I started my career in 2003 as a hydrogeologist in Sweden and shifted to overseas development and humanitarian work in 2005. Since then I have worked with a wide range of organizations: Oxfam GB, MSF, UNICEF, ACF, CARE USA, MSB and CRS, in both short-term emeregncy deployemnts and in long-term roles.  Working with these organizations in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America, I have served as a WASH program manager, public health engineer, Team Lead, Cluster coordinator, and technical adviser.  I have responded to cholera and ebola outbreaks in both rural and urban settings; natural disasters, such as floods, the Indonesia tsunami, earthquakes, and typhoons; and conflict emergencies in refugee and IDP settings, including both rapid onset (Iraq and Bangladesh) and protracted crises (Somalia and Northern Nigeria). 

I returned to the Swedish private sector between 2011 and 2013 to deepen my experiences in environmental engineering and hydrogeology.  Since returning to the international Water and Saniation sector, I have been able to incorporate these areas more and more into emergency response and development programming to ensure that Water and Sanitation solutions are environmentally sustainable, in light of the growing impact of climate change and the water security crises the world is facing. 

For the last five years in my current role leading CRS’ global humanitarian WASH team, I have mentored and influenced practitioners in over 40 countries, with 50% travel to the field and with remote support.  In this role, I am responsible for WASH technical program quality and ensuring compliance with international WASH standards.  I have also been at the forefront of integrating CRS’ emergency WASH programming with other sectors, most notably shelter and using markets/cash-based programming.  Most recently, I have focused on providing WASH technical capacity building and accompaniment to local partners, including those responding to the Venezuelan and Rohingya crises.

With in-depth knowledge of global standards and a wide range of WASH technical interventions, I am skilled in field analysis, strategic planning, and program design.  I am skilled in conducting environmental impact assessments and using hydrogeological approaches. My monitoring and evaluation (M&E) experience includes setting up logical frameworks, selecting indicators, creating detailed implementation plans, ensuring data collection, and program monitoring.  Local capacity building has been one of my main focuses over the last five years; in 2016 I co-led a WASH in emergency training in Ghana for CRS and partners staff from western and central african regions. In 2019 I facilitated trainings for CRS’ local partner staff from Latin America and the Caribeaan in Peru and St. Lucia on WASH response approaches, SPHERE standards, and M&E using CommCare software.  I am skilled in establishing strategic partnerships at the proposal or implementation stage, with strong relationships with a wide network of agencies.  Recently, on behalf of CRS, I co-wrote a joint WASH and Shelter Cluster advocacy paper on the use of cash together with Habitat for Humanity and have been instrumental in increasing colaboration and coordination between the Global WASH and Shelter Clusters.    

I frequently represent CRS in external fora, including the Global WASH Cluster, the meeting of the WASH sector with humanitarian organization directors in Brussels in 2017, and the Caritas Internationalis network. I have designed and secured funding for operations research initiatives, such as a USAID/OFDA-funded pilot initiative testing the effectiveness of the Northeast Nigerian private water sector in water production and distribution.  I regularly am involved in technical proposal writing and proposal reviews for major donors including USAID, UNICEF, ECHO, DFID, and private foundations.  Finally, I am fluent in English, Spanish, Swedish, and Portuguese, with the ability to write, present, and otherwise conduct business in all of these languages.