DAI Names Tine Knott to Succeed CEO Jim Boomgard in 2025

November 14, 2024

DAI today announced that DAI President Tine Knott will succeed Jim Boomgard as DAI’s Chief Executive Officer. Betsey Nelson, Chair of the DAI Board, said in a message to staff that Knott will take over as President and CEO at the upcoming Board meeting in February 2025.

“I’m honored and excited to take on this new role,” said Knott. “Ours is an era of great promise and great uncertainty, where the prospects for economic growth, more effective governance, and expanding human dignity face headwinds such as climate, geopolitics, and conflict. For our clients and for DAI, these and other challenges are a call to action. I’m committed to ensuring that DAI will meet that call for decades to come.”

Tine Knott joined DAI in 2011, following 15 years with the U.S. Agency for International Development, serving in Washington D.C., Jordan, Mozambique, Ghana, and Peru. Most recently, as DAI President, she has worked closely with the CEO on strategic planning, while overseeing DAI’s donor businesses, private sector consulting, investment services, and global operations. Before that, she served as Executive Vice President for Strategy and Global Operations, Senior VP of DAI’s USG Business Unit, and Managing Director for Governance, Transition and Stability, among other positions.

A graduate of the Wharton School’s Advanced Management Program, Knott also holds a master’s degree in international development from the University of Pennsylvania. She will be just the fourth CEO in DAI’s 54-year history of driving lasting development impact.

In her message to staff, Nelson paid tribute to Boomgard’s almost 40 years at the firm and 15 years as CEO, saying “Jim transformed DAI from a U.S. contractor to a multidimensional global development company…enabling us to take on bigger problems on more ambitious projects at greater scale.”

“I am deeply proud of the development work I’ve been able to do at DAI,” said Boomgard, “deeply grateful to the many people who made my contributions possible, and deeply confident in the next generation of leadership—in particular my friend and colleague Tine Knott.”

An economist by training, Dr. James J. Boomgard joined DAI in 1985 to lead the Central Java Enterprise Development Project. He has led dozens of technical assignments in the years since then, working and residing overseas for more than a decade.

Boomgard assumed progressively responsible roles in DAI’s corporate executive team and in the broader development industry. An active Board member of the Professional Services Council, a former Board member of the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, and a founder of the Council for International Development Companies, he has been a leading voice in industry debates over development assistance. He served a two-year term on the U.S. Advisory Committee on Voluntary Foreign Aid.

Boomgard took over as DAI’s chief executive in 2009. “Jim has been a tireless steward of the firm and champion of its many stakeholders—owners, clients, employees, and beneficiaries alike,” Nelson said, citing his achievements in democratizing and globalizing DAI’s employee ownership, diversifying into new donor and non-donor markets, and growing the firm.