Blog
August 14, 2023
Attain Partners’ Research Enterprise Services Practice Welcomes Gil Tran as Strategic Grants Management and Compliance Leader
Gilbert (Gil) Tran joined Attain Partners’ Research Enterprise Services practice on August 11, 2023, as a Senior Specialist Leader working directly with Managing Partner and Practice Lead Mark Davis. A distinguished and honored veteran of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), we are thrilled to welcome Gil to the team and look forward to leveraging his decades of grants management expertise to serve our clients.
I am ecstatic to have Gil helping to lead our team of grants management experts. A longtime friend and colleague, I know just how good Gil is and cannot wait to see the tremendous results he creates for our clients.
Mark Davis
Managing Partner, Attain Partners
Having only retired from his federal government role a few short months ago, Gil hit the ground running at Attain Partners jumping into client work on day one and creating immediate impact. We sat down with Gil to learn more about how Attain Partners coaxed him out of (a brief!) retirement and what excites him most about joining our team.
Attain Partners (AP): What propelled you to join Attain Partners and continue your legacy of impact?
Gil Tran (GT): There are three key reasons that I knew joining Attain Partners was my best next move.
1. Greg Baroni and Mark Davis.
They are both visionary and imaginative. They strongly believe in the value provided to the clients they serve. Mark and I joined Greg in his unique consulting group for colleges and universities in grant administration at KPMG in the early 1980s.
Greg always stressed that as consultants we are trusted as experts in our fields and with that privilege and our technical knowledge, we must provide services and solutions to our clients that are valuable to them and a great return on their investment. It is a desirable and noble principle that I value. I am honored to rejoin them to provide services to colleges and universities in grant administration.
2. Rapid growth in grant volume and its compliance requirements.
In the last few years, particularly since 2020 at the start of the COVID pandemic, the federal grant volume has exponentially increased for all grantees, including colleges and universities, as the result of the massive COVID Recovery grants and the Inflation Reduction Act grants.
Along with this extraordinary and sudden growth, more federal regulations (such as requirements for transparency and buy and hire Americans) are being added and implemented to protect the integrity and performance of the grant dollars. These two factors combined create an environment that is extremely difficult for grantees to keep up with and become vulnerable for proper compliance.
3. Education and knowledge are keys to the future.
Colleges and universities as grantees have the fiduciary responsibility for the grant dollars received. Grant administrators are therefore the key to safeguarding the grant moneys and protecting the colleges and universities from potential fraud and damaging audit findings on its grants.
With my experience at Georgetown University, KPMG Consulting Services, the Department of Health and Human Services Division of Cost Allocation, and the Office of Management and Budget, I feel the need and desire to train and educate the next generation of grant administrators so federal grants money are well spent and grantees do not end up in tough and damaging situations for grant non-compliance.
Attain Partners’ Grants Management Support
Managing your grants doesn’t have to be complicated. Our experts (including Gil!) have the firsthand public sector experience needed to support you throughout the entire management lifecycle. We have deep expertise in allowable costs, proposal submissions, financial reporting and closeouts, and research compliance, including export control. Regardless of your needs, we can help you take control of your grants, stay organized, and move your research mission forward. Learn more.
Meet Gil Tran
Gilbert Hai Tran is Senior Specialist Leader, Grants Management at Attain Partners. Previously, he served as a Senior Policy Analyst with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Office of Federal Financial Management (OFFM).
A 27-year veteran of OMB, Gil has often served as a go-to field expert and is a sought-after presenter who has earned a reputation as a source of knowledge and an engaging industry speaker. Among his contributions in shaping the financial assistance landscape for future generations are: helping reduce the audit burden for both auditees and federal government oversight agencies; playing an integral role in the development of the Uniform Grant Guidance (UGG) and consolidating cost principles in the guidance; and, in 2005, leading the development of the first-ever government-wide waiver to provide relief to grantees caused by natural disasters.
Gil’s professional contributions have been recognized with several awards including the OMB Robert Damus Award, the National Grants Management Association (NGMA) Newton Award, and the Association of Government Accountants (AGA) Frank Greathouse Distinguished Leadership Award all in 2022 as well as the National College and University Research Administrators Association (NCURA) Joseph F. Carrabino Award in 2015. He is widely recognized as an outstanding leader in the grants management field.
Gil received a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from George Mason University, Virginia. He is a Certified Public Accountant and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Additionally, he chaired the Diversity Committee for the U.S. Tennis Association (Mid–Atlantic Section).
