What's up with this blog!!!

While I list this blog as one of my outputs in my CV and other places, it hasn't been updated in over a year. Many times I have started to post something, but have thought the better of it for several reasons.

As I stated before, I work in Singapore at the moment, a highly political place with a very low threshold for transparency (it is a country that has taught me the clear difference between transparency and corruption...they are definitely not corrupt; but they are also NOT transparent). My own workplace is particularly sensitive to any type of outspokenness (even when there is nothing to be afraid of), and I, like many others have learned this the hard way.

As part of my philosophy of living, I will be respectful of the laws of the land while I am here. And hence I am quiet...but not for too much longer...

Thanks for your patience; I will be back....soon enough, I hope...

Wat-San Jobs

Gates Foundation

Position Title: Analyst, Water Sanitation and Hygiene

Foundation Summary: Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill &

Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing

countries, it focuses on improving people's health and giving them the chance to lift themselves

out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to ensure that all people—

especially those with the fewest resources—have access to the opportunities they need to

succeed in school and life. Based in Seattle, the foundation is led by CEO Jeff Raikes and cochair

William H. Gates Sr., under the direction of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett.

Group Summary: The foundation's Global Development Program is working with

motivated partners to create opportunities for people to lift themselves out of poverty and

hunger. Within this program, the Water, Sanitation & Hygiene (WSH) initiative focuses its

efforts on supporting effective, sustainable and scalable ways to assist the 2.5 billion

people who lack access to adequate sanitation. Our grants fund both direct solutions,

such as user-led sanitation, as well as indirect levers, such as improved information on

costing to achieve sustainable service delivery. In all cases, we seek to catalyze action

by others and to leverage the foundation's particular capabilities, such as taking risks to

drive innovation and engaging with a wide range of partners to achieve measurable

results.

Position Summary and Responsibilities:

This Analyst reports to a Program Officer with a large research portfolio but supports the

wider WSH portfolio, and the director in particular, via a variety of short term projects.

The research analyst supports progress towards WSH strategic goals in three key ways:

 Gathering, synthesizing and analyzing quantitative data in support of strategy

development, advocacy and policy analysis, and grant development;

 Reviewing, summarizing and reporting out on academic literature and policy

reports in sanitation

 Desk-based due diligence of partner organizations and critical agents of change

in the sanitation sector.

Tasks and duties will include:

 Conduct basic research and analysis using publically available data at the request of

team director and other senior team members

 Prepare reviews of technical literature, under the guidance of an economist and/or

engineer on staff, to support the development of execution plans and grantmaking

strategies

 Provide analysis of policy, technology, and business model developments and

partner organization in the sanitation sector in key developing countries

 Prepare briefing notes, talking points, and presentation drafts in preparation for key

meetings

 Support briefing materials development for trip planning by foundation leadership

 Analyze, synthesize, and present data in Excel as well as Stata, Matlab, or other

statistical programs

This position will provide opportunity for a wide range of experiences and professional

development.

Qualifications:

 Significant experience with the particulars of sanitation in developing countries is

a must. This may have been acquired in a number of ways including, but not

limited to, a technical degree in science field related to sanitation. Examples of

desirable qualifications include: Civil or environmental engineering, epidemiology,

microbiology, or environmental economics. Masters degree is highly desirable.

 The ideal candidate will have a combination of degrees and experience that

combine technical expertise with strong analytic and writing skills.

 Experience in developing countries, particularly in Africa and Asia a plus.

 Strong quantitative skills required including statistical analysis; not only the

presentation of data, but its synthesis and analysis, will be required.

 Two to three years professional experience useful as a means of demonstrating

facility in a fast paced work environment.

 Creative problem solver with a rigorous mind and a demonstrated initiative to

solve problems with high energy and a positive attitude.

 Experience in a role requiring collaboration within a team and the associated

diplomacy that comes with that

 A sense of humor.

If you are interested in applying for this position, please visit

http://www.gatesfoundation.org/AboutUs/WorkingWithUs/Jobs.htm and submit your resume

online.

*********

Gates Foundation

Position Title: Program Officer, Water Sanitation and Hygiene

Foundation Summary: Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill &

Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing

countries, it focuses on improving people's health and giving them the chance to lift themselves

out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to ensure that all people—

especially those with the fewest resources—have access to the opportunities they need to

succeed in school and life. Based in Seattle, the foundation is led by CEO Jeff Raikes and cochair

William H. Gates Sr., under the direction of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett.

