David Joel Medalia

David Joel Medalia serves as an Acquisition and Assistance (A&A) Specialist at USAID/Ethiopia, where he plays a pivotal role in designing and managing technical assistance contracts that advance sustainable development outcomes. His work directly supports the agency’s mission to strengthen public health systems, improve education and governance, and build local institutional capacity through evidence-based programming. Medalia specializes in procuring management consulting services and technical advisory support, ensuring that USAID’s interventions are grounded in best practices and locally contextualized expertise. He typically handles non-construction acquisitions under the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), focusing on performance-based, results-oriented contracts that align with strategic country development objectives. Medalia collaborates closely with a diverse range of international and local consulting firms, including global management advisory firms and Ethiopia-based technical service providers. His procurement approach emphasizes long-term partnerships with vendors possessing deep sectoral knowledge in health systems strengthening, education policy, and governance reform. He prioritizes firms with demonstrated experience in complex, multi-stakeholder environments and maintains a collaborative working relationship model that encourages innovation, adaptive management, and local ownership of program outcomes. Medalia’s procurement portfolio reflects a strong preference for open competition, with 100% of his acquisitions classified as “No Set-Aside.” While he does not currently prioritize socioeconomic set-asides such as 8(a), HUBZone, or SDVOSB programs, his contracting practices remain fully compliant with all federal small business participation goals. His approach emphasizes capability and performance over socioeconomic status, ensuring that technical quality drives award decisions. His primary procurement focus is on NAICS 541611—Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services—reflecting his specialization in institutional capacity building, program design, monitoring and evaluation, and strategic planning. He consistently procures high-level advisory services that support USAID’s technical missions, including organizational development, policy analysis, and public sector reform initiatives across Ethiopia’s health, education, and governance sectors.