Kimberly Ball of the OSDBU presents Meaghan Smith, President and CEO of Banyan Global with the Small Business of the Year Award on May 17, 2024
On May 17, 2024, at the 15th Annual Small Business Conference in Washington, D.C., the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced Banyan Global as the winner of the 2023 USAID Small Business of the Year. A women-owned small business that integrates expertise and experience from both the development community and private sector to achieve a broad and lasting impact, Banyan Global operates seamlessly across five practice areas: health, economic growth, gender, youth, and monitoring, evaluation and learning.
“On behalf of the entire Banyan Global team, we are truly honored to receive this award and recognition by USAID,” said Banyan Global President and CEO Meaghan Smith. “We would like to thank USAID/ Nigeria for nominating us, and USAID’s Office of Small and Disadvantaged Businesses (OSDBU) for selecting us.”
The Small Business of the Year Award aims to recognize the creativity and extraordinary performance of one small business that has significantly and directly impacted core USAID mission objectives and requirements over the past year by providing extraordinary customer service, as well as cost, time and personnel savings, and innovative programming ideas.
Members of the HWM Activity team participate in a Pause and Reflect Session in May 2024.
Banyan Global was nominated by USAID/Nigeria for its work as the prime implementer of the Health Workforce Management (HWM) Activity. Designed to establish a cost‐effective, well-trained, and motivated health workforce across targeted rural and remote areas, HWM helps to contribute to greater health system responsiveness and improved health outcomes, especially among women and children. Banyan Global’s work on the HWM Activity in Nigeria exemplifies its approach to development.
1. Locally-led development is critical for achieving sustainable results. In Nigeria, Banyan Global collaborated with local organizations through a grants under contract program, as well as local bodies and state and federal governments, to catalyze improvements in human resources for health. This led to the revision and roll-out of the national pre-service nurse and midwifery curricula, as well as the community health worker curricula, catalyzing quality improvements across 300 pre-service health training institutions and impacting more than 500,000 community health workers, nurses, and midwives, and more than 160,000 community health worker and nursing students.
2. Banyan Global applies both a gender and social inclusion and inclusive development lens to all its work. In Nigeria, Banyan Global created a scholarship program for over 600 vulnerable young women.
Michelle Cormier, Meaghan Smith, and Janice Stallard of Banyan Global pose with the Small Business of the Year Award.
3. Sustainable development does not happen without the private sector. In Nigeria, the Banyan Global team mobilized $4.7 million in innovative public and private financing to address accreditation needs of pre-service health training institutions.
4. Digital development improves data for decision-making and magnifies results. In Nigeria, Banyan Global worked with state partners to roll out human resources for health information systems in seven states, and the Federal Capital Territory.
“Our work in Nigeria demonstrates that U.S. small businesses have the commitment, ingenuity, and flexibility to implement technically challenging projects in complex environments,” said Smith. “I want to thank USAID for recognizing this, and giving us the opportunity.”
