Farzana Rasheed

A skilled executive manager who is passionate about bringing advancement and equality to the communities she serves. Served as Country Manager for Liberia for International Alert and CEO of New Africa Technology Company. Holds a stellar record of providing bespoke IT services and products to UN, NGOs, and multinationals in diverse sectors such as mining, banking, agriculture, public health, land reform, electoral, prison reform, education, and solar.

Hired, trained, and inspired dozens of youth in tech and office management. Created an ecosystem where international community's operations and programmes can thrive. With strong communications and interpersonal skills, offers a proven track record working with funding agencies such as USAID, SIDA, JICA, World Bank and EU meeting all requirements for monitoring, reporting progress, and compliance for grants and contracts across financial, human resources, and administrative functions.

Has worked with Development Agencies including UNDP, UNJLC/WFP, Mercy Corps, and International Alert in humanitarian logistics, donor reporting, and strategic partnerships. Has worked with more than 100 NGOs for more than two decades supporting their capacity building, project implementation and lessons learned. Brings scrutiny, integrity and critical skills to her work.

A hands-on, motivated strong team builder with a successful record working with internal and external partners.

Manager - New Africa Technology Company - Monrovia, Liberia

(2009-01 - 2023-12)

• Developed targeted short- and long-term growth strategies.
• Introduced new services such as fiber Internet and supplies of IT hardware and software.
• Fine-tuned operating procedures by revising budgets and upgrading contracts, operational documents, and forms.
• Recruited and supervised technical, admin and accounting staff.
• Supervised operations; maintained a rolling trainee program.
• Established an accounting system; hired a trainer to train office managers in accounting software.
• Oversaw daily, monthly, and annual expenses and revenues; budgeted project costs and service contracts with clients.
• Maintained and strengthened client relationships at highest levels. Client list included (but not limited to) BHP Billiton, Putu Iron Mining Company, UNDP, UNICEF, Access Bank, Afriland Bank, UNMIL, NDI, IECD, IFES, Ministry of Gender, Last Mile Health, Partners in Health, UK Embassy, Irish Embassy, JICA, Equatorial Palm Oil, Water Aid, and Land Authority.
• Ensured good corporate citizenship and compliance with labor, tax, and Social Security laws. Navigated potential client conflicts with local communities to establish harmony.
• Researched industry trends, studied local market conditions, and incorporated client feedback.
• Studied government and global conservation standards, protocols, and procedures to support client goals to maintain sustainability, avoid resource exploitation, and limit environmental impact.
• Oversaw the development of innovative marketing strategies, vibrant communications, and social media presence in a setting like Liberia with limited resources. Relied on local experts, photographers, influencers and personal outreach.
• Created and cultivated a vibrant, professional company culture that promoted learning, innovation, customer service, problem-solving, and technology.
• Hosted Liberia's first technology visual art contests.

Facilitator - GIZ Workshop - Liberia

(2018-02 - 2018-03)

• Prepared, facilitated, and summarized 3-day workshop with 30–40 participants from Ministries, Vocational Training Institutes, and various civil organizations.
• Supported the Project Launch and stakeholder consultation for Capacity Development in the transport sector of the Road Maintenance Training Component.

Country Manager - International Alert - Monrovia, Liberia

(2017-02 - 2017-07)

• Planned, updated, and managed regular administrative and logistics operations for this UK-based peacebuilding NGO in Governance and Security sectors.
• Supervised 7 national staff; guided and supported their efforts to achieve the NGO's peacebuilding work in local communities.
• Provided day-to-day management of administrative requirements, budgeting, and logistics.
• Led the team preparing M&E and finance reports, with final updates to London headquarters.
• Oversaw finalization of 2 critical donor reports (SIDA: 5,000,000SEK and EU: 315,400EU) for funding peacebuilding in police/community relations and community/multinational relations by SAFE Communities: Security Actions for Everybody (SAFE) and the Community Platform for Promoting Peaceful Engagement in the Management of Natural Resources (CPPE-NRM).
• Represented International Alert at various forums and meetings, including the LINGO forum.
• Led intense and critical negotiations and discussions with donors.
• Served as continuing liaison with donors and provided positive pro-active public relations.
• Supported the handling and resolution of disagreements with, and opposition from, security agencies and natural resource extraction companies.
• Created dialogue between local communities and resource extraction companies to resolve various types of issues e.g., land rights related to sustainable palm oil plantations, sustainable logging, protection of forests, and mining among others.
• Advocated for strong peacebuilding activities in communities affected by conflict.
• Supervised closing of the sub-office in Bomi, including retrieval of assets, termination of contracts, and other required actions.

