asia-pacific
australia & new zealand
fiji & the pacific islands
indonesia &
asia
AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND
BROWN, Jason
Partnership Director, Australian Humanitarian Partnership Support Unit
With 20 years’ experience in international development, Jason spent 16 years working in Indonesia specialising in disaster risk management, disaster risk reduction, disaster response, risk governance, community development, and participatory monitoring and evaluation. During this time, he worked with the Australian Government (AusAID/DFAT), INGOs and for managing contractors on bilateral development programs. Jason is passionate about disaster risk management, climate change adaption and conflict resolution and believes collective efforts are required across government, international agencies and civil society partners to ensure that at-risk and vulnerable communities and groups are adequately protected from the ever-increasing challenges they face. Fluent in Bahasa Indonesia, Jason implemented and managed an array of disaster management and development programs across the archipelago. Between 2009 – 14, he was Training and Outreach Manager for the Australia-Indonesia Facility for Disaster Reduction. This was the flagship disaster risk reduction partnership between the Australian and Indonesian Governments and engaged with a wide range of Indonesian government agencies, national civil society partners, international NGOs and UN agencies. Jason has postgraduate qualifications in international and community development.
BAKI, Lutful
Chief Financial Officer, Alinea Capital
Lutful is a finance professional with significant experience in international development project management and the consulting sector. His areas of specialisation include business and project management, system and process development, accounting system implementation, strategic planning, growth management, financial reporting, merger and acquisition, coaching and mentoring. Over the last 20 years, he has held leadership roles in global international development firms. He works closely with the wider team to ensure best practice financial management and controls both for projects and the company. He has worked in many different countries such as Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, China, Indonesia, Philippines, Cambodia, Vietnam, Afghanistan, PNG, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Singapore, UK, Malaysia, Korea. Most of his overseas inputs were around setting up in-country office and financial management system, training in-country finance team, auditing project financials and control system, conducting feasibility study, participating in M&A activities. He has created deep impact by mentoring and developing the financial management skills of many in-country support staff. Lutful is a qualified Certified Practicing Accountant and Chartered Accountant, with postgraduate qualifications in commerce majoring in accounting.
BEGHIN, Natalia
Consultant
Natalia is a Canberra-based consultant, with significant experience leading gender equality and social protection evaluations for government and multilateral organisations. She is passionate about evidence-based aid and development, and supporting clients to establish collaborative and sustained solutions to wicked problems, and has worked and volunteered in Borneo, China, Sri Lanka and Timor-Leste. Natalia was previously A/g Director, International Gender Equality Policy at the Australian Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, where she led Australia’s implementation of the UN Women, Peace and Security Agenda, and advised on gender equality positioning within the UN Human Rights Council and General Assembly. She led aid and development programming for Australia’s national Behavioural Economics Team, and supported the Prime Minister’s strategic engagement with numerous multilateral forums including the G20, G7, APEC, and ASEAN. She holds a postgraduate qualification in international affairs and was named Global Winner of the Global Undergraduate Awards in 2016 for her research on the intersection between peace and gender equality. She speaks French and Mandarin.
BETTERIDGE, Ashlee
Communications & Visibility Manager, Australian Humanitarian Partnership Support Unit
With more than 15 years experience in strategic communications and policy analysis, focusing on development issues across Asia and the Pacific, Ashlee is an experienced communications and visibility manager. Previously, Ashlee was Manager at the Development Policy Centre, Australian National University, supporting the centre’s growth, policy influence and visibility for a decade while coordinating a range of research-driven projects across Australia, Papua New Guinea and the Pacific. Areas of focus in her work include gender, humanitarian aid, Australian aid policy, media development and climate change. She brings applied skills in web development and multimedia production to her projects to support clear, impactful messaging.
BOWYER, Claire
Junior Consultant
Claire is an international development professional with experience in the delivery, monitoring, and evaluation of humanitarian and development projects across Asia, the Middle East, and the Pacific. Most recently Claire worked with the Australian Humanitarian Partnership Support Unit (AHPSU), providing oversight and input to program-wide evaluations in the thematic areas of disability inclusion and protection. Claire also supported the collection, quality assurance, and analysis of data collected through the Disaster READY program, Australia’s foremost disaster preparedness and management program in the Pacific. She contributed significant inputs to the capacity strengthening of local teams across the Pacific in monitoring, evaluation, and communications. Claire has postgraduate qualifications in gender and development.
