David Alexander Harbin

Email:  daharbin@hotmail.com

 

 

 

Summary:

 

Experienced international program manager and grants writer, including conflict and post-conflict conditions. Countries included Afghanistan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, West Bank and Gaza, Haiti, Tanzania, and Madagascar. Focus areas included shelter, income generation, civil society promotion, community infrastructure and child protection.  Donors included USAID, USDA, UNHCR, UNICEF, U.S. Department of State/PRM, Governments of the Netherlands and Switzerland, and ecumenical charitable organizations. 

 

August 2004-August 2005

 

Head of Mission and Contract Manager, United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), Kabul, Afghanistan

 

Held overall responsibility for all aspects of UMCOR’s presence in Afghanistan, managing six international staff and approximately 95 national staff during a challenging period for the mission.

 

Specific responsibilities included:

 

·         Reviewing and developing a strategy for UMCOR’s work in Afghanistan. Examining the funding situation in the country and soliciting funding for programs.  Representing UMCOR and maintaining relations with donors, in-country authorities, and I/LNGO community representatives. Monitoring developments throughout Afghanistan with the view to expanding programs.

·         Developing and managing programs focused on the needs of IDPs and refugees, such as shelter, agriculture, food security, drought alleviation, income generation, anti-trafficking, demobilization and reintegration of child and adult soldiers, community development and capacity building.

·         Designing, preparing and negotiating project proposals and budgets.

·         Overall responsibility for office and management procedures, staff recruiting and supervision, and security planning.

 

Major achievements included:

 

·         Implementing a complex USAID schools and clinics construction project, resulting in the completion of 25 schools and clinics.

·         Successful startup and implementation of the 500-shelter “Return to Paktya Province” program.

·         Overseeing the institution of a comprehensive security policy at a time of increasing instability (September/October 2004 pre-election period).

·         Streamlining the mission at a time when the organization’s original source of funding was dwindling.

·         Developing two refugee return programs that were funded by the U.S. Department of State/Bureau for Population, Refugees and Migration, as well as a child soldier reintegration program that was funded by UNICEF.

 

 

 

July 2000-June 2003

 

Grants Coordinator, United Methodist Committee on Relief, Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina

 

Served as primary grants and reports writer, and as Senior Management Team member for UMCOR’s Mission to Bosnia & Herzegovina, an organization with 5 field offices and 85 employees. Main activities included

 

·         Proposal Development. Researched, developed and wrote grant proposals that led to over $22 million in program funds. Grant proposals were written to meet the program objectives of a variety of donors, including various U.S. and foreign government agencies, European Union, and various ecumenical or institutional donors.  Grant proposals covered a variety of topics related to post-conflict transformation of Bosnia, including income generation, civil society promotion, and reconstruction of homes and community infrastructure for victims of ethnic cleansing.

·         Monitoring and Evaluation.  Developed monitoring and evaluation tools for UMCOR B&H’s field staff that were used for reporting to donors.  Responsible for assembling and writing all reports to donors.

·         Management. Chaired bi-monthly management team meetings to decide on program issues.  Regularly served on proposal review boards to approve program spending.

 

 

1993 and 1995-2000

 

Program Coordinator, Checchi and Company Consulting, Inc., Washington, D.C., USA

 

Progressively increasing responsibilities at this established Washington international development consulting firm, including field experience, program management, proposal development, and contract and grant administration.

 

·         As manager of a three-year indefinite quantity contract, I was responsible for staffing and managing 14 task orders with an aggregate value of $4.9 million.  Topics included program evaluations, strategic planning, and sector studies in Central and Eastern Europe, the Balkans, Africa, and Asia.

·         Responsible for procurement of equipment and services for law schools and government ministries supported under Checchi’s Rule of Law and Administration of Justice programs.

·         Developed proposals to conduct activities in organizational development, strategic planning, workshop facilitation, private enterprise, and aid program review and evaluation.  Recruited consultants and assembled proposal work plans and budgets.

·         Managed and supported assistance activities at project locations in Tanzania, Haiti, Madagascar, and the West Bank and Gaza.

 

 

1993-1994

 

Program Assistant, Thunder and Associates, Alexandria, Virginia, USA.

 

Served as assistant manager for a USAID contract in program design and evaluation services.   Recruited and managed teams of consultants; assembled work plans and budgets.  Wrote a successful proposal to evaluate the status of democracy in Guyana.

 

 

1991-1992

 

Partner, I.T.M. Realty, Prague, Czechoslovakia.

 

 

Other Employment

 

  • U.S. Embassy, Rome Italy.  (1989-1990) (Summers only)
  • U.S. Department of State, Washington DC. Information Systems Office (A/ISO/USS). Held Top Secret security clearance. (1987-1989 Summer and Winter Holiday seasons)
  • Intern to office of Senator Alan Cranston, U.S Senate, Washington, DC.  1986

 

 

Education:

 

Bachelor of Arts, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Virginia, 1990.  Double majors in Economics and English, minor in Political Science.

 

 

Special Skills:

 

·         Working proficiency in French; conversational ability in Spanish and Italian.  Basic knowledge of Czech and Bosnian.

 

·         Strong computer skills, including word processing, spreadsheets, web design, and internet research.  (Personal website is available at www.theharbins.info.)

 

·         Completed training seminars in USAID Grants Management through Solloway and Associates, Washington, DC

 

·         Experienced user of VHF and HF radios, as well as 4 wheel drive vehicles.

 

·         Strong writing and editing skills.

 

 

 

Updated January 2006

 

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