Joel Montgomery
Director of Business Development and Operations
Joel Montgomery has over 25 years of identifying, developing and managing new business and philanthropic opportunities in the US, Ukraine, Russia, Central Asia and Afghanistan including winning or managing over $73 million in contracts and grants with USAID, USTDA, NED, CIPE, the Department of the Army and private donors.
As Director of Business Development and Operations, Joel's wide range of technical skills promotes Black Trident's multidisciplinary approach to identifying, creating and delivering on innovative solutions to support our clients’ core business operations. He has extensive experience in early stage investment and donor support of NGOs and SMEs. His financial consulting experience includes the preparation and review of financial and compliance reports and filings.
A graduate of the University of Iowa, Joel started his career in Chicago’s LaSalle Street financial hub assisting small banks and financial institutions manage their liquidity and investment portfolios. Leaving Chicago behind, Joel became a leader of the first group United States Peace Corps Volunteers serving in the Russian Federation. As a PCV, Joel established Russia’s first continuing educational program for working commercial bankers. Subsequently, he became Managing Director of a EBRD sponsored direct equity investment fund that provided the bank with its highest returning equity investment exit.
Beginning with Operation Enduring Freedom, Joel’s professional focus shifted to the Central Asian Republics where he initially supported a US Export Import Bank Credit Facility dedicated to development of regional SMEs. Subsequent regional USG supported assignments included consulting and investment monitoring services provided to the Small Enterprise Assistance Fund in Kyrgyzstan and Afghanistan and project management of democracy development grants made by the National Endowment of Democracy and the Center for International Private Enterprise. Joel’s business development successes in Central Asia included leading the proposal development and service delivery of a prime Department of the Army transportation contract and M&E support for Manas AFB.
In 2015, Joel became Chief of Party for the Global Peace and Development Charitable Trust’s small grants program dedicated to countering Russian extremism in Ukraine’s Donbas region. Notable supported projects included standing up Армія FM and the pro-Ukrainian, Russian language online news site vchasnoua.com. Building on his success in developing effective counter messaging platforms, in 2017 Joel became a Senior Program Manager of the State Department’s sponsored Information Access Fund.
Joel holds a B.A. in Business Administration and Economics from the University of Iowa and is a graduate of the Venture Capital Institute.