OUR STORY
Who We Are Global Development Solutions Canada (GDSC), is strategy consulting firm focused on supporting sustainable social and economic impact in emerging and frontier markets. We enable our clients to achieve their goals by working collaboratively across public, private and philanthropic sectors.
Who We Are We believe in combining financial and non-financial capital to create bespoke solutions that catalyse transformative impact for people, planet and prosperity. We work with corporations, governments, multilateral institutions, and civil society organizations.
OUR WORK
Advisory Transforming ideas to impact requires a comprehensive solutions-oriented approach: â—?
Conducting needs and opportunity analysis, trend spotting, facilitating internal and external consensus.
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Designing service delivery and financing models for superior market returns and social impact.
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Developing and managing multi-stakeholder relationships between Governments, Businesses, and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs).
Project Services Addressing development challenges usually involves Macro and Micro interventions and their inter-linkages: â—?
Project formulation including feasibility and baseline assessments;
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Proposal development, and designing logic frameworks;
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Evaluations ( formative, summative, and developmental).
Intermediation A key ingredient to achieving success in emerging markets and developing economies involves identifying shared value relationships: â—?
Business incubation and acceleration;
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Trade facilitation and trade interlocutory strategies;
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Access to a network of high level corporate, public and international development leaders.
Knowledge Brokerage To achieve global impact, it is essential to move from discussion that diagnose problems to build momentum for inclusive growth: â—?
Convening high level forums that bring together change makers, innovators, and investors to share expertise on scalable solutions;
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Creating knowledge materials and thought leadership that advance the development of people, planet and prosperity.
EXPERTISE
Adaptive Management Approaches The complex and dynamic problems facing the world today require solutions that go beyond traditional linear approaches in which the outcomes can be determined with certainty. Using complex adaptive systems approaches we design solutions that are dynamic, flexible and capable of change as the situation changes.
Blended Finance The GDSC team has experience designing blended financing instruments, evaluating blended finance transactions, and creating blended finance platforms. This involves the strategic use of public funding to mobilize additional commercial finance to address development challenges in emerging and frontier markets.
Agriculture Agricultural production and Agribusiness hold the promise to massively transform the economy, as well as social and cultural relationships in developing countries. The GDSC team has worked extensively in this sector on a range of solutions targeting both large scale productions, and smallholder farmers.
Evaluations We have significant experience in conducting evaluations of development projects, programs and policies. While most of prior evaluations have been formative and summative we also now conduct and advise on developmental evaluations which might be better suited to innovative program ideas since the outcome is not known with certainty at the beginning. This is consistent with our work on adaptive management.
Health Global health challenges continue to plague emerging markets and developing economies. The GDSC team has worked extensively on global health issues ranging from Maternal and Newborn Child Health (MNCH) to HIV/AIDS, Malaria, Tuberculosis, and Anti-Microbial Resistance (AMR). GDSC has supported the mobilization of over $7billion USD for strengthening health systems, tackling nutrition, and investing in patient centered innovative technologies.
Human Centered Systems Approaches While supporting transformations for economic growth we adopt a position such that growth is not an end in itself but a means to sustainable human development in all its dimensions including social, ecological, cultural and spiritual. This requires that we take a systems approach in which the different dimensions of human development are addressed through inter-relationships in a holistic manner.
Sustainable Livelihoods & Resilience Building The sustainable livelihoods approach is an example of a human-centered systems approach. It starts with community’s assets ( human, social, natural, physical and economic capitals) not with their needs. Works with their vision of a more sustainable livelihood, followed by what they can do on their own (community-based actions) and only then seeks support of outside agencies to complement local actions. Our team has experience in supporting the transition from humanitarian relief to sustainable development in post-conflict and post-disaster situations.
Legal Empowerment of the Poor The vast majority of the people of the developing world make their livelihoods in the informal sector outside the rule of law. Formal sector approaches to governance whether to financial management or social services can miss the majority of these; unless special care is taken. The GDSC team has expertise in working with the informal sector in the areas of access to justice and the rule of law; property rights; labor rights and business rights.
