Leadership Team
DIG’s current Executive Team is committed to inclusive development—the concept that every human, regardless of identity, plays a role in the transformation of societies. We believe that when everyone is included in the development process, innovative solutions to complex problems can emerge, and results are greater for all. The diversity of our staff reflects this commitment.
Established in 2005, the Development Innovations Group continues to embrace its founders’ common passion for achieving global poverty reduction by applying best practices in the fields of financial inclusion and economic growth; environment, WASH and health; democratic governance and urban development; fund management; and emergency management.
Executive Team
Franck Daphnis
President & Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Mr. Daphnis is a recognized leader in international development. Mr. Daphnis’s professional expertise is in the areas of urban environmental management, basic services delivery, inclusive governance, financial inclusion, emergency management, and housing and infrastructure rehabilitation.
Before founding DIG, Mr. Daphnis worked as CHF International’s Director of Field Program Operations. He served as a key advisor on development finance and urban issues for numerous noteworthy institutions including the Cities Alliance, the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP), the International Fund for Agricultural Development, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, and the World Bank.
For nine years, he also served as a member of the faculty at the Boulder Institute of Microfinance. Mr. Daphnis has authored and edited two books on housing finance, including the seminal work Housing Microfinance: a Guide to Practice (Kumarian Press, January 2004). He holds a master’s degree in urban planning from Cornell University, as well as a master’s degree in architecture.
Ruby AlSalem
Vice President for Technical Services
Ms. AlSalem’s broad range of technical expertise includes financial services, micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) growth, including for WASH enterprises, capacity building of local governments, community mobilization, public-private partnerships (PPPs), and performance monitoring and evaluation.
As Vice President for Technical Services at DIG, she oversees capacity building of our local staff and partners in a variety of technical areas to ensure program objectives are met. She brings two decades of experience working with microfinance institutions (MFIs), micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), local governments, and water and sanitation utilities. Her proven track record has increased access to financing and improved the availability of products and services. She also oversees capacity building, market assessment and survey work at DIG. Her well-honed expertise in market assessments has helped successfully design market demand-driven financial products, and basic services for the poor. Ms. AlSalem’s experience extends beyond finance and marketing to include community outreach, gender inclusion, and capacity building for banks and microfinance institutions (MFIs).
Marianne Carliez Gillet
Vice President for Global Programs
Ms. Carliez heads DIG’s Urban, Water, and Infrastructure services. Over the last 20 years, she has focused on a broad range of urban development issues, including inclusive governance, solid waste management, water, sanitation and hygiene, housing, slum upgrading and community infrastructure.
She serves as the DIG Manager for the USAID-funded Making Cities Work and Strengthening Tenure and Resource Rights (STARR) II IDIQs and for the USAID/Jordan Economic Reform Activity (ERA) IDIQ. Her regional experience spans across Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. Ms. Carliez works with a wide range of partners, including the United States Agency for International Development, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and financial institutions.
Prior to joining DIG, Ms. Carliez worked for the Inter-American Development Bank, the World Bank, the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP), and Global Communities. She has a master’s degree in International Relations from the University of Paris-Sorbonne and a B.A. from the University of California, Davis.
Tara Panek Bringle
Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
Vice President of Business Operations & Compliance
Ms. Panek Bringle leads DIG’s Financial Services for the Poor area of expertise and serves as DIG’s CFO. In this dual role, she ensures that DIG’s programmatic and financial teams collaborate, allowing us to deliver results with unswerving commitment to contractual compliance.
She specializes in development finance, shelter finance, and post-emergency economic and infrastructure rehabilitation. She has designed and implemented technical assistance and training programs worldwide to help financial institutions achieve scale and sustainability in providing financial services for the poor.
Ms. Panek Bringle works with a wide range of partners, including the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), large US foundations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), multi-lateral institutions, and private banks. Ms. Panek Bringle also served as a consistency editor for Housing Microfinance: a Guide to Practice (Kumarian Press, January 2004).
Senior Management Team
Sharifa Pastori
Associate Director for Global Program Management
Sharifa Pastori has seventeen years of experience in international development. She has provided technical support to a wide-range of programs, including ones that have enhanced the poor’s access to basic services and land; helped informal service providers improve operations and become recognized; facilitated access to commercial finance for service providers; and strengthened municipal governance and finance.
Formerly a journalist, Ms. Pastori is a strong writer and editor. She is well versed in donor rules and regulations, having provided programmatic support to projects funded by a variety of agencies including the United States Agency for International Development (USAID); the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA); the Global Fund; the European Union; and the Agence Française de Développement.
Bryan Winston
Senior Infrastructure and Environmental Advisor
Mr. Winston has more than 30 years of international economic, community, and housing development experience with key expertise in organizational development, training, and grants management.
He has managed programs financed by a variety of donors (including the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Government of Colombia, the European Union, the World Bank and private foundations) in the US, Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean. Most recently, he served as DIG’s Grants Manager under the USAID-funded Municipal Waste Recycling Program, a USD 14.2 million, five-year initiative focused on combatting marine plastic pollution in Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka.
Prior to joining DIG, he directed a nationwide housing program in Colombia which provided comprehensive humanitarian, psychosocial, income generation, and shelter support to 30,000 displaced families each year.
Henri Disselkoen
Senior Environmental Services and Governance Advisor
Mr. Disselkoen brings more than 25 years of experience managing governance, WASH, and basic infrastructure improvement programs that build the capacity of national and local governments, while mobilizing communities to work effectively with local authorities.
He served as the Chief of Party for the USAID-funded Municipal Waste Recycling Program, a USD 14.2 million, five-year initiative focused on combatting marine plastic pollution in Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Sri Lanka. He also managed the WASH component of a USAID-funded USD 20+ million health systems strengthening program in Liberia. Specifically, he strengthened the capacity of Liberia’s Ministry of Public Works to improve its management and oversight of rural water supply, focusing particularly on data collection and financial management systems, and strengthening management linkages between the Ministry and its county offices, as well as with local communities.
Previously for DIG, he directed a USD 30 million portfolio of Gates Foundation-funded projects under the Global Program for Inclusive Municipal Governance (GPIMG). Implemented in five African capitals (Lilongwe, Luanda, Cairo, Harare, and Monrovia) over a five-year period, GPIMG achieved the dual goal of strengthening municipal governance and improving WASH service delivery for the urban and peri-urban poor.
Mr. Disselkoen holds a master’s degree in management from Stanford University, and holds certificates in organizational auditing (from KPMG), Information/Risk Analysis and Financial Management. He speaks fluent English and Dutch, and has a basic understanding of Arabic, French, and German.