The Commonwealth Foundation aims to strengthen civil society and funds projects that advocate for constructive engagement between civil society and governments in policy development and decision-making in three thematic areas: climate justice, health justice, and freedom of expression, with cross-cutting themes in gender equality and young people. The Foundation funds initiatives that catalyse systemic changes by developing new policies, improving practices, and promoting sustained behaviour changes while ensuring civil society members constructively engage with governments in policy formulation and decision-making processes.Main responsibilities:• Provide targeted inputs to Calls for Proposals to ensure each grant is robust and responsive to changing contexts.• Collaborate with Civil Society Grants Team colleagues to test new releases to the grantmaking database, identifying improvements and addressing bugs.• Manage incoming grant proposals and evaluate eligibility of prospective grantees in line with grantmaking due diligence protocols.• Prepare endorsement profiles of recommended projects for consideration by the Grants Committee.• Support engagement with all grant partners including end-to-end administration of grants management for projects and gathering and integrating feedback to improve project management processes.• Contribute to ongoing efforts to streamline and improve the effectiveness of the different grant streams.• Led the design and annual review of a pilot grant stream focusing on strengthening the organisational capacity of civil society organisations in small and vulnerable states.• Lead the Civil Society Team’s annual data generation and analysis to showcase the progress and impact of funded projects.• Contribute to the delivery of cross-organisational work.• Draft advisory reports for Grants Committee and Board meetings.• Mentor interns and team members in financial management issues and IT applications.

- Co-developed content for a 'Shelter & Cash' training workshop for the Northwest Syria Cross-Border Shelter Cluster.- Co-facilitated 4 training workshops - Northwest Syria Cross Border Shelter Cluster, CARE Mozambique, CARE Malawi and CARE Zimbabwe. - Other responsibilities included contributing to funding proposals, data analysis of annual global shelter programmes, FY2021 annual report, strategic and detailed technical advice for CARE country programmes and other shelter-related research, development of tools and advocacy materials.

Returned to provide further support to Caritas Bangladesh on the Rohingya response, while their newly appointed national technical adviser settles into his new role. I was asked to provide continued technical support and management oversight on Caritas’s shelter response programme, while also supporting the planning and implementation of a range of shelter interventions to approx. 14,000 households. Funds from UNHCR, IOM and other donors being coordinated across four different camps. Representation at Shelter Sector meetings and Technical Working Groups. On behalf of Caritas Bangladesh, I also led the entire process on the submission of 2020 Joint Response Plan and UNHCR 2020 Partnership Agreement Proposal for all the shelter activities and interventions.

Provided technical support and programme management oversight on Caritas’s shelter response, leading on the planning and implementation of a range of shelter interventions to approx. 14,000 households. Coordinated funds from UNHCR, IOM and other donors across four different camps. Represented Caritas at the Shelter Sector meetings and Technical Working Groups. Capacity building of Caritas shelter team was a key objective of long-term programming.

Deployed to provide technical support and management oversight on Caritas’s shelter response programme, supporting the planning and implementation of a range of shelter interventions to approx. 14,000 households. Funds from UNHCR, IOM and other donors being coordinated across four different camps. Representation at Shelter Sector meetings and Technical Working Groups. Capacity building of the Caritas shelter team is a key objective of long-term programming.

Rapid 1-month deployment as part of CRS’s Humanitarian Response Department to support CRS Ethiopia on the Gedeo/West Guji response. Providing technical support to CRS shelter team and local partner in the region, mobilising the team to start implementation of all planned shelter activities. Preparing and conducting technical training to the field team, community facilitators and local carpenters, with the production of toolkits to support different activities throughout implementation. Representation at Shelter Cluster meetings and Technical Working Group meetings.

Rapid 8-week deployment as part of CARE International’s Emergency Response Team to support their member organisation, CARE Bangladesh, on the Rohingya response. Provided technical and programme management support on CARE Bangladesh’s shelter programme, constructing Shelter Sector approved mid-term shelters whilst establishing a process for constructing transitional shelters using a community-led approach and re-planning selected congested areas within Camp 16 so that each household gets more or less the same area per person. Representation at Shelter Sector and Technical Working Groups meetings. Designed CARE’s Phase 3 shelter programme including operational and detailed implementation plan for the month of November, with monthly targets for the following six months. Conducted an assessment of CARE’s shelter & site development works as part of their global Mid-Term Review team.

Through CARE International’s roster for emergency deployment, I was rapidly deployed to support CARE PNG in their post-earthquake shelter response in remote locations within Hela Province and the Western Province. Provided sectoral leadership during the initial assessment stage, conducting assessments in Huiya, Dodomona and Walagu villages. Following the assessments, I provided recommendations on potential recovery activities with suggested timeframes, providing funding was available. Also assessing in-country resources and identifying any internal and external inputs required based on the recommended shelter interventions and programme activities. Working closely with CARE PNG's emergency response team to ensure an integrated approach, tackling aspects related to WASH, livelihoods, nutrition, gender & protection, DRR and environmental impact, while ensuring SPHERE minimum standards were met or exceeded where appropriate. Representation at Shelter Cluster level and liaised directly in order to compile the most relevant and up-to-date shelter IEC materials for this response.

