Professional Experience:
I have been working in the humanitarian & emergency response sectors for over 15 years, with cumulative broad experience in integrative disaster risk reduction, including funding applications, grant management and programme coordination in the context of humanitarian interventions relating to WASH, health, shelter, food security, livelihoods, environmental awareness, gender empowerment and education. I am actively seeking a new role working in programme coordination for grassroots projects and community development in the humanitarian sector.
My initial field experiences involved working with grassroots NGOs in South America, including providing a mobile school to informal settlements in Venezuela and coordinating reconstruction projects in the immediate aftermath of a massive earthquake in Pisco, Peru. I have since worked in a range of UK based projects including the training & capacity building of remote mappers for the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT) and Tanzania Development Trust and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), as well as working in the training department of the Independent School Inspectorate in London, preparing training materials for school inspectors and undertaking a range of legal compliance tasks (police background checks, processing data protection requests & compiling reports). Subsequently I worked as Humanitarian Programme Manager, focusing on capacity building for a Peruvian search and rescue NGO, helping them incorporate international standards and norms into their programme as well as building staff, volunteer and partner organization capacity around these themes and helping them apply for funding and external support.
Most recently, I have just completed a two year contract as Programme and Operations Manager for Otra Cosa Network, an international NGO, based in Northern Peru, where I coordinated a range of projects in informal settlements, identifying and responding to the needs of the target population. Projects included helping reduce barriers to education and boosting livelihood prospects for beneficiaries, many of whom were IDPs, fleeing disaster and climate change related incidents as well as political refugees from Venezuela. I worked with a range of local, national and international partners and stakeholders, including being country coordinator for Global Girls Leading Our World (Global G.L.O.W), an international NGO focusing on gender empowerment through literacy and value orientated after school education, including instilling a love of reading and the creation of several community libraries. I was responsible coordinating Otra Cosa and Global GLOW’s Programmes and Operations in Peru, managing a team of local and international staff (managing 7 direct reports and 12 indirect reports) and in turn I reported directly to the Directors and Board who were based in Europe. I undertook weekly one-on-ones, performance reviews and identified and facilitated relevant training to boost staff performance.
I led their fundraising team, identifying relevant funding opportunities, coordinating needs assessments, creating concept notes and proposals, writing applications and preparing budgets as per donor requirements. I managed donor communications to ensure compliance with their funding parameters and created and submitted regular financial and narrative reports in a time-sensitive manner. Under my leadership we received and renewed many grants to support a wide range of programming, including Coronavirus contingency funding from The Fore RAFT Transition Fund, The LUSH Charity Pot and various other UK based Charitable Trusts as well as The British Embassy in Lima and the US based Global G.L.O.W. Foundation.
I am currently an honorary Board Member of two DRR and sustainability NGOs in Peru: GRIDES and SEDYS, working with them on educational content to address the Coronavirus pandemic and the provision of educational, health and wellbeing materials for children in the are