CARNEGIE, Michelle
Knowledge & Learning Manager, Quality, Learning & Performance, Pacific Labour Facility
Michelle is a highly experienced knowledge and learning specialist and offers research expertise in the economic, socio-cultural, environmental, and gendered aspects of rural livelihoods and wellbeing in the Asia-Pacific region. She has experience fostering knowledge and research partnerships and facilitating participatory learning processes within development programs and action research projects. During her career, Michelle has held data, research, teaching, and capacity building roles – including 15 years working as an Australian-based academic in collaboration with governments, academia, civil society and communities in Australia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and the Solomon Islands. She has experience as a technical advisor on Australian bilateral aid programs, including for maternal health service delivery in eastern Indonesia and labour mobility in the Pacific and Timor Leste. Michelle holds a PhD in Human Geography and a postgraduate qualification in public health.
CORDEIRO, Maya
Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning Adviser, Australian Humanitarian Partnership Support Unit
With over two decades of participatory research, monitoring and evaluation experience, Maya specialises in evaluating complex, multi-country programs. Her sectoral areas of expertise include civil society engagement, gender and social inclusion, women’s leadership, and livelihoods programs. She brings extensive experience from working at a grassroots level with women’s organisations and women leaders in the South Asia and the Pacific to engaging with NGOs, donors and research institutes working globally. Following ten years working in India, the UK and Australia, Maya has led and contributed to international development consulting assignments with Australian government, NGOs, consulting firms and Pacific regional organisations. She is currently completing doctoral research.
COSTA, Maria
Operations Officer
Maria is driven by a passion for understanding different dimensions of inequality, and her professional interests include global poverty, gender justice and public health issues. She draws on significant experience in logistics and supply chain management in the private sector mainly in Peru, her home country. Maria speaks Spanish and English and holds postgraduate qualifications in development.
DAVIS, Penny
Senior Consultant
Penny has been an international development professional for over 15 years. She specialises in monitoring, evaluation, and learning and is passionate about ensuring development programs generate and use evidence to improve their effectiveness. She is particularly experienced in the evaluation of cash transfer programs and youth employment interventions. Penny has experience in program and policy management roles in the health, climate change and disaster management sectors, and has worked closely with governments, non-profits and foundations, including taking on in-country roles in Indonesia and Kenya. In all her work Penny is focused on ensuring partners have robust monitoring, evaluation and learning tools that meet their decision-making needs with their time and resource constraints. Penny holds a postgraduate qualification in evaluation.
DELFORCE, Julie
Principal Consultant
Dr Julie Delforce is a development professional and economist with nearly 40 years’ experience, including 22 years with the Australian Government. Her experience includes providing technical leadership across Australia’s overseas aid program as DFAT’s Senior Sector Specialist, Agricultural Development and Food Security. Her expertise extends to trade, market systems development, women’s economic empowerment, and labour mobility. Julie’s career has included periods as Economic Adviser to the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, Director of AusAID’s Pacific regional and Asia transboundary programs, and Senior Analyst with the International Economy Branch of Australia’s Office of National Intelligence. Julie’s writing experience includes authorship of reports for Australia’s senior Ministers, working papers and journal articles, and numerous policy papers and briefs. Julie holds PhD and Masters degrees in agricultural economics and an undergraduate qualification in social anthropology.
DIOP, Shola
Senior Impact Investment Analyst
Shola is a Senior Impact Investment Analyst with Alinea Capital. After completing an MBA at the University of Oxford’s, Saïd Business School he underwent a concentrated programme in impact investing, social finance and responsible business. Shola brings financial service experience across both buy-side and sell-side institutional investments in Europe and Australia. His background also includes positions as Co-founder and Treasurer of an Australian NGO focused on social justice and community development across Australian South Sea Islander, Pacific Islander and First Nations communities.
GLENNON, Kate
Operations Manager
As Alinea Capital’s Operations Manager, Kate is the lead on back-office operations and client communication services. She is an expert in providing the highest level of customer service and delivering operational excellence. With more than 10 years of experience in office management and executive assistant roles, Kate is responsible for operations, administration and financial support functions.
