COLLEGE PARK - November 15, 2011 - In October 2011, Optimal Solutions Group, LLC (Optimal) received a three-year contract with USAID for international economic development evaluation work.  With Optimal's strong domestic program evaluation expertise, its approach to real-time monitoring and evaluation, experienced consultants and partners and its diverse and international staff, Optimal is pleased  to have been chosen to support USAID efforts.

The need for rigor coupled with timeliness is clear with impact of high youth unemployment, population growth, scarce resources, and many other factors such as social media networks that are impacting our increasingly dynamic world.  Optimal's domestic experience in health, workforce development, education along with its internationally experienced expert partners will prove to be useful in this endeavor.  Additionally, Optimal's absence of business agreements with foreign governments or existing implementations eliminates any potential conflicts of interests.

As a newer USAID vendor, Optimal looks forward to bringing a fresh perspective to this work, providing tools for the missions to continue monitoring and reporting and providing mechanisms for continued learning.

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Optimal Solutions Group, LLC

Founded in 2000, Optimal Solutions Group, LLC is a nonpartisan public policy research and technical assistance firm that stands out through its quantitative expertise and innovative approaches to provide rigorous, data-driven research and technical assistance to government agencies, corporations, nonprofit organizations, and philanthropic foundations. Located at the University of Maryland’s M Square Research Park in College Park, Optimal is a leader in driving real-time public policy research. Optimal has 60+ employees including multidisciplinary researchers with backgrounds in business, communication, economics, education, health policy, psychology, public policy, sociology, statistics, and urban planning. Optimal has four research centers: Health, Education, Housing, and Workforce Development and Social Policy.