The main goal of this deployment was to push for the approval of more durable shelter solutions. I utilised my design ability, presentation and negotiation skills to support Caritas Bangladesh/CRS in obtaining government approval for piloting a range of more durable shelter designs for the Rohingya response as part of the wider Phase 3 Shelter Sector Strategy. The Shelter Sector envisaged the approval process to take six months and we managed to obtain the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner's (RRRC) approval within six weeks. I led the design and review process during this period, working closely with the members from the Shelter Technical Working Group, RRRC Office and the Shelter Sector Co-Coordinator. Upon receipt of the written approval, we set up a small pilot project with a total of ten shelters to test the buildability, structural integrity and cost-effectiveness of each design option, before rolling out the amended design across multiple designated locations across the camp. I also managed to secure some external funding from new donors for Caritas Bangladesh during the same period.

Rapid deployment as part of CRS’s Humanitarian Response Department to support their member organisation, Caritas Bangladesh, on the Rohingya response. Provided technical support and management oversight on Caritas’s shelter response programme, and supported the implementation of a range of shelter interventions to more than 7,500 households. Funds from UNHCR and other donors being coordinated across six different zones within the Kutupalong Camp. Representation at the Shelter Sector meetings and acted as the lead/co-lead of two separate Technical Working Groups. Worked closely with ARUP engineers to review some of the existing shelter designs and construction techniques within our working areas. We also used this opportunity to introduce the use of rope bracing (instead of using bamboo) and established a pilot project for the training of our staff as well as for the technique to be shared with other agencies. I contributed to some of the Shelter Sector's technical guidance documents, e.g. Wind Loading Technical Guidance Note.

Rapid deployment as part of CRS’s Humanitarian Response Department to support their member organisation, Caritas Bangladesh, on the Rohingya response. Provided technical support and management oversight on Caritas’s shelter response programme during the emergency phase, supported the implementation of a range of shelter and NFI interventions to more than 7,500 households. Funds from UNHCR and other donors being coordinated across six different zones within the Kutupalong Camp. Representation at Shelter Sector meetings and the lead / co-lead of two separate Technical Working Groups. In December, I also acted as a temporary WASH representative for CRS/Caritas Bangladesh during a gap in external technical support for WASH. Throughout this period, I worked closely with our GIS specialist and the field team to survey every latrine within an area of 182 HH to determine the status and GPS location of each latrine and tube well. Afterwards, we devised an overall plan for the facilities which required decommissioning, desludging or relocating. We also took this opportunity to re-plan the area with better-integrated WASH facilities, including bathing cubicles, drains, water points, and solar lights.

Providing consultancy support to the Humanitarian Technical team, assisting on a range of shelter programmes and training programmes. Projects include providing technical input and programme management support to country offices in Malawi, Nepal and Australia. Other projects included the launch of the Promoting Safer Building project (funded by the Global Challenges Research Fund through the Natural Environment Research Council) and working closely with project partners ODI, EPICentre at UCL and the British Geological Survey to explore the process of self-recovery after a disaster in vulnerable communities. The project aimed to lay the foundation for, and develop, a long-term programme of multidisciplinary research to achieve resilient homes and communities in countries at high risk of disasters.

Supporting the senior management team and the Board of Trustees on programme development and reporting, as well as M&E evaluation on the DFID-funded ECD project in northern Uganda.

African Revival is a UK education charity working in Uganda and Zambia to ensure every child in Africa has equal access to quality education. Their programmes cover a variety of areas, including education, construction, agriculture, food security/nutrition, teacher training, water and sanitation, and girls’ education. I was brought in during a time of restructuring to assess the organisation's strategic direction and identify ways to stabilise their operations so that they could continue delivering their funded programmes with minimal disruption. I was responsible for providing executive leadership to three offices; driving income across a portfolio including major donors, corporates, trusts and foundations and institutional funding; creating and implementing policies, systems and processes to improve the efficiency and quality of their programmes whilst monitoring the impact and performance to ensure accountability and value for money. Aside from strategic management and programme oversight, 25% of my time was spent on expanding the charity's network within the international development community, creating new relationships as well as strengthening existing ones. As a direct result of this, we secured funding from Bestseller Foundation, STIR Education and SOS Village.

Build It International is a UK charity working to promote sustainable livelihoods in Zambia through skills training and construction. During my time in Zambia, I managed a team of 12 in three regional offices. I was responsible for improving the quality of their construction and training programme and ensuring that each project was delivered to a satisfactory standard within the agreed timeframe and budget. I introduced systems and processes to drive down costs and established reporting mechanisms and annual reviews to appraise the quality of each project and promoted a culture of learning. Within two years, I helped them triple the number of school buildings constructed each year, doubled the percentage of female trainees trained and significantly improved the cost-effectiveness and quality of their country programme.

Article 25 is a UK charity delivering community buildings and construction training in post-disaster and post-conflict countries. I was responsible for managing a team of 20 volunteer architects/engineers/designers and overseeing a range of projects including a Post-Earthquake School Reconstruction Programme in Haiti, the Gola Forest Staff Village Project in Sierra Leone, a Vocational Training Centre in Uganda and a school in Burkina Faso. I also led a School Construction Review for the Ministry of Education (MoE) in Afghanistan from the London office. I was directly responsible for designing the data collection toolkit, as well as coordinating activities for data collection with a group of five Afghan engineers from 56 schools across six regions. The detailed report I put together comprised of three volumes of analysed data with detailed findings and recommendations. The report was presented to the Afghan MoE in early 2011 and it led to further work from the Afghan MoE in 2012/3.

As an Associate, apart from running multiple projects and managing a team of six staff members and external consultants, I also shared the responsibility of project programming, personnel resourcing, budget planning and monitoring.