Ron Ivey:
CLASS OF 1962
Meritt Hutton High SchoolClass of 1962
Thornton, CO
University of Virginia - Graduate SchoolClass of 1981
Charlottesville, VA
University of Denver - Daniels Business CollegeClass of 1966
Denver, CO
Ron's Story
Life
I've been married to Laura for the last 40 years, the second marriage for both of us. . It's been a super relationship and we have five children (three married) between us and six grandchildren. Laura was born and raised here in Washington DC, which has been my home since 1972.
I've traveled all over the world because of my international development economist consulting career, including numerous trips to Latin America, Europe, Africa, Asia and the Pacific, and we lived in Sri Lanka. I've been to 96 countries, some multiple times.. I also lived in Peru and Nicaragua without my family and have spent extensive time in Romania, Samoa, Indonesia, and the Philippines. My wife and I spent a month in Peru a short while ago visiting my Peace Corps "family" and Macchu Picchu. Some of the sites visited have been great, including Anker Wat in Cambodia, Petra in Jordan; we've flown over Mt. Everest. We've also trekked in Turkey to see early Christian churches and monasteries; along the eastern coastline of France and Spain; and trekked in the Cotswold in England. I've worked in far-out locations such as Siberia, Mongolia, Solomon Islands, post-Soviet Russia, war-torn Afghanistan and El Salvador..
My wife and I are now retired, where we hope to keep our minds active with great things to do. We are currently active with yoga, meditation, water aerobics, gardening, churchwork, the Georgetown House Tour, the Smithsonian Craft Show and the National Society of Arts & Letters (as their national treasurer).. We sold our house on the Chesapeake Bay's Eastern Shore in 2015 and our DC house in October 2017, moving to a condo apartment in Washington DC, which makes life even easier. The view from our balcony includes the Mall, the Washington Monument, the Potomac River and, weirdly, the Russian Embassy.
I am on my church's vestry, which had Francis Scott Key as an early vestry member, so founded in 1796, it's historic. We live as simply as possible and always look forward to seeing our friends who are visiting the nation's capital. Please let us know when you'll be in town.
College
University of Denver, B.S., business administration, 1966
University of Virginia, M.A., economics, 1981.
Workplace
After graduating from the DU, I joined the Peace Corps, serving two years as an agricultural cooperative developer in Tacna, Peru. My time there was beneficial in learning how to shift my cultural understanding, learning another language, and getting things done in a totally foreign culture. I'm still in touch with my Peruvian family with whom I lived (We have also visited them several times, most recently on Mother's Day in 2014). I became fluent in Spanish, trained in cultural and technical practices, and thereafter fully engaged in helping people...Expand for more
, Back in the U.S., I then worked for the Colorado Migrant Council, putting together the first two self-help housing projects in Colorado, and subsequently moved to the Navajo Reservation, where I worked on cooperative (cultural economic development -- handicrafts, lamb auctions) -- and small business development for 2 1/2 years. From there, we moved to Washington, D.C., and I worked first with Black-owned agricultural cooperatives in the South (including in Selma, Alabama; Sunset, Louisiana; Mileston, Mississippi, Beaufort, SC, etc.); and then on overseas work, primarily in Latin America, but also in Asia. I subsequently worked to advance economic development for the last 40 years in about 52 countries. I was employed by some of the major accounting firms: PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte & Touche, and Ernst & Young, all of which have international management consulting divisions. Starting in 2001, I served as banking and enterprise development director and then SVP of Chemonics International, a large economic consulting firm, which I left in November 2006. Subsequently, I worked as EVP of CARANA Corporation, an economic consulting firm specializing in competitiveness, export development and trade. In recent years I traveled to Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay (twice), Nicaragua, El Salvador, Panama, Barbados, Belize, Jamaica, Nepal (twice), Kenya, Serbia, Albania and India. Nepal was the most exotic! I joined a small, woman-owned firm called Making Cents International as EVP in June 2010; the firm's focus provides entrepreneurial training to women, youth and disadvantaged groups. When I resigned from that job in August 2012 I put together a non-profit organization, the International Development Effectiveness Alliance, which delivered training courses and consultancies.
I did free-lance consulting back in 2007, giving me a taste of what running my own organization would be like, working in Jordan on designing privately provided municipal services; meanwhile I was able to visit Petra (international heritage site) and Mt. Nebo (where Moses died!) and to swim (float!) in the Dead Sea. In early 2008 I did a month-long assignment in Thailand taking my wife on a couple of side-trips to Cambodia (one to Anker Wot, another international heritage site). Towards the end of 2013, I undertook a private sector development evaluation in the Caribbean. Yes, swimming in the Caribbean at 6:00 a.m. is idyllic and they paid me for this stuff! In 2016, I traveled to Serbia to evaluate a private sector development project implemented by that country's regional governments. I am really happy with all of the exciting, fun things I've experienced throughout my career. The pandemic and my age brought my career to an end, but there will be more fun things in store.
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