Millennium Partners is a woman-owned small business certified by the US Small Business Administration. The principal owners of the company are Dr. Esther Hannon and Brian Hannon. Millennium Partners is based in Charlottesville, Virginia and benefits from a close association with the University of Virginia.
Millennium Partners has undertaken projects in every region of the world under rule of law, economic growth, and democracy and governance programs. Since 2005, Millennium Partners has been awarded over $130 million in programs in Moldova, Ethiopia, Kosovo, Bosnia, Egypt, North Macedonia, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Niger, Ecuador, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Liberia, and Benin, funded by the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the US Department of State.
Our Mission and Approach
Millennium Partners is committed to building just societies that provide opportunities to all of its people by means of effective and accountable government institutions. Our approach does not forsake attention to detail for speed but recognizes that in a fast changing world the window for reform is often short and the need for results critical. From experience we have learned that empowering local leaders and communities is the most effective way to achieve effective and sustainable results.
Who We Are
Brian Hannon has over 30 years experience in international development has developed and managed over $280 million in fully funded USAID and other donor funded projects in the areas of economic growth, democratic governance, anti-corruption, and rule of law.
He has managed large USAID privatization and economic reform programs in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Previously, Mr. Hannon served at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce where he directed the Center for International Enterprise (CIPE) program for Eastern Europe and Soviet Union that was funded by the National Endowment for Democracy and USAID. Earlier in his career he served in the U.S. Government for the USAID Administrator, Alan Woods, co-authoring Development and the National Interest; he also worked at the U.S. Department of Commerce on international trade policy, and at the Overseas Private Investment Corporation. He co-authored a chapter in Foreign Aid and the National Interest for the former USAID Administrator Andrew Natsios with Dr. Esther Hannon and Yung Whee Rhee in 2002.
Esther Hannon has worked in international development for over 25 years, specializing in democratic governance and human rights. Her management experience includes projects for USAID, the Department of State, and the MCC involving economic growth, democratic governance, civil society development, anti-corruption, legal reform and access to justice. She has a Ph.D from the University of Virginia, where she has also taught courses on international economic and political development, the politics of corruption, global development, rule of law and development, and Latin American politics. Among other publications, she was a contributor and writer for USAID’s Foreign Aid and the National Interest with Brian Hannon and Yung Whee Rhee in 2002.