Navigating choppy waters

Where I come in

The strategy review generated more disagreement than direction and now needs to produce a document everyone can stand behind. The donor story that accurately describes your work but does not create the urgency of why it matters. The annual report that must demonstrate impact to a Western donor while honouring the dignity of the communities it serves. The family of country offices where room is needed for individual voices while still communicating a coherent corporate identity.

What I bring  

I have worked alongside development NGOs since 2006. I understand the delicate balance of power between donors, partners and participants, the fine line between effectiveness and efficiency, and the challenges of working coherently across different languages and cultures.

I understand the accountability standards that Western donors require and the locally effective approaches that actually produce results on the ground. I know what it takes to hold a narrative together when the context, the audience and the language keep shifting.

Furthermore, through Our Daily Bread, a charity I co-founded, I have direct experience of working in challenging situations in Ukraine . That shapes how I think about humanitarian and development work.

How I help your work advance

Corporate positioning: I work as a thinking partner to help teams clarify what they want to say, to whom, and why, and then produce the documents that clearly and consistently carry that positioning.
Specialist reports and publications: I sit down with the specialists, work through the complex material together and agree on a structure that does justice to the content and works for the intended audience. Then I produce the text and refine it through an iterative process of review and agreement. The specialist’s knowledge and the reader’s needs are both kept in view throughout.
Annual reports: I co-write and edit, working through the full process from structure to final text. Getting the balance right between accountability and story, between transparency and readability, between institutional voice and human impact: that is where the real work is.
Multi-country communications: When an organisation has a family of country offices, each working in their own context, finding a common structure that works for all of them is not straightforward. I bring the different national teams into the process, find the framework that all can use and are comfortable with, and give each country the room to express its own flavour within a coherent corporate identity.
Capacity building and leadership support: Sometimes, the work is not a document at all. In Ukraine, I help organisations by listening to the leaders and helping them develop the communication skills they need.

For new clients, the first hour is free. I look forward to thinking with you.

Testimonials