Group Summary: The foundation's Global Development Program is working with

motivated partners to create opportunities for people to lift themselves out of poverty and

hunger. Within this program, the Water, Sanitation & Hygiene (WSH) initiative focuses its

efforts on supporting effective, sustainable and scalable ways to assist the 2.5 billion

people who lack access to adequate sanitation. Our grants fund both direct solutions,

such as user-led sanitation, as well as indirect levers, such as improved information on

costing to achieve sustainable service delivery. In all cases, we seek to catalyze action

by others and to leverage the foundation's particular capabilities, such as taking risks to

drive innovation and engaging with a wide range of partners to achieve measurable

results.

Position Summary and Responsibilities:

The WSH team is committed to the highest standards for evidence-based grantmaking,

rigorous reporting against strategic targets, and a transparent, iterative relationship

between our strategy, measurement plan, and execution plan for grantmaking. Our

approach to investing requires that we creatively develop results frameworks with our

grantees so that they can be held accountable for outputs and outcomes, not only

activities. It also requires that we understand for ourselves the opportunity cost of our

resources as deployed, the cost-effectiveness of the programs that we support, and

"what works" in water, sanitation, and hygiene so that we can continuously work to

increase our impact.

The Program Officer (PO) will support WSH team leadership in making this vision for the

WSH team a reality. The PO will:

 Manage and make grants that to measure impact and rigorously test alternative

means of providing sanitation services.

 Support the use of measurement and evidence in strategy refinement, reporting,

and advocacy

 Support the use of outcome-based metrics for grantee reporting

The PO reports to a senior colleague with extensive experience doing and managing

impact evaluations and program evaluations and will work closely with the director and

other team members closely engaged with strategy development.

The PO will be given the flexibility to maintain a professional profile academically, with

time for independent research made available (up to 10% of time).

Specific responsibilities will include:

 Make grants, and analyze results from these grants, in order to sharpen the WSH

team strategy and our ability to report on progress and value for money.

 Determining, with team leadership, evaluation priorities, objectives, scope, and

preferred methodology.

 Develop strategies and workable plans for using measurement to inform strategy and

reporting on opportunity cost and cost-effectiveness of WSH investment portfolio.

 Developing creative and rigorous results frameworks for grantees that allow outputs

and outcomes to be measured and monitored, not only the expenditure of money

and implementation of activities.

 Contribute to the larger measurement community of practice at the foundation.

 Maintain an active role in the larger field of impact evaluation in both the academic

and policy worlds and function as an effective advocate for evidence based

approaches to WSH financing and development funding more generally.

 Supporting the thoughtful use of evaluation methods beyond randomized trials and

other quantitative methods, including outcome mapping and process evaluation, for

grantees and clusters of grantees.

 Research and analysis to report out on learnings and policy implications for the WSH

sector.

Qualifications:

• Advanced degree in economics or related quantitative social science or public health

discipline (e.g., epidemiology, public policy, political science) required; PhD strongly

preferred.

• Content area expertise in WSH desired but expertise in related areas (e.g., health or

urban economics, public finance, determinants of technology adoption, the

economics of R&D) may be sufficient.

• Expertise and experience in the area of rigorous measurement and evaluation,

including econometrics, strongly preferred.

• Thorough familiarity with logic models, logical frameworks, or similar devices for

framing strategic objectives, articulating key assumptions, and articulating results

important.

• The ideal candidate will have a creative and rigorous bent that allows the deployment

of multiple other tools for assessing impact such as outcome mapping, if not actual

experience with other approaches.

• 7-10 experience working in development and/or evaluation.

• At least several years professional experience in developing countries.

• Strong communication and facilitation skills.

• Ability to work as part of a team with flexibility, efficiency, enthusiasm, and diplomacy

both individually and as part of a complex program.

• Ability to travel up to 25% of time.

• Sense of humor.

If you are interested in applying for this position, please visit

http://www.gatesfoundation.org/AboutUs/WorkingWithUs/Jobs.htm and submit your resume

online.

***********

            NRDC Water Policy Analyst

Salary: Salary is based on a nonprofit scale and commensurate with experience. Education: Master (MA, MSW, etc.) Location: Santa Monica, California, 90401, United States Posted by: Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
Job Category: Advocacy, Public Policy Sector: Nonprofit Last day to apply: December 10, 2010 Last updated: November 18, 2010	Type: Full time Language(s): English Job posted on: November 18, 2010 Area of Focus: Environment and Ecology, Urban Affairs

       Description:

The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is a non-profit national environmental organization with more than 1.2 million members and online activists. We have offices in New York, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Santa Monica, Chicago, and Beijing. Our staff of over 300 includes attorneys, scientists, policy analysts, and educators working to protect the environment and public health through advocacy and education.