Partner Support Director - Mercy Corps, Ebola Community Action Platform (ECAP) - Monrovia, Liberia

(2015-01 - 2015-07)

As Partner Support Director for ECAP (funded by USAID and managed by Mercy Corps), managed relationships with over 70 partner organizations to implement community awareness campaigns about Ebola.

• Mentored partner organizations to support their learning and adaptation to new approaches while drawing on their local strengths and maintaining their autonomy.
• Provided close administrative coordination and with ECAP's technical partner Population Services International (PSI) and across all Mercy Corps' internal departments.
• Led and motivated the highly talented partner support department team composed of seven national and two international staff.
• Ensured partner organizations complied with reporting, contractual, and financial obligations.
• Supported, planned, and coordinated training of trainers for the more than 900 partner mobilizers.
• Supported and planned Lessons Learning workshops.
• Consistently advocated for the needs and recognition of frontline community workers and to standardize monetary compensation across all partner organizations' projects.
• Represented Mercy Corps at weekly Ebola coordination meetings with the Ministry of Health.
• Supported the "No Cost extension" of the ECAP program – a combined USAID-funded $12 million program – by reviewing partner proposals and coordinating with other ECAP Mercy Corps departments and PSI.
• Supported the final closeouts of the ECAP program vis-à-vis partners.
• Provided day to day support and advice to the Program Director and Management.
• Provided extensive planning and strategy input for the subsequent ECAP 2 program, as well as for the Partner Support department.

Consultant - Interface, SOAS, University of London - London, United Kingdom

(2009-01 - 2009-12)

• Provided briefings on the UN's peacebuilding and state-building role and activities in the Liberian post war era.
• Provided personal information and lived-experience accounts of Liberia to deepen understanding of post-war elections, emergency rehabilitation activities, and disarmament, demobilization, rehabilitation, and reintegration (DDRR) programs.

Reporting Officer - Direct Execution (DEX) Service Centre - Monrovia, Liberia

(2004-04 - 2008-08)

Provided monitoring, coordination, and reporting, and filled other administrative roles for the DEX Unit of the UN Development Program (UNDP) during the critical early post-war era in Liberia.

• Contributed significantly to UNDP management of key donor funds to implement rehabilitation and recovery through disarmament, demobilization, rehabilitation, and reintegration (DDRR) processes, elections, and labor-intensive civil works.
• Oversaw the DDRR Trust Fund Report, the tool for reporting to donors, stakeholders, the UN community, and all interested parties to the DDRR Program and Accra Peace Agreement of 2003.
• Collected reports from Implementing Partners and performed various other monitoring and reporting duties to ensure UNDP met its reporting requirements to donors and partners regarding operations and program implementation, including: European Commission (EC) on use of €18.25M; European Union Elections Observer Mission on use of €1M; World Bank on use of US$1.8M.
• As reporting officer for the multi-donor DDRR Trust Fund, visited the disarmament and demobilization sites around Liberia where combatants went through a 5-day 'orientation' handing in their arms and going through sensitization for the DDRR program.
• Provided proposal review and support to coordinate and supervise various donor and operational meetings where decisions were made for project approval and management of UNDP Liberia CO's donor funds in excess of US$59M, including: 16 of 19 DDRR Project Approval Committees (PAC) meetings since commencement of Liberia's DDRR Program; 9 CBR PAC meetings; 6 Contracts, Assets, and Procurement (CAP) meetings.
• Coordinated and made payments to UNDP field staff.
• Liaised with UNDP's partners and stakeholders.
• Represented UNDP at strategic coordination and information-sharing meetings, and reported back to UNDP senior management.
• Consolidated and provided all background documentation to UNDP Headquarters and a visiting investigation team about a sensitive case concerning an implementing partner of the DDRR program.