Dr. David Kialain was educated in Liberia, Canada, and the United States of America. His professional undertakings have focused on human resource development, public institutional development, performance, productivity, efficiency, effectiveness, and impact. He is a labor economist, governance reformer, leadership, governance, and vocational/technical educator.

He facilitated the enactment of the legislation that established the National Council for Vocational and Technical Education and Training (NCTVET), a tripartite body consisting of relevant ministries, concession executives, and labor union leaders. The overarching goal of this initiative was for the NCTVET to facilitate the industrialization of Liberia. This strategic initiative was underway when the civil war interrupted it.

He returned to Liberia in 2003 and served as one of the national consultants under the aegis of the Governance Commission of Liberia from 2004 to 2017. During his tenure, he led the conduct of a mandate and function review of twenty-one ministries of the Government of Liberia designed to address the governance challenges the Government faced after the war. The review revealed that the functions of the ministries were centered only upon the minister alone, and several ministries had overlapping functions. Furthermore, he led a team and conducted a skills assessment of civil servants. The assessment revealed that there were significant gaps between their skill levels and their job skill requirements. Appropriate training need recommendations were made to fill the skill gaps within the public service.

This required institutional reform and restructuring. Thus, he led a team of governance reform experts, and they drafted the legislation of the following ministries, which was enacted into law: a. the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, b. Health, c. Gender, Children, and Social Protection, and Mines and Energy. He and his colleagues also drafted the legislation of the following ministries, which are still being considered by the Government of Liberia: State for Presidential Affairs, Public Works, Education, Labor, Transportation, Commerce and Industry, Youth and Sports, Information, Cultural Affairs and Tourism, and Internal Affairs. Similarly, he played a catalytic role in the establishment of the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission, James A. A. Pierre Institute, Liberia Land Authority, and National Public Health Institute of Liberia.

Dr. Kialain also worked as an international consultant funded by the British government under the Department for International Development (DFID), during which the legislation for the establishment of the Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission was crafted and enacted by the Legislature. His non-governmental experience includes international missionary work in leadership development for the United Methodist Churches in Ghana, Nigeria, the United States, and Sierra Leone.

He obtained his bachelor’s degree in Economics from Cuttington College and a master’s degree in Economics from the University of Windsor, Canada. He also earned a second master’s degree in human resource development and a Ph.D. in Public Administration from Georgia State University in the United States.

Dr. Kialain is a fellow of the World Bank, and he has been profiled by Princeton University for his leadership work at the Governance Commission. He is the instructor of Leadership and Governance course at IBB.