Staff

Jennifer Potter | President & CEO

Kristen Dailey | Chief Operating Officer
Megan Bowman | Vice President, Policy
John N. Heathcliff | Vice President, Development
Katherine Switz | Vice President, Programs for Enterprise Growth

Amy Allsopp | Director of Communications
Jacqueline Bartter | Corporate Relations & Events Manager
Jennifer Bliss | Development Officer
Emily Byers | Director of Policy
Emmas Lindsay | Executive Assistant
David Reynolds | Finance & Human Resources Manager
Jumaane Tafawa | Manager, Programs for Enterprise Growth

Jennifer Potter | President & CEO

Jennifer Potter has provided executive leadership of the Initiative for Global Development (IGD) since 2003. IGD has grown to an influential network of business leaders that champions effective solutions to global poverty. Its strategic advisors include Leadership Council co-chairs former U.S. Secretaries of State Colin Powell and Madeleine Albright.

IGD believes that dramatically reducing global poverty is one of the most powerful steps we can take in creating a better future for us all. IGD supports effective U.S. policies and fosters private sector engagement to expand economic development in poor countries. IGD's Frontier 100 program connects the most successful CEOs operating in frontier markets with leading CEOs from the United States and Europe in order to create lasting poverty reduction through relationship building, knowledge sharing and targeted initiatives.

Prior to leading IGD, Jennifer served as Executive Director of Global Partnerships, an NGO that pioneered microfinance work in Central America. Her early career included ownership in two urban planning and development companies and the Peace Corps in Thailand. She chaired the board of the award-winning Seattle Housing Authority for eight years, and serves on the boards of Harbor Properties, Global Washington and the alumnae board of Chatham College. She is a member of the Pacific Council on International Policy.

Download Jennifer Potter's complete bio

Amy Allsopp | Director of Communications

Amy develops and manages strategic communications to help advance IGD's objective of amplifying the business voice on global development and poverty issues. She began working with IGD in 2005 as part of her role as communications coordinator for Global Partnerships, an organization that expands microfinance to reduce global poverty. Prior to becoming involved in global development, Amy provided leadership and implementation on marketing and fundraising projects for the Seattle International Film Festival and Seattle Shakespeare Company. She holds a bachelor’s degree in art and began her career as a lead creative member of the marketing team for the University of Washington bookstore.

Jacqueline Bartter | Corporate Relations & Events Manager

Jacqueline is responsible for coordinating activities for IGD’s partner network, including special events, meetings and aspects of the National Summit. She also assists with research and outreach to the business community. Before joining IGD in 2007, she served as a senior caseworker for the Office of the Student Advocate at her alma mater, the University of California, Santa Barbara, where her studies focused on international relations and politics. Jacqueline’s studies turned “hands-on” through travels abroad, during which she met with local officials, journalists and Foreign Service members in countries throughout the Pacific Rim, Northern Africa and Europe.

Jennifer Bliss | Development Officer

Jennifer works closely with the executive team to implement IGD’s fundraising plan including foundation, corporate and major gift strategies. She came to the Initiative for Global Development with a degree in human services from Western Washington University, where she focused on the significance of global systems and the vital role of nonprofit organizations. Prior to joining IGD, Jennifer was the Development Coordinator for the West Sound Wildlife Shelter.

Megan Bowman | Vice President, Policy

Megan Bowman has over 20 years experience in international public policy and government relations and has worked in business, government and the nonprofit sector. She began her career in Washington D.C., working for members of the U.S. House and Senate on foreign affairs and trade issues.

After returning to Seattle, she spent several years at Microsoft helping build their government affairs effort. Megan managed the company’s public policy, political and industry association relationships at the federal level, as well as helping to coordinate its positions on global policy issues. Following her tenure at Microsoft, Megan joined APCO Worldwide, the global public affairs firm, as a vice president overseeing accounts for nonprofit clients with international interests, particularly in the field of global health.

