25 NOFO priority countries — direct in-country FAS execution credentials inside the program HSG is being hired to advise on. From Nairobi, Kevin oversaw USDA-funded school feeding programs in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania that delivered U.S. commodities through the World Food Programme and USAID Food for Peace, with cargo markings showing the U.S. source. Earlier in his career he served as FAS Vessel Approval Analyst — analyzing packaged commodity costs and U.S. flag vessel bids to make the most cost-effective commodity/vessel approvals for U.S. food aid shipped overseas (a direct Cargo Preference Act compliance credential applicable to PWS §3.2 Prepositioned Commodities) — and as FAS Cotton Commodity Analyst on the World Agricultural Outlook Board and the International Cotton Advisory Committee. On this engagement, Kevin contributes to Deliverable 4 (Prepositioned Commodities — his Vessel Approval credential) and Deliverable 6 (Country Selection — his Kenya + Rwanda direct in-country FAS execution).

• →34 years USDA FAS career (1991–2020) — postings in Manila, Tokyo, Seoul, and Nairobi, plus Departmental leadership in Washington
• →Agricultural Counselor, U.S. Embassy Nairobi 2016–2020 — covered Kenya + Tanzania + Uganda + Rwanda + Malawi + Burundi; Kenya and Rwanda are 2 of the 7 FY25 NOFO priority countries
• →Oversaw USDA-funded school feeding programs in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania that delivered U.S. commodities via the World Food Programme and USAID Food for Peace, with cargo markings showing the U.S. source
• →Managed $850K in regional training/development with WFP and FAO as international project partners; broke a 10-year stalemate to gain Pacific Northwest wheat market access in Kenya; shepherded American pyrethrum investment enabling 2,000+ Kenyan subsistence farmers to earn 5× maize income
• →FAS Vessel Approval Analyst — packaged commodity costs and U.S. flag vessel bids for U.S. foreign food aid carriers (direct Cargo Preference Act / PWS §3.2 credential)
• →Memorandum and talking-point authorship credential — composed memos and talking points for the Office of the Secretary and ambassadors at his overseas posts (direct PWS §3.1 Communications relevance)
• →Reporting oversight credential — oversaw required reporting to USDA Washington from the Philippines and East Africa (direct PWS §3.6 relevance)
• →FAS Cotton Commodity Analyst — World Agricultural Outlook Board, International Cotton Council, International Cotton Advisory Committee; cotton-trade forecasts for the Mexico portion of NAFTA onset
• →FAS Branch Chief 2006–2012 — supervised matching-grant programs for ~30 U.S. cooperators at $30M+/yr (Sunkist exports up 400% to $9B; Eastern pecan exports up 500% to $650M after his introduction to FAS grant programs)
• →Director, ATO Seoul 2013–2016; Assistant Director, ATO Tokyo 2002–2006; Assistant Attaché, U.S. Embassy Manila 1998–2001
• →MS Agricultural Economics, University of Kentucky (1991); MA Economics and International Development, Virginia State University; BS Business Management and Economics, Shaw University
• →Languages: English (native), Spanish, Tagalog, Japanese, Korean, Swahili

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 on a best-efforts, at-Emax's-discretion basis within the Emax fixed subcontract value at no additional cost to HSG, 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

Jelani House

Engagement Manager · COR Liaison · Contract POC

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), and Technical Issue Coordination protocol (PWS 3.6.3), with Olivia Till (HSG W-2 Analyst on-site at USDA HQ DC approximately four days per week) as the designated alternate POC under PWS §7.0 for periods of unavailability. The 90-day USDA staff training and handover phase (PWS 3.7) is led by Diana L. Caley given her decade of in-house M&E training authorship at USAID FFP and BHA, with Jelani holding overall program management across the closeout phase. From 2006 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 — 18 years of continuous federal-advisory execution within a 20-year federal-financial-advisory career. He is the architect of HSG's AI-augmented service-delivery methodology and AI/Expert Reconciliation Log audit-defense framework. As HSG's Founder and Principal, Jelani is authorized to negotiate and execute on HSG's behalf.

• →Founder & Principal — House Strategies Group, LLC
• →18 years HUD/FHA Office of Asset Sales execution-layer experience (2006–2024); 20-year federal-financial-advisory career
• →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 HSG principal of record for contract negotiation and execution