HANLEY, Clare
Senior Consultant
Clare is an experienced monitoring and evaluation professional, bringing more than 15 years’ experience in international and community development. She is committed to developing monitoring and evaluation systems for her clients that are feasible and support continuous learning and adaptive management. Clare has significant experience in Timor-Leste, Indonesia and the Pacific, and has worked across a range of sectors including water and sanitation, infrastructure, health, education, disability and ending violence against women. She has specialist expertise in strengthening disability and social inclusion in international development programs, and is passionate about ensuring people with disabilities do not miss out on the benefits of development. She has provided advice to a wide range of partners, including DFAT, NGOs, managing contractors and partner governments on how to achieve disability inclusive development by giving practical, realistic guidance to make inclusion a reality. Clare holds postgraduate qualifications in evaluation and development studies.
HARDEFELDT, Phoebe
Senior Consultant
Phoebe is a monitoring and evaluation (M&E), gender equality and social inclusion, and program specialist with over 15 years’ experience with government, the United Nations, NGOs and social enterprise tackling complex development challenges and driving effective policy and programming. Her experience ranges from community-level engagement, working in international NGOs and donor organisations, through to leading multilateral negotiations in global forums. Phoebe’s technical M&E skills span a range of aid implementing approaches including multi-donor trust funds, facilities and grants-based programming. She has experience working in diverse development contexts such as middle-income countries, fragile and conflict-affected contexts, and small island developing states. Her work for the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade included five years as an aid performance and quality advisor. She developed M&E policy and frameworks for the Australian aid program, undertook evaluations, and was the quality advisor for DFAT’s country programs in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Phoebe implemented DFAT’s first Gender Equality Fund and has led development and implemented gender equality, disability and social inclusion strategies as well as leading the design of gender-related aid programs. Phoebe was a climate finance negotiator on Australia’s delegation to the climate negotiations and managed Australia’s extractives development assistance portfolio. Phoebe holds a postgraduate qualification in public and international law and speaks French, Mandarin and Tagalog.
HEHIR, Emma
Administrative Assistant
Emma is passionate about the delivery of professional services and forms the backbone of the Asia Pacific corporate team. She supports the office in Melbourne and provides remote functional support for the Asia-Pacific offices. Emma’s work includes graphic design and management of logistics, procurement, risks, data entry and processing. Emma holds qualifications in desktop publishing.
HEHIR, Thomas
Chief Operating Officer
Thomas is an experienced executive and worked closely with the Founder to establish the company in Asia Pacific, growing it from a micro-enterprise to a medium-sized organisation. His technical expertise spans all aspects of corporate management including overseeing and managing growth, strategic planning and day-to-day functions for business development, human resources, finance, procurement, and policy development. He has worked on a variety of donor funded programs and tenders. Thomas is passionate about corporate ethics, impact investing and market systems development, and holds a postgraduate qualification in social policy.
HOLBECK, Laura
Monitoring & Evaluation Manager, Quality, Learning & Performance, Pacific Labour Facility
Laura is a monitoring and evaluation specialist, with 15 years applied international development experience and a focus on the Pacific region. Her career spans multiple sectors including labour mobility, gender equality, governance, disaster risk reduction, disaster response, natural resource management, climate change and the environment, across government, international NGOs and the private sector. Laura’s passion lies in poverty reduction, gender equality and environmental sustainability. Her technical expertise includes all areas of monitoring and evaluation, including data collection, analysis, reporting, learning events and products. She has experience promoting evidence-based decision making and learning in large programs to promote continuous improvement and progress toward outcomes. A seasoned program manager, she also has experience leading geographically dispersed technical teams. Laura holds postgraduate qualifications in evaluation, international development and environmental management.
LAVEY, Jo-Hannah
Senior Consultant
Jo-Hannah draws on more than 20 years’ experience in management, operational and policy roles in Australia, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and the US. She led drafting of Australia’s foremost humanitarian policies, including its previous humanitarian action policy and protection in humanitarian action framework. She advised the Australian Government’s Mission to the UN on humanitarian issues during its time on the UN Security Council, managed multi-million dollar partnerships, and contributed to global policy development in roles with the United Nations. Jo-Hannah also worked as an Executive at Humanitarian Advisory Group, leading research, design, monitoring and evaluation projects—bringing fresh thinking to challenge the status quo of humanitarian aid. Her operational background with UN OCHA, UN World Food Programme and NGOs includes designing, establishing and managing country-level response teams and programs delivering cash for work, conflict sensitivity, community engagement and feedback mechanisms and implementing multi-donor grant funds. She has also worked at DFAT’s innovationXchange, partnering with Google and Atlassian to identify transformative solutions to intractable development problems using technology. She holds a postgraduate qualification in international law and is a member of the RedR Australia expert pool.
