Fritz Kramer

Intended as a career crowning project, I decided to mount a most challenging international development project, relying on the experience gathered in previous years: the development of the poorest region of the world.

The project aimed to develop central Africa, focusing on the Copper Belt in Zambia and mining regions of Eastern Congo (DRC). The goal was to establish a Foundation to oversee the flow of high-value minerals from small mining communities to world markets while ensuring that export profits directly benefit the region’s development. The project assembled a cache of high-value minerals worth 150M dollars, intended as the Foundation’s endowment. However, a project participant attempted to take over the materials and divert their flight to San Francisco. After failing, the participant was fired and retaliated by making a false criminal report with the FBI. The US government later acknowledged that they worked with a corrupt FBI agent and failed to inform me. The Appeals Court of the Ninth District remanded the case back to the District Court in San Jose for a new trial decision. I decided to stay in California and wait for a new trial, which could take one to two years. I have completed my sentence and am now waiting for the opportunity to clear my name and proceed against the government in civil court for immense damage caused to my reputation and project.

• Oversaw day-to-day operations to keep organization running smoothly while meeting organization's goals.
• Established and maintained strong relationships with donors, and national partners in a dozen countries in Asia, Africa and South America.
• Managed crisis response to minimize potential negative impacts on organization
• Shaped solutions and approaches by leveraging trends in international development environment.
• Led operational oversight and budgetary supervision for 12 national program locations.
• Identified and pursued business development opportunities to grow the organization and increase revenue.
• Monitored and analyzed trends in donor communities as well as in participation countries, to identify opportunities for organizational growth and competitiveness.

CIAT is one of 17 international agricultural research centers spread around the tropical and subtropical world. Together this research system supported by the World Bank and OECD countries created what is now known as The Green Revolution. I started as a communications specialist, then moved to head of training, then Director of International Cooperation, and finally assumed the position of Deputy Director General with special responsibilities for Finance & Administration. (CIAT had an annual budget of some $50M in current dollars.)