After the birth of her son in 2002, Megan opened a consulting business and worked closely with the Initiative for Global Development during its formation. She joined IGD’s staff in the fall of 2005 to lead public policy and government relations efforts. Megan graduated from Yale College with honors and has an MA in international affairs from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

Emily Byers | Director of Policy

Emily Byers is IGD's policy representative in the Washington, D.C. office. She came to IGD from the Government Relations department of Bread for the World, a grassroots advocacy organization that works to combat hunger and promote development in the United States and around the world. There she led the organization’s policy and advocacy work on international trade and agriculture, working extensively with Congress, the executive branch and the Washington policy community. Most recently she acted as lead analyst and lobbyist for Bread for the World’s legislative campaign for farm bill reform. Emily received her bachelor’s degree from Providence College and earned an MSc in international political economy from the London School of Economics.

Kristen Dailey | Chief Operating Officer

Kristen joined IGD in 2001 and helped the organization develop from a concept to a strong network of business leaders. Her work at IGD includes partner recruitment and outreach as well as overseeing internal operations.

Kristen has been involved with international development issues for the past 15 years. Her professional background includes fundraising at the United Nations Foundation in Washington D.C., working with low-income refugee and immigrant families in Seattle, and heading a regional advocacy coalition of international relief and development organizations in the state of Washington.

She has lived in the Dominican Republic and traveled to Vietnam, Thailand, India, Guatemala, Nicaragua and El Salvador to research microcredit and health programs. She has a master’s degree in public administration from the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Affairs at the University of Washington and is committed to finding effective, sustainable solutions to world poverty.

John N. Heathcliff | Vice President, Development

John works with the staff and board to create and strengthen funding opportunities and strategic partnerships to support IGD’s work. John brings more than 20 years of development experience in senior roles with nationally recognized nonprofit organizations and foundations. Most recently he served as chief development officer for Public Counsel, the largest pro bono public interest law firm in the world. Throughout his career, John has worked alongside distinguished leaders from the business, government and nonprofit sectors to create and expand social enterprise initiatives and collaborations.

Emmas Lindsay | Executive Assistant

Emmas assists President & CEO Jennifer Potter and manages the IGD office. She has lived and studied in Japan, Hong Kong, Canada, England and the United States. After volunteering with the Red Cross in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, she continues to believe that many small individual efforts can make a huge difference to the lives of others. Emmas is committed to helping make a positive change in our world.

David Reynolds | Finance & Human Resources Manager

David holds a CPA certificate and has an MBA degree from the University of Tulsa. He has over 17 years of experience in accounting and financial management. In 1992 he founded a company which he managed for 14 years, before selling it and coming to IGD.

Katherine Switz | Vice President, Programs for Enterprise Growth

Katherine leads IGD’s efforts to catalyze business participation in poverty reduction. Katherine has extensive experience in the commercial, nonprofit and public sectors engaging business to reduce poverty. Most recently, Katherine was a vice president at Unitus, where she was charged with Africa expansion, global network management and strategy.

Prior to that, Katherine worked for GE Capital, developing a comprehensive strategy for a startup business providing financial services to energy companies globally. Katherine was also a consultant at McKinsey & Company, where she advised clients in a range of industries on strategy, organization and operations. Katherine served as a project manager at the International Finance Corporation in Russia. She holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA from Dartmouth College.

Jumaane Tafawa | Manager, Programs for Enterprise Growth

Jumaane works closely with Frontier 100 CEOs to grow their businesses and reduce poverty. Jumaane brings a variety of experience to IGD from the private, government and nonprofit sectors. He was a strategy consultant at FSG Social Impact Advisors, where he developed strategies for Fortune 500 companies and foundations. He was also a management consultant and improved the effectiveness of multiple private sector development projects sponsored by multilateral organizations, such as the International Finance Corporation (World Bank) and various governments in Africa, Latin America and Asia. Jumaane has entrepreneurial expertise from successfully starting three organizations and holds a Masters in Public Administration in International Development from Harvard University.