Sara Giffen

Sara Giffen serves as a Human Resources Specialist with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID/Sudan), where she plays a pivotal role in shaping workforce development and institutional capacity-building initiatives through strategic procurement. Her responsibilities include designing and managing acquisitions that support human resource systems reform, public sector workforce training, and governance-focused technical assistance. She interfaces closely with program officers and implementing partners to align contracting strategies with USAID’s mission of strengthening democratic institutions and civil society in Sudan. Her acquisitions typically involve professional services contracts for HR consulting, organizational development, leadership training, and institutional assessment tools tailored to complex, low-resource environments. Sara collaborates with a diverse range of international and local service providers specializing in public administration reform, governance diagnostics, and capacity-building programs. Her contractor relationships are primarily with firms experienced in institutional strengthening, civil society engagement, and workforce modernization, often working with both U.S.-based technical consultants and Sudanese-led organizations with deep contextual expertise. She fosters long-term partnerships grounded in performance-based outcomes and adaptive management, prioritizing vendors with proven track records in fragile and conflict-affected settings. Sara’s procurement profile reflects a strong preference for open competition, with 100% of her acquisitions classified as “No Set-Aside,” indicating a focus on technical merit and institutional capability over socioeconomic preferences. While she does not routinely utilize 8(a), HUBZone, or SDVOSB set-asides, her approach emphasizes equitable access for qualified local and international firms capable of delivering high-impact human resources solutions in challenging operational contexts. Her primary NAICS classification is 928120 (International Affairs), underscoring her specialization in governance and public sector reform services. She procures technical assistance for HR policy development, civil service modernization, training curriculum design, and performance management systems, drawing on deep expertise in international development practice and public administration theory.