Palladium hires Llyr Rowlands as chief operating officer

Palladium, a Washington, DC-based international development consulting firm, has hired Llyr Rowlands as chief operating officer.

Based in the firm’s DC headquarters, Rowlands is a lawyer and development executive with extensive experience in international energy work. He has managed energy and critical infrastructure programs in Central Asia, Eastern Europe, sub-Saharan Africa, and the Pacific Islands.

Rowlands previously was deputy chief of party and legal advisor for a USAID-funded contract providing assistance to a public energy company in Kosovo (KEK) and chief of party for the Power Africa Transitions and Reforms Program in South Africa.

He joins Palladium from engineering consultancy Tetra Tech, where he spent 11 years and led the international energy business. Before that he held roles at several law firms, spending four years at Pierce Atwood as an international legal advisor and six years at Hunton & Williams as an associate.

Rowlands has a master’s degree in law from the University of Oxford and a diploma in legal practice from the Oxford Institute of Legal Practice.

“Llyr’s experience in challenging environments and expertise in frontier markets make him the ideal candidate,” said Ricardo Michel, co-CEO of Palladium. “When I look at where development needs to go as we face climate change, conflict, and inequality across the globe, Llyr’s experience is pivotal to our building and driving an organization that can tackle these complex issues.”

Rowlands added, “The development space is evolving and so must its implementers. We must pre-empt the problems our clients are facing and identify the right solutions. This is true of the areas where we’ve been traditionally strong, but even more so where we see the future.”

Founded in 1965, Palladium works on large-scale development programs with governments, businesses, and investors – providing consulting strategy, program management, impact investment, and supply chain management services. The firm has practices in economic growth, education and workforce development, governance and law, health, humanitarian aid, infrastructure, and environment, among other areas.

Palladium has over 2,500 employees working on projects in 100 countries.