John Garrity is an economist, policy advisor and project manager with twenty years of experience working on economic development issues in the public sector at the state, federal and international levels, and in the private sector. His focus is on digital inclusion programs, universal access policy and last-mile connectivity deployments to foster effective universal Internet adoption for inclusive growth and poverty alleviation.

He is currently the Chief of Party for the USAID-BEACON activity (Better Access and Connectivity), a USD 33m USAID program to improve digital connectivity infrastructure, the ICT enabling environment, and cybersecurity capacity in the Philippines.

As an independent consultant to public sector and private sector organizations, John was a Digital Connectivity Consultant for the Asian Development Bank; Chief Technical Advisor to UNDP Philippines on digital infrastructure; advisor to Connectivity Capital, a sector-focused investment management firm providing debt capital to Internet Service Providers (ISPs); author of the UN Broadband Commission’s 2019, 2020 and 2021 State of Broadband reports; advisor to the ITU/UNICEF GIGA program to connect every school in the world to the internet; and co-author of the UN ITU "Last-Mile Internet Connectivity Solutions Guide", among other activities (for example with UNESCAP, others).

Previously, John was the Senior Connectivity Advisor in the Global Development Lab at USAID, leading on the Agency's operations to extend Internet access and adoption to marginalized geographies. In that capacity he managed several large awards with technology firms and implementing partners. Before USAID, John spent ten years at Cisco, as Senior Manager of Policy Research managing technology policy engagements and articulating the appropriate policies to expand broadband infrastructure deployment. Previously, he was Emerging Market Strategy Manager, responsible for advising Cisco's emerging markets expansion strategy across 130 countries utilizing macroeconomic analysis and engaging in the public dialogue on the role of information and communications technologies. Prior to Cisco, John was in the Corporate Strategy Group at the World Bank, and held previous roles at the Federal Trade Commission and in state government.

John serves as a technical advisor to the Network Readiness Index, on the advisory council of the Connect Humanity Fund, has co-authored several reports on technology and development and presented around the world on efforts to close the digital divide.

As the Director of Programs for Security Assistance, Todd Spires brings his 28 years of experience in government contracting, program management, and workforce and staff development to CRDF Global (www.crdfglobal.org) and its government and private clients. He is responsible for program design and execution of CRDF’s global capacity building and technical assistance projects that focus on cybersecurity and non-proliferation. Todd began his career with Betac Corporation and held executive positions at ACS Defense, Lockheed Martin, and PAE prior to joining CRDF Global at the beginning of the pandemic. He is based in Arlington, VA but is in Manila to deliver workshops covering various aspects of cyber-security.