Sarah Slinker

Program Coordinator - Program Quality & Development , International Development & Humanitarian Assistance

London, United Kingdom

Results-oriented international development and humanitarian aid professional with proven track record of securing notable funding, developing robust grant proposals, and managing donor and partnership relationships to drive impactful program delivery and sustainable growth within complex organizational frameworks and contexts. Preference for working in Africa and/or Europe.

Contact Sarah Slinker
Area of Expertise:
  • Disaster, Aid, Emergencies, Relief
  • Fundraising, Business Development, Grants Writer
  • Human Rights, Law, Migration, Conflicts, Justice
  • Social, Education, Gender, Youth, Child
Professional Experience:

Demonstrated success in international development and humanitarian aid, with decade of experience in sector, including 7.5 years embedded across Sub-Saharan Africa (DRC, Ethiopia, Kenya, Togo, Zimbabwe). Proven track record in securing over $50M USD in funding from more than 70 institutional, international, and private donors. Skilled in writing and drafting high-quality technical and cost proposals, coordinating funding submissions, and managing complex donor requirements in emergency and development contexts. Strategic in partnership development and donor engagement, with strong record of nurturing funding relationships and securing multi-sectoral and complex program investments. Extensive hands-on expertise in program development and design, program quality (PQ), new business development (NBD), resource mobilization (RM), and promoting nexus programming across humanitarian, development, and transitional contexts – particularly for interventions supporting internally displaced persons (IDPs), returnees, refugees, and vulnerable host communities. Supportive leadership style, using coaching-based approach to build capacity of diverse, cross-functional technical teams (MEAL, GEDI, NBD, RM, and knowledge management) and to drive program quality and development under pressure. Multilingual, fluent in English (native), French (C1), and Swahili (B2), with cultural agility to operate effectively in fragile, conflict-affected, and displacement settings. Agile and highly adaptable, with strong capacity to learn, demonstrated by progression into leadership roles within esteemed organizations and international NGOs such as the US Peace Corps, Mercy Corps, and CARE International. Academically grounded with interests in migration, development, conflict, languages, sociolinguistics, humanitarian aid, and African studies, bringing critical lens to debates on localization, coordination, and role of global institutions in aid.

Holds full working rights in the US and is in possession of the right to work in the UK.

Education:

MA African Studies & Intensive Swahili — SOAS, University of London, UK, 2025 (ABD/Pending Dissertation)
- Relevant Modules/Classes: African & Asian Diasporas: Culture, Politics & Identities; Language, Identity & Society in Africa; Africa: Politics & International Relations; Violence, Justice & the Politics of Memory; Problems of Development in the Middle East & North Africa; Gender & Development (Audited/Non-Assessed)
- Dissertation: Dissecting Drivers of Conflict: The Social and Political Economies of Conflict of the Ongoing M23 Crisis in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (Working Title)
- Study Abroad: Advanced Swahili, the State University of Zanzibar (SUZA), Summer 2024

MSc Migration Mobility & Development — SOAS, University of London, UK, 2017 (Merit/2.1 Honors)
- Relevant Modules/Classes: Issues in Forced Migration; Migration & Development; Aid & Development; Theory, Policy & Practice of Development; Swahili – Beginners (Non-Assessed)
- Dissertation: The (F)Utility of Integration? Examining and Developing Tools for Understanding Integration Discourse within the Migration-Development Nexus (Through a South African Lens) (Merit/2.1 Marking)

BA French & Global Studies – Pacific Lutheran University, USA, 2013 (Summa Cum Laude Honors/3.93 Final GPA)
- Global Studies Major Concentration: Responses to Violence and Conflict; Minors: Anthropology & Political Science
- Honors: Completed PLU’s International Honors Program & Phi Kappa Phi Honors Society Member
- Study Abroad: French Studies, Université de Paris - La Sorbonne (Paris IV) & IES Abroad Paris, Spring Semester 2012

Available for:

  • Consulting assignments
  • Job opportunities
  • Being headhunted – make me an offer

Years of Experience:

5-10 years

Highest Qualification:

Masters

Languages:

English, French, Swahili

Nationality:

United States

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