Dominican Republic

Communication officer at the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID)

Joaquin, director of To the core of things, is a monitoring, evaluation, researcher and programme manager of multimillion regional programmes and projects specialised in human rights, media, gender, community tourism and children/youth.

As the director and principal consultant of To the core of things consultancy firm, I bring over two decades of experience in results-based management, monitoring, and evaluation of international development programs, with a deep familiarity with EU and UNEG norms and standards. Throughout my career, I have developed and refined evaluation systems, policies, and related guidance for various DGs, national authorities, international NGOs and UN agencies. My work spans multiple regions, including Africa, Latin America, and Asia, focusing on human rights, media, gender, and education and youth programs. Notably, I have led strategic consultancies for different EU instruments including EIDHR, the EU social fund and also outside the EU for UNESCO and OHCHR. These consultancies focused on monitoring, evaluation, and reporting functions of international organizations including the assessment of these functions of UN agencies, OECD, the Council of Europe and the European Union.

My methodological expertise includes mixed-methods approaches and quasi-experimental designs that emphasise client and partner ownership, coherence with learning curves, and pragmatic solutions. These tools, developed under the Creative Commons IP from To the Core of Things, include research guidelines, organisational capacity assessment, modular reconstruction and adaptation of theories of change, stakeholder network maps methodologies, case study guidelines and approaches, outcome harvesting through Most Significant Change stories and implementation of machine learning approaches to development cooperation programmes.

The principles I apply in all my works are ownership of the works and the processes by the client and partners (through a strong participatory approach); alignment with latest trends in the field (including ICT4D, statistical techniques and humanistic considerations); coherence with the learning curve of the clients, and; pragmatism, proposing solutions in line with the interests, philosophy and capacities of the clients and its partners.

Key relevant work that reflects this range of skills and passions include ROM reviews for multi-country EU programmes, consultancies for UNESCO (evaluaitons, periodic reporting consultancies or MEAL system TA). Also for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) I have developed as well another strategic consultancy assessing their in-house monitoring and reporting function plus other programme and country evaluations. Other donors, include USAID, with consultancies carried for US Internews setting up the methodologies, managing seven multicultural teams and producing seven research products for their Rooted in Trust programme and leading several programme evaluations. Some other relevant examples of my works are the evaluation of an agriculture cooperative based project in Ethiopia funded by NORAD, the evaluation of a community radios programme in Zambia funded by the Netherlands; the research manager position for ECORYS and also academic publications in the Journal of Multidisciplinary Evaluation.

For more information visit https://tothecoreofthings.consulting; check our track of projects.

I am the senior instructor at PM4DEV. I have a passion for teaching project management. I have a career that spans for more than 22 years in various fields, from construction, technology, consulting, education and management; My work ranges from building schools in remote communities to implementing complex systems in more than 30 countries. I am a Fulbright scholar, obtained a masters in management science with a specialization in project management. I also have a certification from the Project Management Institute (PMI) and an advanced certification in project management from Stanford University (SCPM) I spent 15 years of my professional career working in the development field at CARE International, holding positions from administration, project management, monitoring & evaluation, and capacity building. In 2005 I co-funded the organization PM4DEV to fill a gap I believe is very important. Most development organizations, NGOs and public institutions trusted with resources to implement projects do not have the methodologies and best practices of project management that is widely used in the commercial sector. I believe there is an opportunity to improve development projects, reduce their exposure to risks, increase their efficiency, and above all increase the impact they make in the communities they work for. With PM4DEV I had the incredible opportunity to meet people from many countries, I have traveled extensively and I found that there is a strong need to build skills in project management. To this date I have trained close to 1,200 people who have taken my onsite and online courses. You can read some of the most recent feedback in our website I am responsible for the development of training materials, including the coordination for the development of content for on-site and online courses I am the lead author of the following books and courses: Fundamentals of Project Management; Effective Project Management; Project Design, Monitoring and Evaluation; Project Information Management Systems; and Adaptive Project Management. I had the opportunity to work as a consultant and trainer for many leading international development organizations including Save the Children, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, NetHope and the Inter American Development Bank (IADB). In this work was involved in the following: Assessment of project management capacity, tools and practices, using a proprietary tool Development of Knowledge Management systems, methodologies and procedures Delivered customized courses on various project management areas Developed organizational action plans including trouble shooting assistance through coaching, webinars, and conference calls. Designed and developed online courses, including the development of course material using interactive Flash based content. Development of customized project management methodologies, guidelines and user manuals Development and delivery of train-of-trainer courses In addition to the above I am the lead consultant in the development of the course PM4R for the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB). I trained bank personnel and project teams from various Latin-American government institutions in the tools and methodologies of PM4R. I am also the co-author of the PM4R Guide at IADB, development of the online course and knowledge management portal.(www.pm4r.org). My formal education includes: Financial Management and Executive Leadership Certificate Cornell University Project Management Professional (PMP) Project Management Institute (PMI) Certificate on Advanced Project Management Stanford University Master of Science in Management (MSM) Fulbright Scholarship (USIS-IIE) Stevens Institute of Technology Bachelor of Science, Civil Engineering Bachelor of Science, Architectural Engineering University of Miami

PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY
• Independent monitoring and evaluation consultant with more than ten years of experience in international development and cooperation, with a focus on development effectiveness and gender equality. Extensive experience in monitoring and evaluation of development projects in Ecuador and other Latin American countries. Experienced Results-Oriented Monitoring (ROM) Expert.

KEY QUALIFICATIONS
• Extensive experience in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of projects funded by the EU and other donors (UNDP, BID, GIZ) in Ecuador and the Latin American region. Excellent understanding of the specific regional and local contexts in Ecuador and other Latin American countries.
• More than ten years of experience in results-based approaches, including monitoring and evaluation of development projects. Experienced Results-Oriented Monitoring (ROM) Expert in the following areas: employment and vocational training, innovation, private sector development, democracy and rule of law, gender equality, human rights and civil society participation.
• Excellent skills for preparing monitoring/evaluation reports.
• Proven ability to work with the EU delegations and national authorities.

EDUCATION
• Master’s degree in International and Development Economics Jun. 2006
University of Namur & Catholic University of Louvain. Namur, Belgium.
• Economista (B.S. in Economics) Jan. 2002 Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador. Quito, Ecuador.