Sarah Renner Email & Phone Number

Minneapolis, Mn, Us

United States

Remote

 Organized 100+ person UN multi-Stakeholder dialogue on the role of sport in addressing inequalities, establishing a structured community of practitioners dedicated to mutual learning and shared priorities.  Wrote UN Secretary General Report on sport as an enabler of sustainable development, drawing on 120 crowd sourced public contributions to highlight lessons learned from experience. Facilitated partnerships to enable UN work on sport for sustainable development, including with the National Basketball Association.

Remote

 Wrote synthesis report on the work of the UN Peace and Development Trust Fund over the last 5 years. Conducted research and interviews to identify evidence and success stories that illustrate the impact of Trust Fund projects and substantiate recommendations for its growth and improvement.  Analyzed findings, distilling actionable lessons and recommendations to inform priorities and operations over the next 5 years.

New York, United States

UNITED NATIONS, Dept. of Social & Economic Affairs, Division for Sustainable Development Goals, New York, NYIndividual Contractor 3/2020 – 12/2020 Conceived and organized a series of UN virtual Consultations on Climate & SDG Synergies for a Better, Stronger Recovery from COVID-19.  Wrote background and concept notes elaborating the Consultations’ focus and objectives. Produced flyers and communication materials, designed and updated an on-line knowledge portal. Established a cross-sectoral community of practitioners committed to strengthening programmatic capacities to align humanitarian, health, climate and economic recovery objectives in response to Covid-19. Organized five webinars, recruiting and coaching experts from diverse fields and sectors. Secured broad public, academic and practitioner engagement. Developed and managed an on-line questionnaire, “Synergies in Practice”. Distilled and presented 5 key findings from consultations, advocating practical forward-looking actions.  Wrote and published forward-looking report with conclusions drawn from webinar and on-line contributions.

Greater New York City Area

 Advised regional and country programming on ways to maximize impact on poorest, vulnerable populations.  Routinely assessed projects and programmes for poverty impact; problem-solving with diverse offices. Co-managed joint programme with World Bank, UNICEF and Oxford University, multiplying support for countries to develop and apply national multidimensional poverty measures.  Elaborated framework UN offices and countries can use to assess and monitor intersecting inequalities; also adopted by Gates, CIVCUS, OECD/DAC [lead author of What does it mean to leave no one behind?]. Co-wrote “UN-SDG Operational Guidance on Leaving no one behind” detailing steps for countries to better understand “who is being left behind & why”; merging tools and evidence from human rights, economic development and peacebuilding. Organized and shaped UN events and outreach to advance global and country-level partnerships; built support for equity-focused initiatives; and call attention to the voices of people living in poverty.  Researched and wrote major UNDP Report, From the MDGs to Sustainable Development for All, distilling recommendations for SDG implementation from 15 years of practice.  Routinely organized and led webinars to boost capacities of local staff; contributed to UN and donor reports.

Greater New York City Area

 Drafted and edited all speeches, articles and briefings for the Administrator related to poverty, inequalities, governance, civic engagement, Africa, the MDGs and the post-2015 development agenda. Ensured quality writing, sound analysis, advice and strategic direction in a fast paced, high pressure environment. Researched and wrote signature lectures for the UNDP Administrator, making the case for a unified sustainable development agenda. Organized and staffed the Administrator’s missions to Europe and Africa, advancing objectives to generate support and strengthen leadership for sustainable development.  Worked with colleagues across UNDP to determine priorities and forward planning; advised Administrator of organizational opportunities and risks; managed relationships with key external and internal partners.  Led UNDP engagement in key UN Conferences, Summits and processes including UN Member State negotiations on the post-2015 agenda, drafting shared objectives, standard messaging; coordinating senior leadership outreach and follow up. Regularly trained staff on speech writing.

Greater New York City Area

 Advised Director on overall strategic direction of UNDP’s policy function and Bureau management. Initiated improvements in the delivery and strategic focus of UNDP’s advisory services.  Led corporate response to the global economic crisis, establishing business processes that enabled UNDP country offices to rely on coherent and strategically focused policy advisory services. Ensured quality, accuracy and timeliness of speeches, briefings and correspondence for the UNDP Administrator, Associate Administrator and Director. Coordinated multi-disciplinary programming, initiating and facilitating cross-practice teams to address the distributional consequences of climate change, mainstream human rights, migration and legal empowerment.

Greater New York City Area; Bratislava, Slovakia

 Managed the UNDP Poverty Reduction Practice Network Community, increasing membership over three hundred percent; while supervising the MDG Practice Network Community on behalf of the UN system. Formulated advice for approx. 15 UN Country Teams per month related to inclusive growth, socio-economic policies; drawing on community & expert knowledge and my own independent research.  Led advisory missions in India on public resource management; in Tunisia on poverty and social impact assessment; and Tanzania on food security and gender equality.  Wrote UNDP Guidance on project implementation & capacity development; MDG costing and fiscal space. Innovated methods to harness external expertise and manage effective communities of practice. Wrote corporate guidelines for facilitating communities of practitioners, initiated training for UN staff, civil society and government counterparts; led training for the Asia Pacific region.Detail Assignment as Deputy of Regional Service Centre, a.i., Bratislava, Slovakia 12/2005 -4/2006 Co-organized workshop that led the region's national statistical offices to include Roma populations in their national census indicators.  Facilitated multi-disciplinary country advisory missions on socio-economic themes, including social protection.

Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States

Master'S Degree, International Political Economy

Education record