LAWE-DAVIES, Francesca
Senior Consultant
Francesca is a social development specialist with more than 15 years’ experience working in government, non-government and multilateral development organizations in South East Asia and the Pacific, with particular expertise in social development and education in fragile and conflict-affected settings. Francesca worked for a decade with the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), shaping and driving significant policy and program outcomes. She has designed, managed and reviewed large scale programs for DFAT and the World Bank, and directly advised government partners in Indonesia and Timor-Leste on community driven development and decentralized service delivery. She spent three years in Manila, leading Australia’s education engagement with the Government of the Philippines on complex system reforms, including in conflict-affected Mindanao. She has led and managed research and evaluations on community development, social protection, education, gender equality and local conflict. She holds a postgraduate qualifications in applied anthropology and participatory development, and speaks Bahasa Indonesia, French and intermediate Tetum.
LYNN, India
Monitoring, Evaluation & Learning Officer, Quality, Learning & Performance, Pacific Labour Facility
India is passionate about people and sustainable development. She has experience across a wide range of cross-cutting issues and sectors, including capacity development, labour mobility, environmental and social safeguards, monitoring and evaluation, community support services, transport and youth unemployment. She has a sound understanding of development theories, perspectives and approaches, with experience working closely with the Sustainable Development Goals. India has experience supporting delivery of monitoring and evaluation products and services for large program units. She holds a postgraduate qualification in international development.
MOSS, Dr. Stephen
Executive Chairman, Alinea Capital
With a background in investment banking, law and psychology, combined with a passion for human rights and social justice, Stephen is Executive Chairman of Alinea Capital. He has a unique level of expertise and experience working with professional services firms, mergers and acquisitions and equity capital markets; particularly those operating in international development legal services, engineering, environment and management consulting arenas. His background includes key roles in governance and management reviews; providing advice on mergers, acquisitions and combinations as well as capital raising, both debt and equity; and advising and mediation strategy, structure, acquisitions, capital and asset sales. Stephen holds Chairman, Partner and Director positions with multiple professional services companies. He also serves as Chair of the Amnesty International Council in Australia.
NAUGHTON-WATT, Georgia
Junior Consultant
Georgia is an experienced development practitioner with a specialist focus on gender equality, social inclusion, women’s and girls’ empowerment, safeguarding, and equity in education. She is experienced and skilled in program management, organisational governance, qualitative research foregrounding feminist and localised methodologies, relationship management, and capacity building. Georgia has delivered programs and supported diverse stakeholders in the development and education sectors in Australia, East Africa, and the Pacific, including international NGOs, grassroots and community-based organisations, and the private sector. Her experience includes periods living and working in Kenya, Malawi and Vanuatu. Georgia has postgraduate qualifications in Africa and international development studies.
NORTHEY, Christina
Senior Consultant
Christina is a highly accomplished humanitarian specialist with over 25 years in the sector, including 15 years field experience in senior management roles for non-government organisations in Africa, Afghanistan, Turkey and Vietnam. She is experienced in research, design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of programs in fragile and developing contexts. Her specialty focus is on programs for women and girls in conflict-affected and fragile contexts and the localisation of aid programs. Christina initiated and led the nationalisation of senior NGO management teams in Afghanistan and Turkey and undertook mentoring assignments with leaders from national and community based organisations in Afghanistan, Turkey, Syria and Bougainville. Christina holds postgraduate qualifications in humanitarian and refugee studies.
O’FARRELL, Sue Ellen
Lead, Quality, Learning & Performance, Pacific Labour Facility
Sue Ellen is a design, monitoring, evaluation and research specialist with more than 15 years’ experience implementing international development programs. She is experienced leading monitoring, evaluation, research and social inclusion activities for large donor-funded programs, and is passionate about undertaking evaluation and research in an inclusive and culturally-sensitive way. She has worked across a variety of modalities and multiple sectors including labour mobility, water and sanitation, infrastructure, social protection and human rights. Sue Ellen is drawn to working in partnership with stakeholders to address complex development programs, and has worked in Government (AusAID/DFAT) and for the private sector. She loves collecting data and converting it into knowledge products that inform policy and programming. She holds significant experience working in Indonesia and is fluent in Bahasa Indonesia. Sue Ellen holds a postgraduate qualification in evaluation.
OVERETT, Alex
Project Support Officer, Australian Humanitarian Partnership Support Unit
Alex is a project management professional with experience in operational and support roles across a variety of industries – including risk management and compliance, think tanks, youth advocacy, and museums. He is passionate about refugee rights, climate change and promoting local voices during the discussion of development. Alex holds an undergraduate qualification in international relations and a Cert IV in Occupational Health and Safety.
