Professional Experience:
Currently, I lead EarthRights International’s (ERI) Mekong Legal Program, managing a team of lawyers working with communities to protect their environmental and human rights across six Mekong countries as well as with a diverse range of legal, campaign and funding partners across the region and globally. I am responsible for overseeing all strategic planning and budget processes, daily implementation and monitoring and evaluation, as well as funding relationships and donor reporting. I develop the curriculum and teach at the Mekong Legal Advocacy Institute two-week training for junior public interest lawyers so I have a strong understanding of how to convey technical concepts in a simple, precise and translatable manner. I am very comfortable interacting with Board governance structures as I report to the ERI Board on a twice yearly basis. My excellent negotiation and diplomacy skills have been honed via managing complex networks such as the Mekong Legal Network and convening large-scale legal conferences so I am very adept at incorporating diverse standpoints to build consensus - all pivotal skills for any Executive/Director role.
At UN Environment, I developed project proposals and policy briefs on water issues. I was also directly involved in formal roundtable negotiations at UN Environment’s Governing Council XII and Global Ministerial Environmental Forum. As a Researcher in the Global Governance of International Watercourses with the UNESCO Centre for Water Law, Policy and Science at the University of Dundee, I engaged with a variety of key local, national and international stakeholders to disseminate and promote research and policy initiatives, including using multi-media resources such as establishing the UNWC Online User’s Guide, which provided me with multi-faceted research/policy communication skills suited for this UN Environment role. My consulting company, Transboundary Water Law, has successfully serviced a range of clients, including government ministries/donors, the Mekong River Commission and non-government organisations (IUCN, Oxfam, WWF).
During my eight years of progressively responsible roles at Oxfam, I successfully coordinated implementation of a multi-country, multi-donor, multi-partner, multi-million USD suite of projects. I have cumulatively gained outstanding exposure to, and responsibility in, programme management (strategy; development; implementation; monitoring and evaluation; reporting) and partnership coordination expertise with representatives at all levels – local, national and global. My roles have involved engaging daily with a diverse range of international, national and local stakeholders; working cross-culturally via both distance communications and face-to-face; with responsibility for managing small, focused and highly motivated teams within medium to large global organisations.