Michael Owino

This was a senior management role primarily meant to coordinate Programs Department and oversee implementation of donor funded projects at PAWA INITIATIVE. The role also was charged with mainstreaming of artivism in PAWA's projects.

Roles and Responsibilities included:

• Responsible for overall coordination of the Programs Department.
• Supervision of all Programs Staff as well as conducting staff performance appraisals and supporting personal development plans for all program staffs.
• Mainstreaming of artivism in all projects implemented and advocating for its inclusion as an advocacy strategy
• Checking and approval of project expenditures etc.
• Donor Communication and Reporting (in consultation with the Executive Director)
• Assisting the Executive Director in Resource Mobilization
• Networking and Partnership building with various stakeholders
• Representing PAWA in various networking meetings
• Researching on policy issues relevant for PAWA’s programming especially artivism and developing concept notes relevant to PAWA's programming
• Conducting Internal M & E for all projects and mainstreaming of M & E in all departments
• Contracting consultants and supervising consultancies
• Capacity Building Program and PAWA staff on Project Management & Artivism
• Convener role at Youth Serving Organization (pressure group formed by youth serving organizations aiming at advocating for youth development) where PAWA has a convener role.

Achievements

• Initiated efforts that led to the birthing of an advocacy department at PAWA 254 and successfully fundraised for equipment that allowed the organization to conduct its advocacy initiatives online through PAWA Podcasts (an online platform that allows PAWA 254 to engage in policy discussions with an online audience).
• Successfully led the M & E mainstreaming efforts in all of PAWA’s projects across all the four departments to enhance data collection and document impact of PAWA’s projects.
• Provided technical oversight to the implementation of various projects under the Programs Department and ensured successful closure of different projects
• Supported the Executive Director in fundraising for the organization and was particularly responsible for attracting five projects worth USD 650,000 during my tenure.
• As a response to the shocks occasioned by Covid-19, I pioneered the first ever online capacity building trainings at PAWA254. The trainings are deployed online through the PAWA Learning Platform where the organization can now expand their reach and impact online through curating and deploying different trainings online.
• Led the organizational strengthening efforts of the organization specifically the development of the current PAWA 254 Strategic Plan, review of the HR Policy and the development of the Advocacy and MERL strategies.
• Successfully spearheaded the development and implementation of PAWA’s partnership management strategies leading to development of a thriving partnership between PAWA 254, Social Justice Centers, other Civil Society organizations and Government.
• Successfully led as Convener the efforts towards the modeling and birthing of the now functional Youth Serving Organizations Consortium; a pressure group of youth serving and youth led CSOs whose agenda is to advocate for the prioritization of youth in the country’s development agenda.
• Successfully lobbied for the adoption of the Arts Sector in the Kenya Youth Development Policy 2019 and was part of the Technical Team that developed the Nairobi County Youth Policy 2022 where the Arts was also highlighted as a priority area in line with PAWA 254’s mission of prioritizing the arts as a livelihood and social advocacy strategy in national development.
• Coached team members on productivity strategies to accomplish challenging goals
• Addressed and resolved technical, financial, and operational concerns by working with team members and the Executive Directors
• Managed multiple strategic projects with numerous sub-projects or workstreams
• Demonstrated strong writing and presentation skills to develop briefs, memorandums and analytical reports for clients and partners.

This was an executive role in the Religious of the Good Shepherd Eastern & Central Africa Province that was mainly charged with the coordination of all the Province’s projects, donor communication and reporting, organizational development and capacity building of the Province’s Project Directors.

Key Roles and Responsibilities

• Work with Project Directors to ensure timely submission of quality project progress reports to funding agencies and other stakeholders.
• Assist Programme Directors to mainstream M & E in their various ministries and programmes.
• Prepare and facilitate administration of Monitoring and Evaluation tools for assessing/advising projects/Programmes performance, impact and relevance.
• Prepare and submit Monitoring and Evaluation reports as required by the different agencies.
• Review existing policies and facilitate development of lacking common policies in reference to the latest ministries evaluation report recommendations and the strategic plan.
• Carry out internal capacity assessment gaps in the various ministries and come up with recommendations for addressing the gaps.
• Resource mobilization through writing proposals, concept notes and business plans for ministries with Income Generating Activities.
• Compile, consolidate, and submit province progress reports to the Province Leadership Team and funding partners/agencies.
• Provide continued technical learning and advice based on projects/programmes management and impact/relevance.
• In consultation with the Province Leader, engage external consultants and come up with terms of references for consultants engaged to carry out consultancies within the ECAP projects

Key Achievements:

• Successfully led the resource mobilization efforts of the ECAP Province specifically fundraised USD 1,800,000 for all the Province’s 16 projects in East and Central Africa and was key in setting up a USD 900,000 social entrepreneurship project to shore up the Province’s sustainability plan.
• Led the Province’s Capacity Building efforts of the Province organizing trainings for the Project Directors and staffs seconded to the projects.
• Supervised consultancies and consultants hired by the Head Office in Nairobi to undertake various consultancies for the Province.
• Helped to develop the Province Finance, Human Resources and Child Safeguarding policies and later led the mainstreaming efforts of these policies in all 16 projects under the ECAP Province.
• Developed partnership strategies and initiated partnerships and collaborations between the Province and Government specifically the State Department of Child Services and the Ministry of Education.
• Supported the compilation of the Situation of Human Rights Report in Kenya that formed part of the global congregations Status of Human Rights Report where Good Shepherds Sisters have an Observer Status at the UN Human Rights Council.

This was a six months consultant position charged with the responsibility of closing out a project that had stalled for some time.

