Arlington, VA – February 17, 2010 – IRD announced today the addition of three new members to its Board of Directors: James Kunder,  Joseph E. Browdy, and Joseph A. Benkert.

“I am so excited by the addition of these talented and experienced individuals who will assist IRD in further developing our relief, community stabilization and fundraising initiatives globally,” said Dr. Arthur Keys, President and Chief Executive Officer of IRD.

IRD is pleased to announce the following new members of its Board of Directors:

Mr. Joseph A. Benkert joins IRD's Board while serving as Vice President of The Cohen Group.  Previous to his current consulting work, Mr. Benkert was confirmed as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Global Security Affairs on July 23, 2008.  He had been the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Global Security Affairs since December 2006 and previous to that had served as Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy.  During his career as a U.S. Navy officer, Mr. Benkert was instrumental in establishing Pentagon offices which provided a single focus within the Office of the Secretary of Defense for coordination of the Defense Department’s support to stabilization and reconstruction activities in Iraq and Afghanistan. 

Mr. Joseph Browdy served for five years as General Counsel to the Lincoln Center Development Project in New York City where he focused on modernizing the world famous Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.  Previous to these important efforts, he served for many years as a partner at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison where he served in the firm’s real estate group practice in New York City.

Mr. James Kunder has served in many senior positions within the U.S. Government including serving as the Acting Deputy Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) until January, 2009.  Previous to his leadership role at USAID, Mr. Kunder served as the Assistant Administrator for the Bureau of Asia and the Near East at USAID where he helped guide  USAID’s reconstruction and development activities in such fragile states as Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan as well as overseeing USAID humanitarian activities in the West Bank, Gaza and Lebanon.  Mr. Kunder is currently President of Kunder/Reali Associates, an international consulting firm specializing in international humanitarian assistance, post-conflict reconstruction, civil-military relations, and peacekeeping.   In addition, he serves as a Senior Resident Fellow at the German Marshall Fund of the U.S. where he is focused on the reform of U.S. foreign assistance.