The Jim Parys Pages

I work now for USAID as its Deputy Mission Director in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.  I am also a doctoral candidate at Salve Regina University working on my dissertation

In 2010 I took my wife’s family name; before that my last name was Carlson.

Just before working in Dushanbe, I represented USAID in Karachi Pakistan and Burkina Faso.  Prior I was the Assistant Mission Director and head of USAID/Sudan’s Program and Project Development Office, shepherding US assistance programs during the secession of South Sudan and development of early recovery programs in Darfur.

I have been working for USAID since 2002, helping reestablish USAID’s presence in Yemen, overseeing a variety of programs throughout the Middle East under the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI), designing the United States government support program to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and directing a joint donor/private sector effort that led to phasing out lead in gasoline in Vietnam. I worked in Armenia and Russia, 2005-2010 where I managed a portfolio of conflict mitigation, governance, environment, and community development activities focused in the Caucasus and the Russian Far East.

Before joining USAID, I administered a variety of development assistance programs for non-governmental organizations and the United Nations in Vietnam and China from 1990-2000. During this period, I designed and directed one of the largest donor-supported microfinance programs in Vietnam, led program evaluations, and coordinated the UN’s report to the Donor’s Consultative Group on capacity development for poverty alleviation in 1996 in addition to placing and managing more than 100 development volunteers in China.    Prior to working overseas, I was an actuary at a life and health insurance company in Saint Paul Minnesota and worked at the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC).

I have published various articles on international issues in addition to writing a number of reports on development projects in Vietnam, Russia and Mongolia.  I have also authored two books in Vietnam on a Chinese novel and on the etymology of Chinese words that are part of the Vietnamese language, the latter earning a National Silver Book Award.

A native of Boulder, Colorado, I received my bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Carleton College. I have two master’s degrees from the University of Pennsylvania in international affairs and public administration.  I am an avid runner and have participated in road races and triathlons.