NRDC's new national Water Program focuses on securing safe and sufficient water for humans and ecosystems in the face of existing and emerging threats. The program involves staff in all of NRDC's U.S. offices and fully integrates our water resources work so that it addresses water supply and water quality, surface water and groundwater, human health and ecosystem issues. The Program's staff is organized into four teams focusing on Green Infrastructure, Water Use Efficiency, Water & Climate, and developing a new water paradigm in California. The four program teams work together to implement a portfolio of strategies that maximize efficiency and minimize waste, prevent pollution, and protect and restore the ecosystem.

Position Summary:

NRDC has an immediate opening for a Water Policy Analyst who will work closely with the director of the Water Efficiency Team. The position will be based in NRDC's Santa Monica office. This person will play an important role in formulating and implementing NRDC's efforts to advocate for improved water use efficiency and water recycling in California and nationally, and will collaborate with a team of attorneys and other staff engaged in these issues.

Essential Functions:

Serve as NRDC's representative in a variety of state and federal regulatory, administrative, and collaborative forums, advocating improvements in water use efficiency and water recycling. Conduct analyses, manage databases, and research and write NRDC reports and media kits on key water efficiency topics and policies. Review and comment on water conservation programs, draft legislation, agency reports, draft rules, etc. Responsibilities include contact with regulatory agencies, the media, and legislative offices.

The job will include:

1. Review and analysis of current state and federal water conservation programs, and evaluation of costs and benefits of new water efficiency initiatives
2. Legislative advocacy on water efficiency and water recycling
3. Promoting increased integration of water and energy policy and planning
4. Advocating at the state and national level for product standards, model building codes, and other regulations that improve water use efficiency
5. Pursuing implementation of water efficiency and water recycling as means to reduce global warming emissions as well as to adapt to the impacts of global warming
6. Advocating for improved agricultural water use efficiency
7. Supervising the work of contractors and interns

Skills & Knowledge Requirements:

• Advanced degree in engineering, water resources, public policy, law, or a related subject
• Minimum of 3 years work experience in the field or a related one
• Familiarity with spreadsheets and similar tools for quantitative analysis and data management
• Knowledge of water efficiency, conservation, and reuse
• Strong advocacy experience on environmental issues
• Excellent oral and written communication skills
• Experience in building collaborations with non-traditional allies
• Strong interpersonal skills

NRDC offers competitive salaries, excellent benefits, and a dynamic work environment, and we are committed to workplace diversity. Salary is based on a nonprofit scale and commensurate with experience. For further information about NRDC, please visit nrdc.org.

How to Apply:

To apply, please visit www.nrdc.org/jobs. Please apply no later than December 10, 2010. No phone calls or faxes. Please reference where you saw this posting. NRDC is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

******

Lack of Engineers is Stifling Development

Lack of engineers stifling development, says report

Christine Ottery

scidev.net

4 November 2010 | EN

The world needs more women engineers and technicians

Barefoot Photographers of Tilonia

A shortage of engineers in developing countries, and lack of interest in engineering careers from young people and women, are hampering development, according to the first ever international report on engineering.  

Engineering is vital for raising standards of living and creating opportunities for sustainable prosperity in line with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), according to the report, which features contributions from 120 experts around the world.

But developing countries on average have only five engineers per 10,000 of the population — and less than one in some African countries — according to UNESCO (the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), which published the report. Developed countries have 20–50 engineers per 10,000.

The poorest are hit hardest by the lack of engineers: 1.1 billion people have no access to clean water, 2 billion have no access to electricity and 800 million go hungry on a daily basis.

"The crucial thing is to address people's basic needs: water supply, sanitation, better homes," Tony Marjoram, editor of the report and head of engineering sciences at UNESCO, told SciDev.Net. Around 2.5 million new engineers are needed only in Sub-Saharan Africa just to ensure provision of clean water and sanitation for everyone, says the report.

Developing countries bear the brunt of climate change, so ensuring sustainable development is also important, he said.

"Engineering is often blamed for pollution but it can create solutions to reduce carbon emissions and make energy use more effective," Marjoram said.

The report calls for developing public and policy awareness of engineering as a key driver of innovation and social and economic development. It also highlights the need to focus educational efforts on the need for more effective application of engineering to sustainable development, poverty reduction and climate change.

Only one country in Sub-Saharan Africa has an engineering academy, the report says. It also makes a link between lagging economic development in Latin America and its lack of engineers.

Pacific islands where cyclones, tsunamis and earthquakes pose a risk to people have an unsustainable and ageing engineer workforce, overly reliant on foreign aid, it says.