PHELAN, Jake
MEL Manager, Australian Volunteers Program
Jake is a monitoring, evaluation and learning specialist with a passion for questioning the causes of inequality and injustice, and working to understand processes of social change. He is committed to participatory approaches, accountability and transparency, and to supporting processes of organisational learning and using evidence to improve programme quality. Jake has experience leading monitoring, evaluation and learning for large global programs and managing teams of MEL experts. He has previously held monitoring and evaluation advisor positions with the NGOs ActionAid and Plan International, where he was involved in a range women’s rights and gender equality programs, education, governance, resilience building and humanitarian response programs. His experience includes working in Afghanistan, Sudan, South Sudan and Sierra Leone, and supporting colleagues and partners in several other countries particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. Jake has a postgraduate qualification in the anthropology of development.
POULTON, David
Junior Consultant
David’s passion lies in social change and environmental sustainability. With a background in animal welfare, David brings more than 15 years’ experience working in the not for profit sector where he designed and facilitated education programs and community engagement initiatives across two Australian states, New South Wales and Victoria. David has been involved in supporting agricultural system evaluations, village development and municipal administration program designs, and gender and social inclusion evaluations throughout Asia and the Pacific. David is currently studying development and environmental sustainability, and holds qualifications in business management and social enterprise.
ROANTREE, Scott
CEO, Alinea Capital
With a background in management consulting, international development and impact evaluation, Scott is CEO of Alinea Capital. He has extensive experience structuring and implementing large programs that deliver credible social and environmental impact; has experience in mergers and acquisitions; and, has a track record of successfully taking businesses to scale post-acquisition. Degree-qualified in economics and impact evaluation, his experience includes positions as a Partner, Executive and Senior Manager across government and the private sector.
ROSS, Jen
Senior Consultant
Jen brings 15 years’ experience managing projects across the Asia-Pacific, with a specialist focus on capacity development and education. Her experience spans sectors including agriculture, business, education and scholarships, governance, innovation, law and justice, leadership, microfinance, and sports for development. She is passionate about professional development within her project teams and creating sustainable value. Jen has held team leader, deputy team leader, advisor and program management roles, and worked in Bangladesh, Fiji, Indonesia, Japan, Lao PDR, Samoa, Tuvalu, and extensively in Papua New Guinea. She has supported highly complex education investments in Afghanistan, managed a scholarship program across 7 Pacific Islands, and coordinated training activities in Africa. She holds postgraduate qualifications in evaluation and in international development.
SEFA-NYARKO, Clement
Consultant
Clement is a seasoned program design, research, and evaluation specialist, with experience across Australia and Africa, including Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda and South Africa. He is both an academic and practitioner – combining the academic rigour of research with practical on-the-ground development experience. His expertise and interest lie in dissecting the cross-cutting theoretical themes of political institutional design, especially in relation to natural resource governance and state-building. He has led program design, research and evaluation work across thematic areas including agriculture, education, gender equity and social inclusion, health seeking behaviour on livelihoods, nutrition, social accountability and youth entrepreneurship. He has published academic papers on politics, governance and statehood, and is a PhD candidate focussed on governance and the natural resources curse discourse. He holds postgraduate qualifications in conflict, security and development, and demography.
SHARP, Liam
Disaster READY Coordinator & Operations Manager
Liam is a global operations and grants management specialist. He is passionate about contributing to making projects work well, meeting and working with great people and engaging with important international issues. His experience includes management of a variety of Australian Government funded projects with a focus on disaster response and risk reduction in the Pacific region. He has held a variety of other roles including working in government procurement and international banking, trade and finance. Earlier in his career, Liam worked for a small NGO in Vietnam in microfinance. He holds a postgraduate qualification in development studies.
SOLOMON, Erin
Operations Support Officer
Erin is a Monero Ngarigo woman and brings a wealth of knowledge and experience working within the private sector and the Aboriginal community promoting social justice, self-empowerment and holistic, culturally safe supports. Erin is passionate about inclusive and culturally safe programs, gender equity and justice, and sustainable, climate informed development. Erin also has a special interest in Asia programming, having worked as an English teacher in Japan and completed a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Asian studies. Erin fosters an inclusive team culture, leads the induction of new staff and oversights corporate processes. She supports data entry and processing, logistics, procurement, and office management. She previously completed a Certificate IV in Community Services, delivered through the Aboriginal cultural lens.
