Behind the Scenes of IBI's Upcoming Corporate Video

Jack Gordon, from Digital Development Communications (DDC), gets ready for a take with IBI's Chairman Dr. Lucie Phillips.

As IBI prepares to celebrate its 20th anniversary of improving people’s lives through global insights and local solutions, we took a moment to reflect on IBI's mission and accomplishments. IBI's upcoming corporate video will feature President & CEO David Colvin and Chairman Dr. Lucie Phillips retelling the story of IBI's founding, approach, projects, and growth.

"We started in 2006, not long after the shooting stopped in Liberia’s long civil war and a new government had been democratically elected," David recalls, referring to IBI's first project in Liberia 10 years ago, the USAID Governance & Economic Management Assistance Program (GEMAP). "As a first step, we supported efforts to reign in corrupt financial management practices and reform of the budget process."

IBI President & CEO David Colvin (far left) gets ready while the DDC crew prepares to film.

GEMAP has since been praised as a pioneering model of post-conflict public financial management, leading to new ideas that spurred subsequent and more nuanced approaches. As David continues, "That first project led to a second phase that concentrates on improving all of the management systems in the government of Liberia – human resources, finance, procurement, asset management, as well as the use of information technology.”

From public finance in Liberia to customs reform in Bangladesh, IBI has operated in nearly 50 countries over its first 20 years. For Dr. Phillips, IBI's success comes from its respect for local principles and willingness to listen. "At IBI we concluded that high level technical expertise is most effective when it's combined with an understanding local priorities, and that's why IBI's tag line has always been 'global insights - local solutions.'"

We hope you continue to check out our site and stay tuned for our upcoming video release. For more video content, check out the short documentary "GEMAP: A Model for Building Economic Governance in Post-Conflict Environments."