"The report makes clear that investing in infrastructure and the education of engineers in developing countries will be hugely important to development," Andrew Lamb, chief executive of the non-profit organisation Engineers without Borders, told SciDev.Net. The shortage of engineers in developing countries is exacerbated by a brain drain, Lamb added.

Women are often the ones to experience problems that can be solved with engineering, Jan Peters, executive president of the UK-based Women's Engineering Society told SciDev.Net. "If women are given the skills to solve the problems they have in their lives, the lives of their families will improve enormously."

The report, 'Engineering: Issues, Challenges and Opportunities for Development', was presented at the opening ceremony of the World Congress and Exhibition, Engineering 2010 — Argentina: Technology, Innovation and Production for Sustainable Development, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, last month (17 October).

Full report:  http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0018/001897/189753e.pdf

Another update: focus switch

I've decided to change the focus of my blog to become more personal. When you come to my blog now, you'll notice a change in the header. It now says that I'll be blogging on new things I'm learning about, and thoughts on work and life. This change reflects the change in my work. I no longer have the time to read as I used to about a variety of things. But I'm learning a lot about management and leadership in my new position. And I'd like a place to archive these thoughts.

If you happen to listen, I thank you for your time and attention. Do lend me some of your thoughts in return. I am always grateful!

Fellowships in Sustainability Science at Harvard

Fellowships in Sustainability Science

Harvard University's Center for International Development

Due date for applications: December 1, 2010

The Sustainability Science Program at Harvard University's Center for International Development invites applications for resident fellowships in sustainability science for the University's academic year beginning in September 2011. The fellowship competition is open to advanced doctoral and post-doctoral students, and to mid-career professionals engaged in research or practice to facilitate the design, implementation, and evaluation of effective interventions that promote sustainable development. Applicants should describe how their work would contribute to "sustainability science," the emerging field of use-inspired research seeking understanding of the interactions between human and environmental systems as well as the application of such knowledge to sustainability challenges relating to advancing development of agriculture, habitation, energy and materials, health and water while conserving the earth's life support systems. This year we will give some preference to applicants whose work addresses challenges of innovation for sustainable development, with special attention to innovation in the energy, health and agricultural sectors. In addition to general funds available to support this fellowship offering, special funding for the Giorgio Ruffolo Fellowships in Sustainability Science is available to support citizens of Italy or developing countries who are therefore especially encouraged to apply.

The Sustainability Science Program is directed by Professors William Clark and Michael Kremer, and Nancy Dickson.

For more information on the fellowships application process see http://www.cid.harvard.edu/sustsci/fellowship. Applications are due December 1, 2010.

Deshpande Center Junior Fellowship now Open!

For anyone interested, please contact the lady below:

Are you looking for an opportunity to experience and contribute to the development sector in India?

Are you passionate, enthusiastic and flexible??

The Global Exchange Program Junior Fellowship may be the right opportunity for you!

The Deshpande Foundation has short term opportunities for individuals interested in gaining experience in exciting and growing organizations: The Deshpande Center for Social Entrepreneurship (DCSE) and other nonprofits based in the Sandbox of Innovation (in Hubli, Karnataka). Opportunities available in cost/benefit analysis, teaching, documentation, monitoring and evaluation, curriculum design and more. Time frame between 5-6 months. These opportunities are unpaid, but a very modest stipend is provided in addition to housing. If this is something that interests you, please send an email with your resume and cover letter to gep@deshpandefoundation.org, outlining your skills and areas of interest along with the time period. Junior fellowships are available year round.

Allegra Harris

Associate, Deshpande Foundation

92 Montvale Ave, Suite 2500
Stoneham, MA 02180
Phone: (781)-481-9055 ext.36

A good poo joke

Its hard finding good jokes on poo, but I found one (more like it was sent to me), and it cracked me up. For obvious reasons, I decided to spare you all some pictures.

A Congressman was seated next to a little girl on an airplane so he turned to her and said, "Do you want to talk?? Flights go quicker if you strike up a conversation with your fellow passenger."

The little girl, who had just started to read her book, replied to the total stranger, "What would you want to talk about?"

"Oh, I don't know," said the congressman. "How about global warming, universal health care, or stimulus packages?" as he smiled smugly.

"OK," she said. "Those could be interesting topics but let me ask you a question first. A horse, a cow, and a deer all eat the same stuff - grass. Yet a deer excretes little pellets, while a cow turns out a flat patty, but a horse produces clumps. Why do you suppose that is?"

The legislator, visibly surprised by the little girl's intelligence, thinks about it and says, "Hmmm, I have no idea."

To which the little girl replies, "Do you really feel qualified to discuss global warming, universal health care, or the economy, when you don't know shit?" And then she went back to reading her book.