What is your current position?
Project Manager, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Suva, Fiji
What attracted you to your program of study at the BSIA?
I was most attracted to the professional skill development provided through the MIPP program. When I was applying for the program, I was at a point where I wanted to make a pivot in my career. I was confident that I wanted to be a practitioner in the environmental and climate change field, but, even with several years of work experience, I was not confident that I had the knowledge base and skill set to successfully make this pivot. The MIPP program provided the opportunity to conduct deep dive research, while also prioritizing the practical use of this research through practising policy brief writing, conducting policy research on the most recent policy developments and decision-making, and presenting policy recommendations to Global Affairs Canada. So, it was this applicability of the program that stood out to me and what I had hoped would help prepare me for a position in the field, which, in the end, it did!
What was the most impactful experience you had while completing your graduate degree?
Having the opportunity to engage in deep dive analyses on climate security with Dr. Simon Dalby was hugely impactful in my MIPP experience. Learning from such a renowned expert in the field and having him challenge me to critically think on the climate security nexus really helped me grow my knowledge in the environmental public policy field and further fuel my passion for this field. Another standout experience was developing a sustainability transition report with Dr. Debora L. VanNijnatten (aka DVN). As part of the report, we were asked to outline indicators and measures that could be used to evaluate progress on this transition. I remember this being a particularly challenging task, but I now realize this was an important exercise because it is a crucial element to my work in UNDP. Understanding the context for development assistance and securing donor funding are crucial, but designing projects with targets and outcomes that are tangible and will make a difference to the beneficiaries is equally as important. Unfortunately, this task has not become much easier with more experience, but I often come back to this exercise with DVN as a reminder of the detail and effort that is required to design outputs of a project, programme, or policy. I realize these are very specific to my experience, but I share these stories to highlight that engaging with the BSIA faculty and trying to absorb everything they have to offer will no doubt leave you with impactful takeaways both professionally and personally.
Tell us about your job, what do you do?
I work at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Pacific Office in Suva, Fiji, and I am specifically part of the Resilience and Climate Change team as a project manager. So, my main role is to manage a jointly implemented project with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) on internal displacement in Vanuatu. The tasks I undertake change as the project progresses, but, right now, I am working with a professor who has developed a statistical model that can project internal displacement that results from climate change factors. I recently travelled to Vanuatu to meet with government counterparts to determine what local data was available to include in the model to ensure more accurate and contextualized results. Once we have the preliminary projection, I will then organize a local working group to provide inputs on the results and support integrating this data in the government’s current systems to support policies on planned relocation.
Beyond the scope of my project manager responsibilities, I also support the office and team with resource mobilization, which means identifying new funding opportunities from the various donors engaged in Fiji and the Pacific region. This will typically involve meeting with focal points from donor countries and organizations, discussing their areas of interest in the region, and then designing and presenting concepts and proposals for new projects and initiatives. I just recently had the privilege of meeting our fellow Canadians from the Canadian High Commission! We are exploring new partnership opportunities, and we will submit a proposal to try to secure 5-10 million dollars for a disaster risk reduction project. I also assume a more operational role on our team in which I track and monitor delivery of project funds. I track project expenditures and budgets and provide different analyses to our office management so that they can better understand where projects are succeeding but also needing support to deliver on their annual and project commitments.
How does your work help make a difference?
Not long ago, I was discussing this exact topic with my good friend and colleague, and he said to me, “we are here to work ourselves out of a job”. This has stayed with me since, and I think this perfectly captures what our impact as a United Nations organization needs to be. Broadly, I think our UNDP office brings funding, resources, and technical expertise to the countries of the Pacific region in order to positively impact the livelihoods and well-being of the people in the Pacific. However, the importance of advocating for, and committing to support, national and local ownership of these development interventions cannot be understated. In this vein, UNDP will use a “national implementation modality” to implement projects where the project management unit will be locally based and often operating within a government ministry. In this modality, UNDP assumes an oversight and advisory role, and it was working on these projects that I felt made a more tangible impact towards local ownership. The financial and reporting processes of UNDP can be daunting and so I find that national project management units can struggle to keep up with all of the requirements. I had a very steep learning curve myself when I started in the organization. So, with empathy from this learning curve, I felt my impact came from building positive relationships with these units and then closely supporting them through these processes with training and continued guidance. I think this has meaningfully contributed to building the capacity of the national team members so they can confidently take ownership of the projects and to be better equipped to manage any future projects.
What are the next steps in your career progression… where do you see yourself going?
For the next few years, I see myself continuing to grow in the development space, and most likely in the Pacific region given what I have learned about its vulnerabilities to climate change and disaster. I am eager to be more closely involved with the direct implementation of development activities, so I would specifically like to further develop my career in project management and become a project manager for larger and further reaching climate change adaptation projects. Fortunately, there is always space for new and creative development initiatives, so I try to remain aware of dynamics in the region and current events and also nurture relationships in my network, so that I might be able to design and establish a concept for a new project with significant funding from donors. I am also considering the possibility of remaining with UNDP in the longer-term and looking for opportunities to be stationed in other offices around the world. The Pacific region is known for its vulnerability to climate change and so it is well-suited for my career development in the environment policy space. However, now that I am working in the UN system, I would like to utilize this network and look to gain valuable experience from working in other regions around the world.
What advice do you have for a potential student looking to complete their degree at the BSIA? Or for someone looking to work in Global Governance and International Policy?
What you get out of a BSIA program depends on what you put in. I realize that is a cliché and said a lot, but I really believe it is true. The faculty and staff at BSIA create the enabling environment for students to grow their knowledge base and develop and practise new skills that will be valuable in the field. Whether this is doing extra reading or research, trying to build a closer relationship with your professor, attending talks and presentations, or pushing yourself to tackle a challenging research question, this extra effort is how you can get more out of your program and enjoy the fruits of your labour in a professional position. From experience, it can be hard to see how your efforts will translate or manifest into new opportunities. When I was applying for, and even completing, the MIPP program, I would have never thought I would end up building a career and life in Fiji. So, I think if you can keep your larger goal front of mind and make your choices in service of that, I am confident meaningful opportunities will come your way.