About Us
Michael John Downie is the President and Director General of Downie Global Strategies (DGS), an international management and strategic communications firm that advises multinationals, financial institutions, global educational institutions and non-profit organizations on a variety of matters, including international affairs, government and international governmental relations, policy and policy briefs, market entry and risk assessment, patronage and local partnership agreements, partner development, regulatory affairs, curriculum development and shared value programs, creating diplomatic solutions throughout Africa, with a focus on sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), and the Caribbean.
DGS and our world-class partners based throughout the five main regions of Africa leverage relationships with high-level public and private sector patrons across the continent to help our clients achieve their goals in Africa’s vibrant and diverse business and educational environment. Further, with our partners throughout Asia, we are able to bring the most competitive prices for products to market to fight COVID-19.
Together, with our clientele, we assess the competitive environment in the rich multiplicity of African markets and the plush plurality of Caribbean markets, and then help steer opportunity through market entry and business strategies, including new policy initiatives, institutional partnerships, and stakeholder relations. Proactive engagement with important patrons help us to position our clients to be industry leaders while establishing sound foundations for continuing success in Africa, while our partnerships in Asia are positioned to help the American public contain and control COVID-19.
Michael John Downie has been a University Professor in the CUNY & SUNY university systems since the 1990’s and most recently at Stevens Institute of Technology. Prior to that, he taught at a business school in Paris, France. In 2003, Professor Downie founded Renaissance in Motion, a cultural organization in Central Harlem. He was awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Fellowship and has done research at the Royal Archives in London, England, and at Cape Coast University in Ghana, has travelled extensively in Africa where he has a wealth of stakeholders in government, education and the business sectors. In 2007, he was appointed to Manhattan Community Board 10 and was elected Assistant Secretary; he is the Chair of the Arts & Culture Committee and serves the Education and Executive Committees. He chairs the Local Arts Advisory Council, for which he was appointed by Hon. New York State Assemblywoman, Inez Dickens. In 2013, Downie opened DGS, a boutique consulting firm in New York, providing global strategy solutions for businesses, organizations, global educational institutions and political leaders. In fact, his policy positions on Africa led him into fundraising.
In 1999, shortly after Professor Downie joined the faculty at The City College of New York, he was invited to join the board of Empire State Democratic Initiative (ESDI), as the Vice President for Events and Programs. In this role where he served with Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, NYC TLC Commissioner and Dean Emeritus of Pace University School of Law, David Yassky and Economic Policy Advisor to Senator Jon Tester, Dana Chasin, Downie organized all fundraising efforts in order to fund campaigns for New York State Democratic Party candidates such as Comptroller Carl McCall’s bid for governor, and those for the greater good, Vice President Al Gore’s presidential campaign. In 2008, Downie joined the Obama for America Campaign in Pennsylvania and canvassed the Eastern region of Bucks County; he also provided high-level communications support to the campaign and sat on the Host Committee for the largest fundraiser for Obama in New York City the same year.
Michael John Downie holds a M.A. in International Affairs (GMAP), with a focus on African Affairs, from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, a Graduate Certificate in African Studies from Yale University, a M.A. in English and American Literature from New York University (magna cum laude), and a B.S. in Psychology from Tufts University.
Crispin Gregoire
Former Ambassador of Dominica to the U.N. and Former Special Advisor to the President to the United Nations General Assembly, is a dual citizen of the Commonwealth of Dominica and the United States. Ambassador Gregoire has joined Downie Global Strategies (DGS) as a Partner, and serves as Director for Government Relations. In his new role, Gregoire is responsible for navigating the complex landscape present at all levels of government in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) states, and strengthening DGSs ties to their African concerns from the energy sector to global educational institutions, through various trade remedies, customs compliance, and due diligence on contract negotiation and other mitigation issues, notwithstanding curriculum development and university partnerships.
Prior to DGS, for the last five years, Ambassador Gregoire was President & CEO of Crispin Gregoire & Associates, a consulting practice focused on public-private partnerships for sustainable energy development in developing states, an advocacy program for electoral governance in the Caribbean, strategic planning and governance consulting for Boards of non-governmental organizations, and facilitating design and implementation of climate resilient initiatives in Small Island Developing States.
Ambassador Gregoire served as a Director at the Regional Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean of the United Nation Development Program (UNDP) from 2012 to 2015 with responsibilities for managing UNDP cooperation with Governments and Regional Organizations of the Caribbean Community, providing strategic monitoring and support to Caribbean Country Offices, and partnerships development with UN Permanent Missions, the UN Secretariat and Specialized Agencies, corporations, philanthropic organizations, and academia. While at the UNDP he was appointed Special Advisor to the President of the UN General Assembly with specific responsibility for organizing the 2014 World Conference on Indigenous Peoples (WCIP).
From 2002 to 2010, he served as Ambassador/Permanent Representative of Dominica to the UN, and Head of Delegation of Dominica to the International Criminal Court (ICC). During that period he also represented Dominica at the annual Conference of Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the World Trade Organization General Council, the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, and in negotiations with the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. He has served as Adjunct Lecturer at Brooklyn College and Boricua College, and his publications have focused on nonprofit governance, and Indigenous Peoples of the Caribbean.
Ambassador Gregoire holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science (International Relations) from Columbia University, and a Master of Education degree in Adult Education & Economic Development from Howard University