Rachel Firth Email & Phone Number

United Kingdom

London, United Kingdom

London And Overseas

WBFA is a pan-African organisation working in the field of maternal, newborn and child health. They seek to create sustainable change working with communities to build capacities and empower women. The programs and advocacy work span local, national and global levels, harnessing international best practice and translating this into frontline programs. I joined the team to manage their partnerships, drive the organisation to achieve targets and bring their operations up to a global standard.Responsibilities- Coordinating and managing staff in international offices- Bring the organisations procedures and processes up to a global standard- Developing a 5 year strategic plan for the organisation- Working with partners to implement programs in our field- Coordinating Maternal Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) programs in Africa - Contributing to international consultations, seminars and workshops on MNCH in Africa - Managing international partnerships- Strategic relationship building- Working with partners to direct their programming in Nigeria to reach common goals- Project management - Set up the London Office - Participation in global consultations on MNCH in collaboration with WHO, United Nations, PMNCH and other global bodies addressing programming progress to date and identifying a direction for the future- Attendance to the United Nations General Assembly and participation in seminars and workshops with partners on MNCH, the development agenda, - Consultations with the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) relating to the strategy for improving the impact and scope of work in Africa- Secured the Foundations consultative status with the United Nations Office of Economic and Social Welfare - Spoke at the United Nations conference on NGO participation in UN ECOSOC- Manage the partnership with Johnson and Johnson and the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine to deliver training to health care workers in Kwara State, Nigeria

London/Overseas

WWH is a non-profit that connects volunteers to low and no cost projects worldwide. In the final year I moved to a consultancy basis working on specific projects while I returned to University to gain my Masters in International Development.Key Responsibilities- Matched national and international volunteers with appropriate projects worldwide- Training and monitoring volunteers and volunteer progress, including creating and implementing an appraisal process- Overseeing and developing the organisations service provision- Planning and implementing volunteer programmes and developing services in line with project needs - Overseeing the implementation of development projects on the ground- Monitoring budgets and expenses for projects- Responding to queries and addressing issues that arise before, during and after projectsKey Achievements - Working with councils in Kampala and Chennai to identify needs and establish strategies for implementing development projects – and overseeing this implementation.- Implementing a mentoring scheme between volunteers and inner city children in the UK while also developing the capacity for this system to be operational worldwide through WWH.

Surrey, Uk

Military Support and Stabilisation Group work in accordance with DFID and the Stabilisation Unit to deliver stabilisation projects in conflict areas. I managed a 6 month research consultancy project examining monitoring and evaluation systems for military stabilisation projects. Key Responsibilities- Research, literature and critical evaluation- Led round table discussions with high ranking Military personnel - Interviewing renowned academic, military and governmental personnel- Surveying M&E systems- Delivering presentations to a range of audiences- Managing a team of researchersKey Achievements- Designed a bespoke Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) system for UK military operational and tactical level stabilisation operations - Delivered a 10,000 report on M&E for Military Stabilisation Projects- The system is currently being tested in the field by Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL)

London, United Kingdom And Overseas

- Developing and implementing a communications strategy to support national and international charity activities, resulting in international coverage, including BBC radio Dubai, Hello! Magazine, and ITV news programs.- Building solid relationships with media contacts in the national and third sector press.- Coordination and management for international campaigns regarding struggling artists in Iran - Writing press releases, articles and speeches on behalf of the charity in highly political circumstances- Advising senior staff on appropriate media messages and approaches.- Managing teams of volunteers for national and international events- Working out-of-hours prior to and during events to ensure smooth management - Assisting in the planning and execution of charity events with high profile guests such as Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi and Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan; head of the United Arab Emirates Ministry of Culture, Youth, and Social Development- Designed invitations, sponsorship packs, press packs and programme journals for international events at exclusive venues- Edited the company website to ensure the content was well presented and the language was clear.- Created and aggregated all social media and online communication channels for the charityKey Achievements- Collated and analysed quantitative data detailing beneficiaries and the company projections for coming years. This was compiled to produce an eight-page bi-annual financial report.- Hosted high profile individuals at various international events- Coordinating multi-million dollar events with high profile guests within the first year of employment.

Master Of Science (Msc), International Development And Humanitarian Emergencies, Merit

This course allowed me to expand my knowledge of international development systems and issues. Through this course I managed a consultancy.

Bachelor Of Science (Bsc), Accounting And Law, 2:1

Activities and Societies: Law society, RAG societyThis degree helped me gain a broad range of business skills that assisted me in working.

Education record