About Weidemann AssociatesWeidemann Associates, Inc. is a leading international firm working in microenterprise development, economic development, Information technologies, and agriculture/agribusiness/rural development in the U.S. and developing countries. The firm has worked on projects worldwide, from Latin America and the Caribbean, Eastern Europe and the Caucuses, to Africa, Asia, and the Near East.
Founded in 1986, Weidemann Associates adopted a strategy and management structure to support growth while maintaining consistently high quality work. Principals of Weidemann Associates have experience in over 60 countries working with international organizations, as well as private businesses, state and local governments, and non-governmental and community development organizations.
The company implements both long and short-term projects, with expertise in microenterprise and microfinance; agriculture, environment, and natural resources; economic analysis; business development; community and economic development; gender analysis; education and training; institutional development; and online grants management and results reporting systems. The firm is known for its socio-economic research and analysis, its technical documents are regarded as state-of-the-art in the field. The firm is experienced in all phases of the project cycle including project design, implementation, management, monitoring, and evaluation.
As part of most projects, Weidemann Associates develops effective online results reporting services and a start-to-finish grants management system. Improved timeliness and accuracy of reported data and real-time online monitoring of performance for program administrators are the results. Also, in the information technology arena Weidemann Associates supports microfinance institutions in the evaluation and installation of management information systems. Dr. Wesley Weidemann President of Weidemann Associates, Inc., oversees all company programs and activities. As a technical advisor on the USAID-funded MicroServe Indefinite Quantity Contract he provides technical guidance on microenterprise and microfinance assistance, training, research, advisory services to USAID Missions and Bureaus, and communications and outreach services to the USAID Office of Microenterprise. He has participated in and provided technical supervision on implementation and quality control of 17 microenterprise and microfinance projects for the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, and USAID. Dr. Weidemann has worked in 11 African countries: Cote d'Ivoire, Egypt, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Somalia, and Zambia; as well as India, Pakistan and other countries in Asia and Latin America. Dr. Weidemann has a Ph.D. in agricultural economics and business management from the University of Wisconsin. Dr. Arvin Bunker Vice President, specializes in micro and rural finance, firm and industry development, and microenterprise business development. He has more than 25 years of international and domestic financial and marketing experience. In Bolivia, he directed the startup of an agricultural and rural credit company. In five years, Dr. Bunker grew the company's clientele to 4,000 customers with a loan portfolio more than $10 million, and achieved a self-sustaining financial institution for the agricultural sector, with low loan delinquency rates that were among the best of any Bolivian financial institution. Dr. Bunker was CEO of a leasing company in Romania from 1997 to 1998 that provided agricultural and manufacturing equipment financing. He specializes in strengthening and improving rural and microfinance institutions by evaluating their business and regulatory environments, supporting their strategic planning, and developing alternatives for their administration and operations. He also has extensive experience with agricultural and credit cooperatives. Dr. Bunker has M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in agricultural economics from the University of Illinois. He is also a Microsoft Certified Professional and Systems Engineer with expertise in the design of microfinance management information systems. Dr. Bunker is fluent in Spanish. Dr. Celia Jean Weidemann President Emeritus, founded Weidemann Associates, Inc. and served as president of the firm from 1986 to 2000. She has 28 years of experience in more than 30 countries on five continents in: Financial Systems and Enterprise Development; Agriculture/ Rural Development/ Environment, particularly Agricultural Extension Systems; Education and Training; and Population. She has extensive experience in gender analysis and is skilled in all phases of the project cycle from identification to evaluation. Dr. Weidemann has special expertise in survey and qualitative research, especially in the field of microenterprise; policy analysis; socio-economic impact; and institutional development/ analysis. She has held consultant/staff positions with the World Bank, USAID, United Nations, US Congress, Asian Development Bank, Finnish International Development Agency (FINNIDA), Ford Foundation, International Statistical Institute, National Academy of Sciences/National Science Foundation, universities, private firms and foreign governments. She is the author of more than 40 publications including the UNDP guidebook, Supporting Women's Livelihoods: Microfinance that Works for the Majority, with D. Burjorjee and R. Desphande. Dr. Weidemann was a founder, board member and president of the 1200 Member Association for Women in Development (AWID). For the 7,000 member umbrella organization, Coalition for Women in Development, she served on the steering committee and on task forces for the Beijing Women's Conference and for international financial institutions. In 1997, she helped found the advocacy group, Women's EDGE, for gender and trade issues.
