Capitol Heights, Maryland, United States
Over 20 years of international development experience in project implementation, grants management and resource mobilization, both field-based and in the US. I have substantial public and bilateral donor expertise as a lead proposal coordinator and member of proposal teams producing high-quality, donor-responsive, beneficiary-focused applications to USAID, BHA, UK Aid,, DOS/PRM, USDA, Global Fund, among others. Applying Shipley-style best practices, I have a proven track-record of 7-& 8-figure proposal wins while leading on submissions ranging from under $1 million to over $55 million. I possess a working knowledge of USAID rules and regulations. My robust analytical, communication and leadership skills are complimented by a strong attention to detail and an ability to prioritize time-sensitive tasks. My capacity to thrive in both office settings and complex/insecure work environments while maintaining a positive attitude is a key asset. I have a broad geographic scope across Africa and Asia, covering numerous sectoral concentrations including emergency response and recovery, food security & livelihoods, education, health and OVC, and WASH. I am professionally proficient in French, and enjoy working in cross-cultural settings.
• Lead $15M+ grant portfolio across multi-sectoral programs, ensuring financial stewardship, compliance, and impact delivery. • Drive institutional fundraising strategies by coordinating proposal development, supporting consortia, and leading a 5-year strategy refresh. • Cultivate high-value relationships with private foundations, corporations, and government donors. • Mentor and coach national fundraising teams, embedding best practices in proposal development and donor engagement. Strategy and Leadership: Recruit and manage skilled staff while overseeing a grant opportunity tracking system, cultivating support office relationships, coordinating high-quality proposal development with cross-functional teams, supporting consortia formation, , and providing strategic direction to pursue non-traditional and emerging funding sources. Donor Identification, Engagement and Prepositioning: Proactively track and analyze the donor landscape to build and maintain strategic relationships, organize prepositioning meetings, elevate WV’s profile, and support donor engagement through tailored engagement strategies, impactful communications, and consistent visibility at global, regional, and national levels. Grant Management: Ensure comprehensive grant management and compliance, maintain grant portfolio data, and mobilize cross-functional support for grant performanc Capacity Building: Lead, manage, and build the capacity of NO team members and seconded staff by setting clear goals and accountabilities, supporting performance and development needs, and fostering a high-performing, engaged workforce.
• Support Resource Development (RDM) Sector Teams, Private Funding Team and field offices in proposal development and resource acquisition activities. • Serve as proposal manager (capture planning and positioning through proposal and award) for US government and other bilateral and foundation multi-sectoral resource opportunities. o Served at the proposal manage for WVUS’ first Governance prime cooperative agreement from USAID (Governance for Local Development Plus- GoLD+, $22 million, Senegal), defeating the incumbent award holder. • Support RDM Sector Teams and the Private Funding unit in the successful transition of new awards to their management teams, including active support of the grant startup process.. • Coach the West Africa National Office (NO) leadership and resource acquisition managers in their representational roles with key decision makers in local US Embassies, USAID Missions, partner organizations, and donors. • Promote and support West Africa NO leadership initiatives to prioritize and strengthen their public grant acquisition process and grow grant revenue. • Promote and support West Africa NO leadership initiatives to integrate, both geographically and programmatically, their private and publicly funded programming portfolios in order to maximize WV's competitiveness for the donor dollar through improved program impact and cost effectiveness. • Maintain current knowledge of regional strategies and field needs in order to facilitate effective and coordinated WVUS representation in prioritized working groups and support teams. • Develop regional engagement plans that highlight key WVUS’ priority initiatives, unique value propositions, and technical approaches/expertise. • Develop donor engagement strategies for WVUS and the West Africa NOs that align with organizational strategy. • Build external relationship and networks tosupport resource acquisition and allocation, including contacts and relationships with other NGO's and peer organizations.
Positioned WVUS and NOs for anticipated funding opportunities, and then provided guidance and leadership to the Child Protection & Education (CPE) sector teams and NOs on good program design and provide quality assurance in proposal development process. • Served as lead for large and complex funding proposal development processes involving technical content and complex consortium partnerships. Donors included, USAID, JTIP, DRL DOL, World Bank, Global Fund amongst other bilateral and foundations. o Served at proposal manager for WVUS’ first USAID prime award in Education (Homes & Communities, $14 million, Rwanda). • Identified relevant upcoming funding opportunities through advance intelligence gathering and prepare recommendations based on specific go/no-go decision criteria, and then identified the required relevant resources, strategic partnerships and proposal development resources needed for pursuing identified funding opportunities. • Utilized program design expertise to guide and lead quality program design (involving US and field based technical and finance colleagues) that built on evidence based approaches and was responsive to the guidelines and specification outlined by the donor. • Built effective working relationships with potential partners during positioning and on proposal bids. Special emphasized was placed on local partnership outreach strategies to align with USAID’s and other donor focus on locally-led development. • Supported recruitment process to ensure timely identification and inclusion of qualified key personnel for proposals. This included job description development, candidate selection and key personnel interviews. • Managed proposal review process to check for quality, activity budget alignment, responsiveness and compliance with donor guidelines and solicitation instructions. • For funded proposals, coordinate program design hand over to program manager(s).
Serve as proposal manager on bids from a diverse donor pool (USAID, UN, foundations and private sector) with budget ranges of $300,000 to $55 million, providing overall quality control through design and/or review of response strategies and proposal components for responsiveness, completeness, and other non-technical aspects. • Work with program leadership to form and maintain proposal teams through the proposal life cycle; creating and managing proposal timelines and outlines; creating and adapting templates with specific guidance for proposal teams; and acting as the PATH proposal point of contact for external partners and donors, including negotiation and execution of teaming agreements and issuance/acceptance of partner instructions/templates. • Serve as business development representative to PATH programs and countries—covering countries such as Tanzania, DRC, Ethiopia, Senegal, Kenya; and sectors including maternal-child health and nutrition, non-communicable diseases, digital health, HIV/TB—to foster effective business development planning, positioning, practices and country office capacity building. • Work closely with program and technical leaders to create and strengthen relationships with donors and potential partners. • Support advancement of business development standard tools, templates, guidelines, and process improvements (development and roll-out). • Serve as a resource for other business development team members and other PATH staff with internal and donor compliance guidance and trouble-shooting complex situations and requirements.