URBANO, Mia
Principal Consultant
Mia Urbano has over 15 years’ experience in international development, specialising in gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) and social development. Prior to joining Alinea International, Mia was based in Hanoi for eight years, serving in senior advisory roles for Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). This included as the gender equality and social development adviser to the embassies in Vietnam and Myanmar, and as Australia’s first regional social development adviser to mainland South East Asia and the ASEAN Mission. Mia is experienced in providing advice to donors and partners on women’s economic empowerment, gender equitable leadership, and ending violence against women and children. She has participated as GESI specialist on over 20 design and evaluation missions, spanning a range of sectors including human resource development, humanitarian assistance, education, economic growth and trade, livelihoods, labour migration, human trafficking, peace programming, and infrastructure. She has published on a range of contemporary social issues in South East Asia, and has recently led a multi-agency country gender assessment in Vietnam as a baseline on women’s status at the onset of COVID-19. Mia holds qualifications in humanities, law and social sciences (international development), and speaks basic Vietnamese and Mandarin Chinese, and conversational French.
VAN DOURN, Wout
Head of European Affairs, Alinea Capital
With more than 10 years of experience working across the infrastructure sector, Wout specializes in complex project finance solutions in the infrastructure and renewable energy realm. He has held a variety of positions across the sector, including as sponsor, developer and financial consultant. As head of European Affairs for Alinea Capital, Wout oversees transactions, asset development and client relationships in the European region. His background also includes several financial management and corporate advisory roles with EY Transaction Advisory Services, BAM international and Dutch Contractor Strukton. Wout has experience on projects across Europe, Africa and South East Asia.
WHITELUM, Bernadette
Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Bernadette Whitelum is the Director and founder of the Whitelum Group, which joined the Alinea family in 2020 . Her commitment to building thriving communities and responsive governments spans more than 25 years. She specializes in supporting organizations and programs to apply adaptive management principles and practices to their work and utilize evidence to inform policy and practice directions. Bernadette’s background includes working within the Australian community development sector, NGOs, Australian Government aid program and United Nations Development Program. Her notable roles have included Counsellor for the Aceh Reconstruction Program in Indonesia in the wake of the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami; Head of the Poverty Reduction Unit for UNDP overseeing the Papua Development Program and HIV/AIDs portfolio; and Program Director for the Australian Civilian Corps Deployment Support Services.
WILSON, Simon
Senior Consultant
Simon is a global development specialist, with more than 15 years’ strategic policy and program experience. He brings a multidisciplinary approach with specialisations in environmental resource management, climate finance and adaptation, monitoring and evaluation, and capacity building. He has worked with a range of partners to deliver high quality investment design and evaluation reports, monitoring frameworks, strategic action plans, and other support services. Having worked for 4 years across the Pacific islands region (based in Samoa and working with Fiji, FSM, Niue, RMI, Tonga, Vanuatu and others) Simon has a strong appreciation for the development opportunities and context of the region, and has developed specialised knowledge related to climate finance access and programming. He previously worked for Australian Government environment and climate ministries; and volunteered for an international NGO based in Bangladesh in 2009. He is passionate about protecting our natural world and biodiversity, and net-zero carbon development. He believes in the power of good policy, strong design, and collaborative, locally led approaches. Simon holds a postgraduate qualification in development and environmental management.
FIJI AND THE PACIFIC ISLANDS
FANDIM MARAT, Fiona
Senior Consultant, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
Fiona is a monitoring and evaluation (M&E) and gender, disability and social inclusion (GEDSI) specialist, with more than a decade’s experience contributing to bilateral, NGO and multilateral development programs. Whilst working for UN Women, she evaluated the agency’s support to the Government of Papua New Guinea’s COVID-19 response and provided technical input to the management and implementation of the Spotlight Initiative. Fiona has undertaken M&E roles for Australian Government funded programs including the Australia Awards PNG Facility and the Justice Services and Stability for Development Program. She holds a postgraduate qualification in leadership and development.
