Ahmad Shakir Mehraban

Shakir Mehraban serves as an Acquisition and Assistance (A&A) Specialist at USAID/Afghanistan, where he plays a critical role in designing and managing technical assistance contracts and cooperative agreements that advance the agency’s mission of sustainable development and institutional capacity building. His work centers on procuring expert-led training and professional development services to strengthen governance, education, and health systems across Afghanistan. As a key liaison between program offices and external providers, Mehraban ensures acquisitions align with U.S. foreign assistance objectives, adhering to federal acquisition regulations and USAID’s streamlined procedures for development programming. Mehraban collaborates with a diverse array of international and local implementers, including consulting firms, academic institutions, and nonprofit technical service providers with demonstrated expertise in adult learning, institutional reform, and public sector capacity development. His contracting patterns reflect a preference for performance-based, results-driven agreements that emphasize measurable outcomes over traditional service delivery models. He maintains collaborative, long-term partnerships with vendors who bring contextual knowledge of Afghanistan’s operational environment and a commitment to local engagement. Mehraban’s procurement portfolio is entirely non-set-aside, with 100% of acquisitions conducted under full and open competition. While he does not prioritize socioeconomic set-asides such as 8(a), HUBZone, or SDVOSB programs, his approach emphasizes technical merit, past performance, and local capacity building as primary evaluation criteria, ensuring that the most qualified providers—regardless of size or certification—are selected to deliver high-impact outcomes. His primary focus is on NAICS 611430 (Professional and Management Development Training), where he procures customized leadership development, curriculum design, adult education, and institutional training programs. These acquisitions support USAID’s core objectives in building Afghan civil society, public administration, and technical workforce capabilities through evidence-based, culturally responsive learning interventions.