Nine Disciplines. One Direction.
Funding and Business Development
Business Development and Strategic Positioning
Building and winning competitive funding opportunities is at the heart of what I do. At HJFMRI, I led business development across 15+ African countries, constructing a regional pipeline of 30+ active opportunities worth more than $250M by aligning technical teams with funder priorities during the early capture phase. That disciplined, intelligence-led approach delivered a 65% win rate on major bids over two years and secured $100M+ annually from USG agencies, the EU, WHO and private donors, consistently translating strategic positioning into real funding outcomes.
Stakeholder Engagement and Partnership Development
I have built and sustained high-value relationships with some of the most influential stakeholders in international development, from national ministries of health and leading research universities to hospital networks and bilateral donors. At HJFMRI, I forged new institutional partnerships that expanded our local footprint into three new countries and unlocked previously inaccessible funding streams. These relationships are not transactional; they are strategic assets that have consistently delivered 95%+ donor satisfaction scores across 20+ active awards and opened doors to European and private partnerships that fundamentally shifted the regional funding landscape.
Proposal Development and Donor Reporting
Writing winning proposals and producing high-quality donor reports are skills I have refined across 17 years and dozens of funding cycles. At HJFMRI, I coordinated technical, finance and compliance teams to submit 40+ competitive bids that grew annual grant revenue by 20% over five years, while my standardised reporting frameworks cut average closeout timelines by 25%. My published research on stakeholder engagement and emotional intelligence reflects the same rigour I bring to every proposal narrative, grounding donor communications in evidence, strategy and a clear understanding of funder priorities.
Grants and Programme Management
Grants and Contract Management
I have managed the full grant and contract lifecycle across some of the most complex donor environments in sub-Saharan Africa. At HJFMRI, I oversaw post-award monitoring for $75M+ in grants, contracts and cooperative agreements from USAID, CDC and global health donors, achieving zero major audit findings throughout. By streamlining pre- and post-award workflows through standardised checklists and cross-functional reviews, I reduced proposal turnaround time by 30% while simultaneously lowering compliance risks across a portfolio spanning HIV/TB programmes, health systems strengthening and vaccine delivery.
Compliance Oversight and Risk Management
Maintaining airtight compliance across large, multi-country portfolios is a professional standard I have never compromised on. At Fintrac Inc., I administered a $32M USAID project while maintaining a 100% compliance rate with complex USG procurement and financial regulations and reducing partner audit findings by over 60% through rigorous capacity assessments and field monitoring. Throughout my career spanning CHF International, Land O'Lakes and HJFMRI, I have sustained zero material compliance issues across every portfolio I have managed, a record I attribute to building compliance into programme design rather than treating it as an afterthought.
Financial Management and Budget Oversight
Sound financial stewardship is a thread that runs through every role I have held. At Fintrac Inc., I supervised 50+ local sub-grantees, reconciling technical milestone achievements against budgetary disbursements to ensure 98% of funds were utilised on schedule across a $32M programme. My financial oversight has consistently protected donor investments, from managing sub-grant expenditures across 14 HIV-service partners at CHF International to conducting regular field audits at Land O'Lakes that maintained full compliance with USG procurement standards and generated $21.1M in verified trade deals through strategically managed market linkages.
Capacity and Leadership
Capacity Building and Institutional Strengthening
I believe that lasting development impact depends on the strength of local systems, not just external funding. Across my career I have built the operational and financial capacity of 200+ local organisations and 100+ grant recipients, designing tailored training programmes on grant management, procurement and financial reporting. At Land O'Lakes, my capacity-building interventions improved partner submission timeliness by 40% and reduced corrective action requests by half, while at St. John's Community Centre my work enabled several grassroots organisations to successfully transition to direct USAID funding within two years.
Monitoring, Evaluation and Programme Performance
I approach monitoring and evaluation as a strategic management tool, not a compliance exercise. At CHF International, I designed practical monitoring tools that tracked sub-grant expenditures, disbursements and performance indicators across 14 local HIV-service partners, directly improving the quality of financial and narrative reporting within a single quarter. At Fintrac Inc., linking financial data to programme outcomes enabled more responsive decision-making by senior leadership and ensured that 98% of a $32M portfolio was delivered on schedule against technical milestones, demonstrating my ability to connect ground-level data to strategic programme direction.
Remote and Cross-Cultural Programme Leadership
Leading complex programmes across multiple time zones, cultures and institutional environments is something I have done throughout my career, long before remote work became mainstream. At HJFMRI, I managed a regional portfolio spanning 15+ African countries entirely in a remote capacity, coordinating across six country offices and engaging stakeholders from Nairobi to Washington with equal fluency. As a native Swahili speaker and fluent English communicator, I bring genuine cross-cultural intelligence to every team I work with, enabling the trust and clarity that distributed, high-stakes programme environments demand.
Tools and Software
Financial Management
Managing donor funds across portfolios exceeding $100M annually with full compliance and zero material audit findings
Document and Project Management
Producing winning proposals, donor reports and programme documentation to the highest institutional standards across 17 years
Collaboration and Communication
Coordinating across six country offices, remote teams and international donor stakeholders with clarity and precision