Partnerships Development We take SDG 17 very seriously in delivering our services, recognizing that the scale required to achieve the SDGs demands functional and strategic partnerships. Government and public institution actions significantly impact productivity and success in emerging markets and developing economies. The GDSC Team has supported clients by helping them develop strategies and partnerships with leaders across public, private and civil society sectors to create the conditions for sustainable growth, prosperity and social impact.
Policy We are particularly skilled in policy analysis, development and evaluation combining big data analysis, political insights, scenarios development and options assessments. We use macro-micro linkages to link our policy work to grassroots actions.
RECENT WORK
Toronto Centre is a Canadian-based global organization with a mandate to enhance the capacity and competences of financial sector supervisors and regulators around the world. GDSC supported the TC with advisory services to renew their corporate strategy and relationship with donors.
Financing & Innovation in Global Health J&J, a leading global corporation in the health and life sciences, seeks to strengthen global health security by expanding access to healthcare. GDSC worked with J&J to design new models to mobilize resources for global health, and convene a marketplace for new investment tools to support global health innovators.
An alliance of 26 North American apparel retailers working to improve worker safety in Bangladesh Ready – Made – Garment (RMG) factories. GDSC supported the Alliance’s engagement with Canadian public sector leaders, Parliamentarians and civil society.
GDSC worked with Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (DFATD), World Economic Forum (WEF), and Global Development Incubator (GDI) to develop a blended finance investment platform for emerging and frontier markets.
TEAM
Senior Leadership
Hon Christian Paradis
Idee Inyangudor
Naresh Singh
Swathi Kappangatula
President / Co-Founder
Managing Partner / Co- Founder
Senior Vice President
Partner
Hon Christian Paradis President Christian is an expert on private sector partnership for global development. He is a strong advocate for innovative financing and was instrumental in mainstreaming blended finance as Chair of the OECD DAC, “ Re-imagining Development Finance Steering Committee”. Christian leadership on global development extends beyond financing to areas such as health, public sector governance, and security. Recognized as a results-driven figure, he is a former Member of Parliament of Canada representing Mégantic-L’Érable from 2006 to 2015, and Cabinet Minister between 2007 and 2015, of Public Works and Government Services, Natural Resources, Industry and International Development and La Francophonie. He graduated from the University of Sherbrooke in civil law and holds a graduate degree in corporate law from Université Laval. He has been member of Quebec Bar since 1997.He is a member of the Boards of Directors of the Chamber of Commerce of Canada, Canada World Youth and Canadian Wildlife Foundation.
Idee Inyangudor Managing Partner Twice recognized as among the Top 100 influencing the Government of Canada’s foreign policy mix, Idee works tirelessly to activate client portfolios for maximum impact in emerging markets. He was instrumental in the creation of Convergence (www.convergence.finance), and the Financing Innovation in Global Health (FIGH) Initiative (www.globalhealthforum.com). Prior to GDSC, he served as the Director of Policy and Stakeholder Relations for the office of the Minister of International Development
Naresh Singh Senior Vice-President Naresh has more than 3 decades of post Ph.D. international development experience in more than 50 countries. He was a Director General and acting Vice President at CIDA; Program Director at the at the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD); Principal Adviser on Poverty and Sustainable Livelihoods at UNDP and Executive Director of the UN Commission on Legal Empowerment of the Poor; among several other high-profile positions. He has also been visiting scholar/professor as several Universities in North America, India and the Caribbean and is widely published. (Details of his work can be viewed at www.sustainable-livelihoods.com. )
Swathi Kappangatula Partner Swathi has over 17 years of experience in in diplomatic policy, negotiations, and strategic partnerships. Her previous professional experience includes Economic Counsellor at the Embassy of Canada in Washington, multilateral officer at the Permanent Mission of Canada to the Organization of American States. The World Economic Forum, Harvard University, the Ministry of Finance of India, and UNESCO.
Contact Us 8 York Street, Suite 200 Ottawa, ON K1N 5S6 613-878-5050 idee@gdsc.ca