LAL, Linda
Regional MEL Coordinator, Australian Volunteers Program, Suva, Fiji
Linda is a results driven professional with more than 15 years’ experience working on international programs, with a focus on volunteering and education initiatives. She has led education and scholarship activities for universities and bilateral funded programs across the Pacific region. Her experience includes as Fiji Country Manager for the DFAT-funded Pacific Secondary Schools Scholarships Program and Awards and Alumni Coordinator for Australia Awards Fiji and Tuvalu. Whilst Scholarships Coordinator for the University of the South Pacific, she managed 12 government and university-funded private scholarships. Linda is passionate about learning and education, drawing on more than a decade’s experience as a high school teacher in Fiji. She holds postgraduate qualifications in education and gender studies.
PETAI, Luke
Senior Consultant, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
Luke is a monitoring, evaluation, research and learning specialist, with a decade of experience providing technical, leadership and management support to development programs for bilateral, multilateral and partner government projects. His experience spans coastal and fisheries, education, environmental sustainability, scholarships, and social development. Highlights of his experience include an impact evaluation of education management training for the DFAT-funded Education Capacity Development Facility, a socioeconomic study of a trap-net project for the Papua New Guinea National Fisheries Authority and a review of community-based fisheries management plans implemented by a local NGO. Luke holds postgraduate qualifications in applied anthropology and participatory development.
ROBINSON, Leaine
Senior Consultant, Suva, Fiji
Leaine is a civil society engagement and gender and social inclusion specialist, with more than 15 years’ experience in aid and development. She brings significant experience and expertise in gender equality and social inclusion, specifically prevention of violence against women, women’s economic empowerment, adolescent girl programming, and disability inclusion. She has advised bilateral aid programs and civil society organizations on integrating the needs and priorities of women, girls, and vulnerable groups in development programs, and is experienced in stakeholder relationship management and program management. She spent eight years with AusAID/DFAT in program and senior program manager roles, focused on civil society engagement, inclusive growth and gender and social inclusion programs. She contributed to the Pacific Women Shaping Development Fiji country plan, design of the first independent women’s fund in the Pacific, and donor partnerships with the Women’s Crisis Centre and Fiji Ministry of Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation. In 2019 Leaine co-founded a consulting partnership called CoLAB which provides services in research, design, review, and evaluation of development programs. She has worked extensively across the Pacific (Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Tonga, Tuvalu, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu), and undertaken remote consulting assignments in Africa and Asia regions. She holds postgraduate qualifications in development studies.
INDONESIA & ASIA
BEBASARI, Priliantina
Consultant, Jakarta, Indonesia
Prili is an international development and humanitarian profession, with a specialization in gender equality, mainstreaming and training. Her experience includes advisory roles with large international NGOs, the Government of Indonesia, and bilateral aid programs – spearheading initiatives to promote gender equality within organisations and their programs. She contributed gender advice to the development of COVID-19 humanitarian response and Country Strategic Plans for 14 Save the Children national offices across Asia-Pacific. She applied a gender lens to strengthen the design, implementation and monitoring of more than 30 projects for Plan International Indonesia. Prili produced the first big data analysis for the Australia-Indonesia Partnership for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (MAMPU) and has led gender audits for large NGOs. Prili holds postgraduate qualifications in gender and development, is a certified global gender and inclusion trainer at Project Management for Development Professional (PMD-Pro), as well as is trained in gender in humanitarian emergencies. She speaks English, Bahasa Indonesia and Malay, and is studying the advanced level of French.
BETANCUR, Luis
Project Manager, Timor-Leste Carbon Farming Governance Project, Dili, East Timor
With nearly 40 years of experience in international development, Luis specializes in agroforestry – biodiversity conservation and sustainable tropical forest management, with an emphasis on industrial development in Australia, Asia and South America. His experience includes overseeing the operation and development of carbon farming forestry, agribusiness, agroforestry investments, certification, payment for environmental services and carbon forest ventures grants in Timor-Leste. Luis brings entrepreneurial expertise, developed by owning consulting companies and industrial timber developments in Australia and South America, to the revision of large and complex projects funded by multinational NGOs and international donors. In 2002, he was awarded the Brazilian Environmental prize for his contribution to protection of the Amazonian rain forest.
BROWNELL, Don
Director, Sri Lanka
With more than 45 years of experience in international development, Don has managed governance and civil society projects and designed and evaluated poverty reduction and institutional strengthening programs in several Asian countries, including China, Pakistan, Nepal, Thailand, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka. He has extensive program experience in Sri Lanka, including as Field Manager of the National Languages Equality Advancement Project. Don’s background includes working as Director for Canada’s Tsunami Results Monitoring Project; Local Government Policy Advisor to the USAID-funded Transparent and Accountable Local Governance Project; Senior Advisor to the GAC-funded Sri Lanka Canada Development Fund; and Field Coordinator for Canada World Youth.
