Hi, I’m Chris, and I’m a recovering aid worker.
I once led a 15-year career with three United Nations agencies, and one big NGO, and have been lucky enough to meet and work with people from all over the world. Some facts:
- I’m from New York City, born into a family from Ecuador.
- I have dodged malaria (so far, knock on wood), in several places where it’s still a problem.
- My college and grad school professors once led me to believe the only life worth leading is that of the mind (I’m still recovering from the consequences of this).
- I’m always on the hunt for the best bloody mary a town has to offer.
I want to help people get their foot in the door into top development organizations – and do their best work once there – with insider knowledge and influence techniques I’ve used in an on-going career that took me to a director role at a young age, and to work on social problems in 20 countries in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Central America, and the Caribbean. I talk about research, organizational design and data to expand impact in development every chance I get because they’re (in my view) cornerstones of addressing leading global and local challenges.
On this site, I connect with others who want to learn about the global development field and get better at delivering development.
As an international development specialist and former insider I have helped dozens of colleagues, interns, recent grads, and consultants:
- Identify the area they can impact the most, and implement concrete strategies to do so.
- Tap into their expertise and skills to get the job they want.
- Deliver high quality analytical work and strategies.
- Learn insider information on how hiring managers in development think.
My US$ 0.02.
My heartfelt belief is, development organizations too often miss a huge opportunity to strengthen their work and impact on the lives of the communities they serve. And that simple opportunity is: improving the skills, knowledge and experiences of development workers.
Many have borrowed best practices and management styles from other sectors to create a range of frameworks, tools and ideas for how to make the world a better place. But these have failed as much as they have succeeded.
My bet is, if we can get better talent into the field, give them the chance to better learn from one another, and strengthen systems to improve development, then we can accelerate human progress around the world.
So if you have a passion for changing the world, this is the place for you.
If you sign up below, I’ll send you a step-by-step course on finding an impact job with a leading development organization.
Are you ready to take the first step?
