DAI is a consulting company based in the Washington DC metropolitan area that specializes in international development, and has a long history of implementing microfinance projects. Since 1970, it has worked in 150 developing and transition countries. It has over 350 DAI staff work in its Bethesda head office (just outside Washington, D.C.) and many more on assignment at project sites in more than 60 countries. Its contract portfolio is diverse, covering technical disciplines across the spectrum of economic, social, and institutional development, including crisis mitigation and stability operations, democratic governance and public sector management, agriculture and agribusiness, private sector development and financial services, economics and trade, HIV/AIDS, avian influenza control, water and natural resources management, and energy and climate change. Its main client is USAID, as well as other bilateral development agencies, multilateral development banks, global corporations, and host country governments. It has offices in Europe, Jordan, Mexico, Palestine, Pakistan and South Africa. Since its inception, DAI has been very actively implementing microfinance projects for its clients. Its research and knowledge generation activities have played an important role in shaping the discourse of microfinance and microenterprise development.