At Pragma, we are as diverse as we are dedicated. For the past 40 years, Pragma has completed over 600 projects in 75 countries with a team whose experience spans the globe. We speak over 15 languages from every continent with the exception of Antarctica. Whether working with macro-level institutions, or individual farmers and entrepreneurs, we care deeply about transforming the systems and prospects that foster more equitable, stable, and sustainable futures.

Management Team

Jacques Defay

Board Chairman
Jacques Defay is Pragma’s founder and Chairman of the Board. From 1977 to 2006 he directed the company’s development strategy and supervised its worldwide consulting and project implementation activities as President. In 2007 he became Chairman of the Board. Prior to founding Pragma, Mr. Defay was a Development Economist at the Organization of American States and a Project Economist with the Inter-American Development Bank. Mr. Defay holds an MS in Economics and a BS in Statistics from the University of Minnesota.

Paul Davis

President
Dr. Paul Davis serves as the President of Pragma and is responsible for Pragma’s development assistance programming and technical resource management strategy. Dr. Davis is a senior development economist with extensive experience analyzing and effectively addressing economic policy and institutional development conditions and constraints in post-conflict environments and diverse emerging market settings. As President of the Pragma Corporation, MDr. Davis has successfully guided innovative economic governance/growth donor support programs in the politically complex Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region, as well as in the ex-Soviet Union, Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), Latin America, and East Asia. Before joining Pragma in 2010, Dr. Davis served as a chief economist and program/project manager for over two decades with USAID. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Boston University.

Jim Defay

Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Responsible for Pragma’s financial and accounting operations and corporate strategy, Mr. Jim Defay became Pragma’s Chief Financial Officer in 2007. He manages Pragma’s finance team and oversees the financial management support for Pragma’s development projects. Prior to joining Pragma, Mr. Defay was a Senior Manager at Pfizer working in the areas of Finance and Information Technology. He also worked for Boston Consulting Group as a Project Leader providing management and financial consulting to Fortune 1000 companies. Mr. Defay holds an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University and a BS in Computer Science from the University of Virginia.

Narayan Gurung

Controller
With Pragma since 2000, Mr. Narayan Gurung has more than 26 years of experience in finance and accounting. Mr. Gurung reviews and supervises Pragma’s financial and accounting activities, including policies and procedures, payroll and human resources (HR), and ensures record keeping and billings comply with the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), U.S. Agency for International Development Acquisition Regulation (AIDAR), and relevant regulations. The main point of contact for the company’s external and DCAA audits, he also prepares and submits the annual incurred cost submission to USAID’s Overhead Branch, and plays a lead role in preparing cost proposals. Mr. Gurung has an MBA degree and is fluent in English, Nepali, and Hindi.

Management Team

Jacques Defay

Paul Davis

Jim Defay

Narayan Gurung

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