Penelope A. Thomas-Attar

Penelope A. Thomas-Attar serves as Regional Supervisory Executive Officer for USAID/Dominican Republic, overseeing the strategic planning and execution of procurement activities that advance the agency’s mission of sustainable development and institutional strengthening. In this leadership role, she ensures compliance with federal acquisition regulations while aligning contracting decisions with USAID’s priorities in public sector reform, health system resilience, and government-to-government partnerships. She typically manages complex service-based acquisitions, particularly those requiring technical expertise in HIV/AIDS response, justice sector modernization, and capacity-building initiatives, ensuring that procurement supports long-term local ownership and program sustainability. While specific contractor names are not publicly disclosed, Ms. Thomas-Attar cultivates partnerships with a diverse ecosystem of vendors, including domestic and local Dominican service providers, technical consultants, and nonprofit implementing partners. Her procurement approach emphasizes performance-based contracting and outcome-driven deliverables, fostering collaborative relationships with firms capable of delivering adaptive, context-sensitive solutions aligned with USAID’s development objectives. She prioritizes transparency, accountability, and local engagement in vendor selection, reinforcing USAID’s commitment to building indigenous capacity. Ms. Thomas-Attar maintains a 100% Small Business Set-Aside preference under FAR 19.5, reflecting a robust commitment to socioeconomic inclusion and local economic empowerment. All acquisitions are reserved exclusively for small businesses, ensuring that contracting opportunities directly benefit disadvantaged entrepreneurs and community-based organizations. This pattern underscores her dedication to leveraging federal procurement as a tool for inclusive growth, with consistent emphasis on supporting small, locally owned enterprises rather than large multinational contractors. Her procurement focus is exclusively centered on NAICS 812990 (All Other Personal Services), which encompasses a broad range of technical assistance, training, advisory services, and institutional support functions critical to USAID’s development programming. She procures specialized services in public administration reform, health workforce development, legal system modernization, and community-level HIV/AIDS outreach, requiring deep subject-matter expertise and cultural competency. Her work ensures that technical assistance is not only delivered but also institutionalized within Dominican public institutions.