Leadership
Zufan "Zufi" Mulugeta
Founder & CEO — International Market Connect LLC (IMC Global)
21+ years · $1.8B+ in investments · 60+ countries · USAID & USDA leadership
Zufan (Zufi) Mulugeta is an international development executive with more than 21 years of leadership across USAID, USDA, the private sector, and the broader development community. She has provided strategic leadership, technical guidance, and oversight for development and humanitarian investments exceeding $1.8 billion across more than 60 countries, bridging donor priorities, government objectives, private-sector opportunity, and community needs, always with a focus on local ownership and lasting results.
Before founding IMC Global, she held senior leadership positions on complex programs across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. She holds an M.A. in International Trade & Policy from George Mason University and a B.S. in Business Administration from Liberty University.
She founded IMC Global to help governments, donors, local institutions, faith-based organizations, and private-sector partners strengthen systems, expand economic opportunity, advance locally led development, and deliver sustainable impact.
"After 21 years in public service, I have learned that true local ownership requires more than shifting resources. It requires shifting power.
Sustainable development depends on local institutions, businesses, communities, and governments having the authority to shape priorities, manage resources, and lead implementation. I built IMC Global to place those leaders at the center of strategy, not just delivery, and to support them with the rigor, accountability, and discipline I carried throughout my career.
That is how lasting change takes root.”
Zufan (Zufi) Mulugeta
Founder & CEO
Affiliated Experts & Advisors
IMC Global works with a network of experienced professionals whose combined expertise spans international development, agriculture, trade, organizational development, communications, workforce development, public-private partnerships, and institutional strengthening.
These advisors provide technical depth and strategic guidance on the projects that call for it, so IMC Global can build the right team for each engagement while keeping the focus and responsiveness of a small business.
Affiliated experts are engaged on a project-by-project basis as opportunities arise. Their involvement varies with client needs and the scope of each project.
Maria Price Detherage
Senior Organizational Development Advisor
Former Deputy Assistant Administrator, USAID Africa Bureau
Maria Price Detherage is a retired senior U.S. Government executive with extensive leadership experience across international development, public administration, human capital, civil rights, diversity, and organizational management.
She served as Deputy Assistant Administrator in USAID’s Africa Bureau, where she provided executive-level oversight for USAID programs across Southern Africa, including Angola, Botswana, Comoros, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and the Southern Africa Regional Program.
A career member of the Senior Executive Service since 2005, Maria joined USAID in 2013 and also served as Deputy Chief Human Capital Officer and Director of the Office of Civil Rights and Diversity. Prior to USAID, she held several senior leadership roles at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, including Deputy Chief Human Capital Officer and the first Executive Director of the Office of Medicare Hearings and Appeals.
Maria is a member of the Federal Coaching Network and is an alumna of the Federal Executive Institute and Harvard Kennedy School Executive Education. She has also been active in global poverty initiatives and has been recognized for her local and international service.
Maria brings to IMC Global a distinguished record of executive leadership, organizational strengthening, public-sector transformation, and commitment to service across Africa and globally.
