Andrea Valentini

Project Management, backstopping support for implementation/acquisition of projects, Education/Employment department of GOPA:

• Provision of technical expertise (as expert and/or Team Leader) and backstopping support for implementation high impact projects in education and training, in various countries financed by donors such as EU, MCC, GIZ, SDC, USAID, Finnish MFA.
• Performed backstopping/ project management and project administrative tasks including contracting, supervising/M&E of experts, managed recruitment and deployment of project teams ; liaising and communicating with donors, project beneficiaries, partners and with the company management
• Involved in project acquisition processes: identification of partners, experts, fact-finding documenting technical proposals /requirements of projects' terms of references
• Drafted technical proposals for acquisition of projects in basic education/general education, teacher training, employment/TVET.
• Provision of PM training (when necessary) and ongoing support to local project support teams from MCC-funded Charaka project.

MCC, Support the MCA-Morocco Agency in the management, monitoring, technical assistance and closure of the Charaka Fund activities in Morocco "Charaka program" (5 M€ budget, part of the multiannual MCC program).

• Overall project management, team leading , technical, administrative financial management, reporting on actual implementation of the Charaka program; liaised with the consortium partners and with project beneficiary (MCA), with the personnel of the 15 vocational training centers established by Charaka program, and Office of Vocational Training and Labor Promotion (OFPPT)
• Planning, Monitoring and evaluation(M&E) of the capacity building component of the program through provision of training modules in the area of gender and social inclusion, communication, project management, institutional governance, e-learning (including the production of 109 e-learning modules) for the OFPPT and the 15 vocational training centers
• Recruitment, management of 10 short-term experts (STE) to deliver training to the personnel of the 15 Vocational Training Centers, technical support, induction and quality check of deliverables; training and coaching to administrative, project staff, experts on the team functioning and project related aspects, communication and liaising, monitoring of deliverables/outputs
• Coordinated the development of project reports ( methodological, detailed planning, quarterly, closure and other), drafted, reviewed the financial management guidelines based on MCA procedures and the Moroccan legal system
• Coordinated the implementation and sustainability of the global social inclusion and gender plan (GIS) in the 15 target TVET centers

Over 15 years of leadership and managerial experience in managing and coordinating EU, Finnish MFA, Norway MFA, MCC, SDC, UN, USAID (preparation of 3 RFI)-funded development cooperation projects and programs in the field of education, youth, gender and social inclusion, employment, including evaluation and technical assistance (TA) projects at the global, regional and country level. This includes:

• Over 7 years (full-time) of experience as team leader in institutional capacity development and education governance strengthening and teacher training; extensively involved in carrying out consultations with high level representatives of governmental institutions as well as with donor representatives of key educational interventions and of multiannual programs in developing countries
• Extensive experience as expert and/or coordinator in developing countries that covered in-service and pre-service of teachers from within basic education systems, inclusive education approaches for minority groups, persons with disabilities, curriculum development, etc
• 7 years of experience working in EU-funded assignments for DEVCO (at HQ level) and EU Delegations (Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Sudan, Morocco) in project design and development and coordination with focus on capacity development training
• Excellent experience in leading and overseeing project implementation teams, mobilization, induction and supervision of experts, coordination of partnerships and facilitation of stakeholders engagement, technical and financial reporting
• Well-versed in business development, networking and managing/overcoming bottlenecks trough participative leadership
• Experienced in coordination and facilitation of high level awareness-raising events (conferences and round tables), with participation of governmental representatives, international and regional donors and keynote speakers of the education domain
• Resolved problems, improved operations and provided exceptional service (performance assessments available upon request)
• Used strong analytical and problem-solving skills to develop effective solutions for challenging situations.

Experience in developing and coordinating global and regional level education UNESCO programs:

11.2008-12.2009, Management of the Teacher Training Initiative for Sub-Saharan Africa (TTISSA), a ten-year initiative aiming to increase the quantity and improve the quality of the teaching in Sub-Saharan Africa (46 African countries involved):

• Contributed to the planning, implementation and M&E of the Teacher Training Initiative for Sub-Saharan Africa (TTISSA) and served as focal point for the Teacher Training section providing technical assistance to various Sub-Saharan African countries on specific thematic topics related to teacher development and teacher training policies
• Led the mobilization, monitoring, reporting of extra-budgetary resources to support TTISSA implementation at the country level
• Contributed to the design, organization and follow-up of technical and advocacy workshops (i.e. the World Teachers' Day 2007), including the Teacher Education Policy Forums for Sub-Saharan Africa, work sessions of the ILO/UNESCO Joint Committee of Experts on the Application of the Recommendations on Teaching Personnel Status
• Represented UNESCO's work in teacher education and TTISSA, facilitated partnerships with stakeholders including international donors and regional organizations (e.g. WB, ADB, ADEA), NGOs and Universities
• 11.2006-11.2008, Management of Inclusive Education global programs:

- Managed secretariat of UNESCO flagship program “The right to education for persons with disabilities: towards inclusion”; meetings with the Finnish Ministry of Education (MoE) in Helsinki in synergy with the Univ. Of Eastern Finland

- Drafted public policies on equal access to quality and inclusive education for the MoE Cambodia, missions to provide technical support to the MoE on the inclusion of children with disabilities in the education system ; drafted monitoring mechanism to track progress of disparity, reduction goal s/ targets on education and youth development

- Support to UNESCO country offices on inclusive education related aspects (right to education for persons with disabilities, minorities etc.).