NEWS RELEASE

January 30, 2009

Acorn International’s Atma Khalsa recently completed the USAID Global Development Alliance (GDA) implementer training.  This innovative program is aimed at creating public-private partnerships to improve the effectiveness of development programs by pooling resources and knowledge.  By finding shared goals, this program allows development agencies to leverage their resources and industry to gain development expertise and instant credibility.  Acorn International’s role as an implementer is to facilitate the process and monitor and evaluate the development programs.    Our network of in-country professionals are critical in this role as they have the local knowledge and resources to efficiently support and monitor the projects. For more information, please visit www.usaid.gov/our_work/global_partnerships/gda/ .

Acorn International, LLC is a professional consulting services company dedicated to delivering world-class, affordable EHSS assurance and straight-forward results for overseas development projects.  The company operates not through a traditional consulting services model but by providing structured tools and guidance to qualified host-country teams, maintaining a link with international clients and building capacity in the host-country team. Acorn delivers:

1.       Established teams of local country experts partnered with and directed by an expert in assuring world-class EHSS assessment and management performance standards are met

2.       Advice to international industry needing to build world-class EHSS programs

3.       Recruitment and oversight/management of partners and service providers (EHSS and other) overseas

Working with Acorn allows international industries to better manage the increasingly delicate balance between meeting corporate requirements for reliable, simplified service while satisfying host-country demands for maximum local content.