Welcome to Think Development!
Here, we can share resources, exchange notes and our thoughts about development, and collaborate with like-minded development practitioners and experts and anyone who may be interested.
I will be sharing my experiences as a development professional for the last 30 years, starting as a writer and policy researcher with Tambuyog Development Center, then as a programme officer for Oxfam in the Philippines, to my experiences as a policy adviser and campaigner for Oxfam in Southeast Asia based in Thailand, as a Country Manager for Oxfam then, as Southeast Asia Regional Representative for CAFOD based in Cambodia, as co-founder and Managing Director of Women, Innovation, Solutions, Empowerment (WISE) Co. Ltd., up to my current international development consulting practice based in Egypt and in the Philippines.
It’s been an exciting period of continuous personal and professional growth, having worked with different teams and experts at various levels, and interacting with different development actors – from politicians, to business people, to donors, technocrats, civil society groups, and more importantly, with communities.
Some lessons were instantly gratifying, and some insights are gained years after the experience. All of them have proven important and invaluable.
Leadership. Strategic Thinking. Management.
Multiple challenges we face in our organizations, communities, countries, and globally have increasingly demonstrated the importance of leadership in engaging with development issues – understanding social change, interacting with forces that drive it, and setting an agenda and taking action for positive, meaningful change. This is the focus of Think Development – Strategic Leadership, to be specific. It emphasizes this focus on leadership, strategic thinking, and management.
I look forward to exchanging views and working with you.
Francis Perez
Lead Consultant and Director