CAPILI, Arnel
Senior Consultant, Jakarta, Indonesia
Arnel has 20 years’ experience in emergency preparedness, response planning, coordination and humanitarian action in Brunei, Dubai, Fiji, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, Taiwan and Vietnam. He has led efforts for medium- and large-scale emergency response operations, including Typhoon ‘Haiyan’ in the Philippines (2013), flash flood from a dam break in southern Lao PDR (2018), and the Central Sulawesi Earthquake/tsunami in Indonesia (2018). Arnel was the Team Leader of the ASEAN Emergency Response and Assessment Team (ASEAN-ERAT), leading a team that conducted the Preliminary Needs Assessment, and reviewed the plan and implementation arrangements for the sustainable and dignified repatriation of Rohingya refugees to Northern Rakhine, Myanmar. He held the leadership position of Deputy Executive Director of the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance, the regional blocs’ humanitarian assistance and emergency response coordination centre. Through his first-hand involvement in many disasters across Southeast Asia, Arnel has deepened his understanding of issues related to preparedness and response planning, coordination, rapid assessment, and humanitarian logistics. He holds postgraduate qualifications in development administration, is a certified United National Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) member, and trained in UN Humanitarian Civil Military Coordination and World Food Programme’s Logistics Response.
GUNASINGHE, Nimesha
Regional MEL Coordinator, Australian Volunteers Program, Sri Lanka
Nimesha is a monitoring, evaluation and learning specialist with more than 15 years’ experience in development, relief and emergency, and rehabilitation contexts. She has extensive experience in handling multi-disciplinary NGO, multilateral and bilateral programs covering many thematic areas including volunteering, child focussed programming, monitoring and evaluation systems, capacity development, landscape studies and trend analysis, baseline studies and evaluations,. Nimesha is passionate about evidence-based programming and adaptive management as key drivers of success. She is an expert in both qualitative and quantitative data analysis and dedicated to applying data driven system approaches in project management. Nimesha holds a postgraduate degree in organisational development.
PASCOE, Felicity
Senior Consultant, Jakarta, Indonesia
Felicity has 18 years’ experience in the field of governance, decentralisation, gender equality and social inclusion, community development and civil society strengthening. Within these fields, she has worked in program design, review and implementation with a passion for adaptive management and supporting replication and sustainability of proven models and approaches. Felicity has worked in complex and fluid contexts, at the local level with communities and at the national level with central ministries on policy reform. She has developed strategies for GEDSI, reviewed program GEDSI performance and developed practical tools for integrating GEDSI into governance and infrastructure programs. She has worked in Australia, Cambodia, Indonesia, and India, for DFAT-funded programs, The World Bank, UNDP, Australian National University, Australian Council for International Development, and NGOs. Felicity holds a postgraduate qualification in international and community development, and has advanced Bahasa Indonesia language skills.
TRAN, Huong
Regional MEL Coordinator, Australian Volunteers Program, Honoi, Vietnam
Huong has over 15 years’ experience working in the development sector and has supported the delivery of aid programs in Cambodia, China, Laos, Mongolia, Myanmar, and Vietnam through national execution and managing contractor models. Her work has included strengthening East Asian countries’ capacities in public finance, public health, education, governance, justice, agriculture, transport, and climate change resilience. She is experienced in generating evidence to inform decisions that improve program performance and is familiar with systems and processes of the major donors (DFAT, DFATD, UNDP, UNICEF, USAID, and World Bank). Huong has been involved in client satisfaction surveys in urban water and sanitation services and in public health services at disadvantaged communes, mid-term evaluations, final evaluations, situation analysis, and public expenditure reviews at provincial and national levels. She holds a qualification in economics, majoring in international trade, and undertook training with The Evaluators’ Institute.
TRIYANANDA, Athina (Lupi)
Regional MEL Coordinator, Australian Volunteers Program, Jakarta, Indonesia
Lupi is an experienced monitoring, evaluation and learning specialist, with strong experience working across a wide range of issues including volunteering, sanitation, food security, governance, and renewable energy. Lupi is skilled in monitoring and evaluation practice including development of frameworks, outcome harvesting, theories of change, data analysis and reporting. She is passionate about accountability mechanisms, community group participation and social inclusion, and has experience contributing to NGO, bilateral and multilateral programs. She holds a postgraduate qualification in governance and development policy.