Marialyce Mutchler Managing Associate, Business Growth Initiative, is an expert in business development with over 14 years experience working in emerging markets and developing economies. As a Managing Associate for Weidemann Associates, Ms. Mutchler directs the United States Agency of International Development (USAID) Business Growth Initiative (BGI) project, which provides research, design, training and technical support to USAID enterprise development activities worldwide. Ms. Mutchler leads specialized research activities, program design, evaluations and assessments and provides overall technical guidance. She is experienced designing and implementing firm level technical assistance, value chain analyses and competitiveness clusters. Her field experience includes the design and delivery of market driven technical assistance for small and medium enterprises development resulting increased sales investment. Ms. Mutchler is an expert project manager having managed USAID contracts valuing over $50 million. She has demonstrated success in the identification of new opportunities; her leveraging of resources has helped secure more than $100 million in new business activities during her career. Ms Mutchler has conducted long term assignments in Botswana and Guyana. Additional field experience includes: Bosnia i Herzegovina, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Georgia, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Paraguay, the Philippines, and South Africa. Julie Lostumbo Managing Associate, Business Growth Initiative, has been working in international development for fifteen years, with a focus on economic growth and enterprise development. Most recently Ms. Lostumbo developed a scope of work for a USAID economic growth department, drafted a desk study on building alliances in economic growth for the Asia and Middle East Bureau, and is currently developing a training workshop on enterprise development for USAID staff. Prior to joining Weidemann, Ms. Lostumbo was stationed in Fiji as the Program & Training Officer (PTO) for Peace Corps. As the PTO Ms. Lostumbo managed the program and training team which included oversight of project design and development, systems and procedure development, direct management of the business project, training design, and overall volunteer support. Prior to her assignment in Fiji Ms. Lostumbo served as the Program & Training Specialist for the Inter-America and Pacific Region of Peace Corps. In this capacity Ms. Lostumbo provided direct support to the field through program evaluation (all sectors), project design and implementation, monitoring and evaluation, training design and implementation, as well as facilitating workshops at post for new initiatives or pilot projects. Prior to Peace Corps, Ms. Lostumbo worked in project management and proposal development for Chemonics International. Ms. Lostumbo worked on such projects as Development of the Foundation for Local Government Innovation (DFLGI), Global Technology Network (GTN), and General Business Trade & Investment (GBTI) IQC. She has a Bachelors of Arts from the College of Wooster and a Master of Business Administration in International Business/Economic Development from Kogod School of Business at American University. Field experience includes: Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Ecuador, Fiji, Jamaica, Guyana, Indonesia, Nicaragua, Panama, Suriname, and Uruguay. Claire Cvitanovich Program Associate, provides technical and project management assistance to the RAISE Plus Small Business Set Aside IQC, managing Task Orders in the DRC and Central America and supporting the implementation of larger task orders in Pakistan, Georgia, Egypt, Zambia and other countries. RAISE Plus provides short-term assistance to develop more competitive, prosperous and environmentally sustainable agricultural and natural resource management sectors in developing countries. Ms. Cvitanovich is the Project Coordinator for the Farmer to Farmer Special Programs and Support Project. Ms. Cvitanovich received a B.A. in Economics, with a minor in International Relations, from Pomona College in 2005. Prior to joining Weidemann Associates Ms. Cvitanovich worked as a business analyst at Deloitte Consulting. Carolyn Kirchhoff Program Associate, provides technical support and project backstopping to the Business Growth Initiative. She is responsible for updating and managing the project’s website, coordinating local and international events for the project, and providing research assistance on topics such as innovation and entrepreneurship and enterprise development projects. Ms. Kirchhoff received her B.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh with majors in International Studies and Spanish and minors in Geography and Political Science. Jessica Barrineau Program Associate, provides technical and project support for the Business Growth Initiative. She is responsible for day-to-day project administration, managing and updating the project website, coordinating local and international events and providing research assistance on the topics of best practices for small and medium sized business in developing countries, entrepreneurship and innovation and enterprise development. Prior to joining Weidemann Associates, Ms. Barrineau worked at the Brookings Institution, serving as an assistant in the President’s Office. She received her B.A. in international relations with a concentration in development and minors in Spanish and economics from the University of Delaware in 2008. Alysia Whitcomb Program Associate, is responsible for general office duties including project backstopping, accounts payable/receivable, special events and recruiting support. She assists project managers and staff on various contracts as needed. Ms. Whitcomb graduated from Western Washington University in December 2008 with a B.A. in political science, after completing an internship with The Institute for Public-Private Partnerships, Inc. in Washington, D.C. -> Back to top | Our Team |