International Relief and Development, Inc. (IRD), renamed Blumont, is an organization that purports to provide relief, stabilization, and development programs worldwide. In 2015, IRD was the subject of a Washington Post investigation that highlighted the organization's performance and management of taxpayer money. Among other irregularities, the organization had charged the US Government $1.1 million for staff parties and retreats at exclusive resorts. In January 2016, IRD announced that it was changing its name to Blumont and relocating to Madison, Wisconsin.
According to Blumont, its mission is to deliver "innovative, evidence based, locally driven solutions that advance the aspirations of people, communities and donor partners worldwide". In 2011, more than 80% of IRD's $500 million annual budget came from USAID. In recent years, Blumont has completed work in the Middle East, South America, Asia, and Africa for governmental entities in the U.S. and Britain, such as USAID and DFID and for organizations such as the World Bank and the United Nations.
Leadership
Founder
Dr. Arthur B. Keys Jr. founded IRD in 1998. As of 2012, Keys claimed more than 30 years of experience with domestic and international humanitarian assistance, economic development, and food/agriculture programs and oversaw nearly $525 million annually for global development assistance. According to 2007 tax records, Keys was paid $552,722, more than the salary of his counterparts at similar organizations. Keys' wife, daughter and brother-in-law took home an additional $265,278 in salary and benefits. In 2015, it was reported that federal investigators were examining the expenses of Keys and his wife, Jasna Basaric-Keys.
Amid investigation, Keys retired from IRD and moved to a farm in Western Pennsylvania's Washington County in 2015. Previously, Keys was the executive director of Interfaith Impact for Justice and Peace, the Secretary for Public Ministries of the United Church Board for Homeland Ministries, and the President of the consulting firm Keys and Associates.
Keys is a native of Washington, Pennsylvania. He has a Doctorate from Emory University and a Master of Divinity from Yale University. He received his bachelor's degree from Bethany College. He is currently a member of the board of trustees at Bethany. He was awarded an honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from Bethany. He is also the recipient of the William Sloane Coffin ’56 Award for Justice and Peace given annually by Yale Divinity School and was honored in Atlanta as a 2011 Emory University History Maker and by the Emory University Alumni Board with the 2009 Emory Medal for his years of humanitarian service.
President & CEO
Roger Ervin assumed leadership of IRD in December 2014, and now serves as the President and CEO of Blumont. Ervin has been working for over 28 years in government, academic and private sector roles. Before Blumont, Ervin worked as Senior Vice President for Global Markets at LMI. He also teaches management courses as an adjunct professor at the University of Wisconsin School of Business and at the UW Department of Political Science
Operations
Much of IRD's work for USAID is performed under cooperative agreements, which are more flexible than contracts, with fewer deadlines and demands. The arrangement makes it difficult to hold IRD accountable because deadlines and deliverables are rarely specified. For years, USAID relied heavily on these agreements, partly because they required less oversight from the agency, according to government auditors. The company's rapid acquisition of USAID contracts has prompted some to label it a Beltway Bandit.
Employees who left IRD were asked to sign confidentiality agreements stipulating that they could be sued for making disparaging remarks about the organization, potentially violating whistleblower protection
In 2015, USAID suspended IRD from future federal contracting. Among other irregularities, the organization had charged the US Government $1.1 million for staff parties and retreats at exclusive resorts. but IRD filed suit and a district court voided the suspension. The court led by Judge Royce Lamberth found that USAID had not followed several federal guidelines in its investigation of IRD, and ruled their suspension illegal. USAID nullified and vacated the suspension and retracted any statements asserting that the suspension was valid or appropriate. Employees who left IRD were asked to sign confidentiality agreements.