Catalytic Partnerships: Opportunities and Challenges in Mobilizing U.S. Private Sector Resources to Scale America’s Contribution to Development Overseas

In partnership with William & Mary’s Global Research Institute (GRI) and the Gates Global Policy Center (GGPC) led by William & Mary's Chancellor and Former U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, this research paper was produced by AidData to accompany the second Gates Forum, held in December 2023 at William & Mary on the role of U.S. development assistance in an era of intensifying great power competition.

This research effort sought to answer a single overarching question: How might we reinvigorate development assistance to better advance America’s varied national interests (e.g., humanitarian, diplomatic, economic, and security)? In this paper, we examine how the private sector—one of America’s most underutilized assets to support sustainable economic growth and development in the Global South—expands the total resource pool available to support economic growth and development worldwide. We explore the tools the U.S. government has used to engage these actors over the last 20 years, and surface five lessons learned to highlight the most persistent challenges to effective private sector engagement.

For the complete research volume, please see [Combined Report] The Imperative to Reinvigorate U.S. Development Assistance Capabilities to Better Advance America’s National Interests.