About Global Development International

The Company

Global Development International (GDI) is a strategy, foresight, and systems advisory working at the intersection of enterprise, public policy, and global development. GDI supports organizations navigating long-term change across health systems, economics, infrastructure, and socio-economic transformation in complex international environments.

GDI Future is the foresight and strategy platform of Global Development International. Through GDI Future, the firm develops forward-looking frameworks, scenarios, and decision tools to help organizations anticipate systemic risk, opportunity, and structural change across global systems.

The firm’s perspective is shaped by decades of direct involvement in building organizations, governing enterprises, and leading major international initiatives across both public and private sectors.

GDI’s work reflects a belief that durable solutions require integrated thinking across sectors and time horizons, informed by analytical discipline and real-world experience. The firm’s perspective has been shaped by sustained engagement with enterprises, policymakers, and institutions operating in complex environments over extended periods of change.  GDI  provides tailored solutions to help business and institutions and countries  succeed.       --- Working to identify areas for foresight and change and to provide actionable recommendations to achieve practical goals.

GDI works with enterprises, boards, governments, and institutions facing challenges where conventional planning approaches are insufficient. Its work focuses on:

• Long-range strategy and foresight
• Systems analysis, modeling, and scenario development
• Health systems, medical infrastructure, and diagnostics strategy
• Economic, energy, and policy analysis
• Social marketing and behavior change program
• Enterprise decision support under uncertainty
   

GDI integrates analytical rigor with operational realism, supporting leadership teams as they plan, invest, and govern amid complexity, risk, and structural change

GDI’s capabilities are grounded in extensive experience across futures work, international development, healthcare enterprise, infrastructure, and policy analysis. This experience includes the creation, leadership, and scaling of organizations and platforms operating across dozens of countries.

GDI draws on deep experience in futures thinking and strategic foresight, including leadership roles in major international foresight initiatives. This includes involvement in the founding and development of The Millennium Project, a global platform connecting futurists, policymakers, and institutions engaged in long-range thinking and scenario development.

The firm also builds on the legacy of The Futures Group International, which grew into a global leader in forecasting, planning, and policy analysis with operations in more than 50 countries. Through this work, GDI has applied futures methodologies to health, economics, energy, education, population dynamics, and socio-economic change.

GDI has extensive experience in international development and health systems, spanning policy design, institutional strengthening, and enterprise formation. This includes work in:

• Health systems planning and reform
• Medical infrastructure and facilities development 
• Diagnostics and laboratory systems 
• Workforce development and staffing 
• Bio-security, blood safety, and infectious disease preparedness
   

A distinctive component of GDI’s work has been the design and implementation of large-scale social marketing and behavior change programs, particularly in:

• Public and population health 
• Blood safety and transfusion systems 
• Education and workforce development 
• Energy use, environmental sustainability, and resource management
   

These programs have integrated communications, policy, and market-based approaches to drive measurable change across diverse cultural and institutional settings.

GDI brings hands-on experience in the formation, governance, and scaling of medical and health-related enterprises operating internationally. This includes diagnostics companies, laboratory systems, medical technology ventures, and healthcare service organizations addressing infectious disease, cancer, blood products, telemedicine, and medical logistics.

This experience reflects an integrated understanding of technical, regulatory, financial, and market considerations in healthcare enterprise development.

GDI’s experience also includes strategic leadership and governance in health-related real assets, including medical real estate and healthcare infrastructure portfolios. This work spans capital deployment, portfolio oversight, governance, and long-term asset strategy, informing GDI’s perspective on the relationship between healthcare delivery systems and infrastructure finance.

GDI’s systems approach is rooted in early leadership in energy economics and environmental policy analysis, including international energy assessment programs and socio-economic evaluation of alternative energy strategies. This work examined long-term policy, infrastructure, and environmental tradeoffs in multiple countries and regions, linking energy, environment, and development outcomes.