• Key Responsibilities
• Coordinating Community Health Workers’ as well as Primary Eye Care workers’ trainings on Child Eye Health in Kikuyu/KNH, Sabatia, Moi/Tenwek as well as Coast/Lighthouse clusters.
• Assisting in formulation and development of policies and IEC materials for Child Eye Health targeting various groups: parents, teachers, PEC workers, school children et al.
• Responsible for all financial requisitions and accounting for Child Eye Health related activities.
• Monitoring and evaluation of all child eye health related activities.
• Compiling monthly and quarterly narrative reports of the Child Eye Health Programme.
• Representing the organization in Child Eye Health country coordination meetings as well as other relevant networking meetings with Ophthalmic Services Unit under the Ministry of Health.
• Key Achievements:
• Successfully steered the closure of the Child Eye Health project in the four sub sites of the Child Eye Health project in Kenya.
• Was part of the coordinating team that successfully planned and implemented the Standard Chartered Marathon (Run for Sight) that was held in October 2016.
• Spearheaded the development of easy to read and understand IEC materials for training on Child Eye Health that incorporated the use of art illustrations and info graphs that was later incorporated by the Department of Ophthalmology of the Ministry of Health as instruction materials for conducting trainings in Child Eye Health in Kenya.
• Maintained tactical control of project budgets and timelines to keep teams on task and achieve schedule targets

This was a senior management role at DKA & eRko Support Office where I was responsible for Grants Management. I was mainly charged with the responsibility of vetting all new applicants and also leading capacity building efforts of the old and new grantees.

Key Responsibilities

• Providing guidance and advice to partners on project management skills, participatory methodologies, proposal formulation and development, report writing and effective communication to donors and partners.
• Developing Monitoring and Evaluation templates for monitoring/evaluation of project partners programmes.
• Communication with donors on progress, monitoring & evaluation and other important issues facing the funded projects.
• Coordinating partners’ lobbying and advocacy efforts both internally among partners and externally with other relevant stakeholders.
• Monitoring and evaluation of all funded projects with aiming at improving their service delivery by flagging out and building capacity of the partners to rectify/work on their weak areas.
• Compilation of reports: project partners monitoring reports and DKA & eRko's office’s Project Update and Half Year Reports.
• Advising project partners in organizational systems development, performance contracting, role differentiation and programming priorities.
• Networking with other donor agencies and representing DKA & eRko in various development forums.

Key Achievements:

• 12 out of our 23 partners successfully carried out strategic planning to guide their operations and help focus their resources (time, human and financial).
• Executed the capacity building plans of all 23 partners supported through DKA & eRko including introduction and mainstreaming of organizational development policies, conducting audits and report writing.
• 5 new partners received new funding and/or had their funding renewed following proposal formulation support from my desk.
• There was noticed drastic improvement in the quality of submitted proposals and subsequent reports from project partners following close support and collaborations from my office on these two areas of grants management (fundraising and reporting).
• Developed Project & grants Management handbook currently in place at the DKA & eRko support office
• Identified plans and resources required to meet project goals and objectives
• Achieved project deadlines by coordinating with partners to manage performance
• Planned, designed, and scheduled phases for large projects

This was a middle-level management position at YIKE charged with the responsibility of coordinating the implementation of the HIV/AIDS Behavior Change project activities.

Key Responsibilities

• Coordinating all programme activities and ensuring compliance to YIKE and donor standards
• Supervising Project Assistants and monitoring their performance
• Liaising with participating communities to ensure project activities are carried out with support from all stakeholders
• Approving of all expenditures related to project delivery
• Capacity building of community facilitators and participants
• Compiling monthly project progress reports to donor partners and Ministry of Health
• Representing YIKE in different networking forums
• Ensuring compliance of organizational and donor policies in project implementation

Key Achievements

• Behavior change activities led to observable change in attitude of Most at Risk Populations (MARP) especially the targeted youth in terms of increased number of youth who sought VCT services and treatment for STIs.
• 16 out of 25 target youth groups that participated in this project were able to initiate IGAs to sustain their group activities as well as earn income for their members.
• YIKE was judged to be among the top three best organizations working with the youth in the area of HIV/AIDS awareness by CARE Kenya-the Kenya Recipient of Global Funds for HIV & Malaria in 2009
• YIKE qualified for next round of Global Funds grants as it surpassed set targets as well as exhibited professionalism in the implementation of the Behavior Change Project.
• Participated in team projects, demonstrating ability to work collaboratively and effectively
• Used strong analytical and problem-solving skills to develop effective solutions for challenging situations
• Applied effective time management techniques to meet tight deadlines
• Used critical thinking to break down problems, evaluate solutions and make decisions
• Demonstrated a high level of initiative and creativity while tackling difficult tasks
• Gained extensive knowledge in data entry, analysis and reporting
• Developed and maintained courteous and effective working relationships

Key Responsibilities

• Assisting the Program Officers implement project field activities
• Compiling of field/activity reports
• Coordinating work of enumerators during field work
• Organizing community activities
• Facilitating community dialogues

Key Achievements:

• Facilitated research on Impact of free Education in two wards in Nairobi which Pamoja Trust used to lobby Government to effect subsidized Secondary Schooling.
• Successfully set up two Muungano wa Wanavijiji Clusters in Huruma and Dagoretti.
• Established 6 Children Council in six wards in Nairobi
• Managed both digital and physical filing systems and retrieved documents as required
• Delivered top-notch administrative support to office staff, promoting excellence in office operations
• Assisted with planning and coordinating day-to-day and special program activities
• Drafted agendas, recorded minutes and generated documents to facilitate meetings
• Ordered and distributed office supplies while adhering to fixed office budget