Research Triangle Institute

Research Triangle Institute (RTI) is a North Carolina based think tank, research company, and contractor for US-government agencies and US-quasi-governmental organizations. Although it has many areas of expertize emanating out of the North Carolina universities, it is also involved in "building civic society", "elections promotion" and reconfiguration of educational systems.

Iraq Chapter

North Carolina's Research Triangle Institute, charged with carrying out local governance projects under a far larger $598 million U.S. grant, had seen its own momentum stall when fighting first erupted in 2004. After losing several Iraqi staff to assassinations, it, too, had carried out much of what little training it did in Kurdish areas. This changed when Marine Brig. Gen. John Allen arrived in Anbar province in January of 2007 -- within weeks of Parhamovich's death -- and took the mantle of "democracy-building" on himself.
At the time, Allen said, civil government was "gasping for breath," with al-Qaida threatening or killing elected local council members. Working with tribal sheiks, he has since won acclaim for pushing al-Qaida out of Anbar and strengthening the local governments through transparent, funded projects.
The institute, led there by Texan Ron Johnson, was then able to carry out its own work at the PRT in Anbar and other areas and helped to launch local and provincial council associations that meet regularly and lobby the Iraqi parliament.

"We have been so much in need of this kind of training because local government is just something new in Iraq and having no specific local government academy that could train and (improve) the capacity of councilors," said the local association's chairman, Abd Al-Khadom. He credits the troop surge for "fruitful" political progress at the local level.

Retooling Textbooks

RTI together with Creative Associates International obtained a contract for education system reform in Iraq. The project entailed rewriting Iraqi textbooks and reorganizing its curriculum.

Principals

• Ron Johnson

Senior Management

• Earl Johnson Jr. Chairman
• Victoria F. Haynes – President and Chief Executive Officer
• James J. Gibson – Executive VP and Chief Financial Officer
• E. Wayne Holden – Exec. VP
• Satinder K. Sethi – Exec. VP
• Lorena K. Clark – Senior VP
• Lon E. Maggart – Senior VP
• J. Scott Merrell – Senior VP
• Allen W. Mangel – Senior VP

Affiliations

• International Development Group – Branch of RTI dealing with international contracts.