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Dear Development Practitioner: Advice for the Next Generation
In this book, influential development practitioners reflect on their careers by writing letters of advice to their younger selves. Sharing their successes and failures, the challenges and barriers they have encountered, and the changes and continuities within their work, these deeply personal accounts provide an invaluable window into the world of development practice.
The authors come from nearly 20 countries. They have held a rich mix of jobs across a range of sectors and organisational types, bringing a long-term perspective to the sector’s contemporary challenges. The distinguished list includes a Nobel Peace Prize winner, senior figures in government and international organisations, those working at the frontline of humanitarian aid and civil society organisations, and those who might not even have thought of themselves as "development professionals", such as technologists and social entrepreneurs. Despite the differences, common themes the pursuit of meaningful change, the navigation of barriers, and the ongoing sense of hope.
This book will inspire those about to embark on their professional careers and remind new entrants and current development practitioners alike how much there remains to be done.
The authors come from nearly 20 countries. They have held a rich mix of jobs across a range of sectors and organisational types, bringing a long-term perspective to the sector’s contemporary challenges. The distinguished list includes a Nobel Peace Prize winner, senior figures in government and international organisations, those working at the frontline of humanitarian aid and civil society organisations, and those who might not even have thought of themselves as "development professionals", such as technologists and social entrepreneurs. Despite the differences, common themes the pursuit of meaningful change, the navigation of barriers, and the ongoing sense of hope.
This book will inspire those about to embark on their professional careers and remind new entrants and current development practitioners alike how much there remains to be done.
208 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 7, 2023
13 people want to read
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November 21, 2023
Disclaimer: As one of the contributors to this volume, and a member of the community it represents, I am, of course, a biased reader.
When I was invited to write a letter to my younger self for this collection of similar letters by others who have made a career in international development, I was intrigued by the proposition.
What advice, encouragement, critique could I offer to the person I was when I embarked on this phase of my career? Equally, I was keen to read others’ missives to discover shared as well as unique experiences.
I was not disappointed. The sheer diversity of individuals - geographical, cultural, by gender, race, motivation and trajectory is illuminating. What impels such a range of people to seek to literally change the world?
Some common threads may be found in early life experiences and in being an outsider’ within families and communities of origin. For many, it is this that fuels their passion to redress inequities of access, voice and influence.
Also shared are the lived disappointments, disillusionments of careers in global bureaucracies unable to live the values they espouse.
Yet dogged perseverance in the face of daunting odds, great risks and huge power imbalances and optimism despite the uneven gains shone through almost every letter.
For aspiring development practitioners this collection of authentic, personal accounts might provide a guide to the many different pathways to such a career and some guideposts to smooth the journey.
When I was invited to write a letter to my younger self for this collection of similar letters by others who have made a career in international development, I was intrigued by the proposition.
What advice, encouragement, critique could I offer to the person I was when I embarked on this phase of my career? Equally, I was keen to read others’ missives to discover shared as well as unique experiences.
I was not disappointed. The sheer diversity of individuals - geographical, cultural, by gender, race, motivation and trajectory is illuminating. What impels such a range of people to seek to literally change the world?
Some common threads may be found in early life experiences and in being an outsider’ within families and communities of origin. For many, it is this that fuels their passion to redress inequities of access, voice and influence.
Also shared are the lived disappointments, disillusionments of careers in global bureaucracies unable to live the values they espouse.
Yet dogged perseverance in the face of daunting odds, great risks and huge power imbalances and optimism despite the uneven gains shone through almost every letter.
For aspiring development practitioners this collection of authentic, personal accounts might provide a guide to the many different pathways to such a career and some guideposts to smooth the journey.
Displaying 1 of 1 review