Passionate about the development of the human potential, Linda is a Leadership and Career coach for humanitarian and development professionals and leaders who are dedicated to make a difference in the world. She describes herself as a motivational and change partner with the purpose to empower, inspire and guide her clients in their transition.

She has over 18 years of experience as a Human Resources Manager and Talent Acquisition Partner with the US Department of State, UNICEF, UNRWA and World Food Program (WFP); working and living in Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Europe. With a comprehensive first-hand knowledge of the United Nations recruitment and career system, she has supported a diversity of professionals, managers and leaders to gain a new energy vision and a competitive advantage when developing their career goals or looking for the next stage of their career growth.

Coming from a multicultural background, she speaks and works in French, Arabic and English.

She is a Professional Career Coach certified by the Professional Association of Resume Writers and Career Coaches (PARWCC), an Professional Certified Coach (PCC) by the International Coaching Federation, an Emotional Intelligence and Master NLP practitioner and a Cross-Cultural Coach. 

Wolfgang has some 38 years of United Nations (UN) peacekeeping and special political missions experience, both in the field and at UN headquarters in New York. He knows what it takes to get hired by the UN, having served as chairperson and member in hundreds of expert and regular recruitment panels interviewing and selecting candidates up-to the D-2 level. He is trained in the competency based interview technique of the UN, its core values, core competencies and managerial competencies including its indicators required to pass interviews.  He also knows what it takes to advance careers in the UN having himself started at the lowest FS-2/1 level and progressed through the ranks up to the highest Director D-2/6 level. Human Resources and Training were Sections under his direct leadership and management. 

After retirement from the UN in August 2018 he continued to be involved with UN peacekeeping, serving as a mentor at the UN’s Senior Mission Administration and Resources Training (SMART) programme held in Brindisi, Italy for Middle and Senior UN Managers, as well as reviewing the implementation of the UN’s Management Reform and it’s impact on UN Peace Operations as an independent consultant with the International Peace Institute (IPInst.org). He is currently engaged as an Independent Consultant, Mentor, Coach and International Guest Speaker. Member of the International Coach Federation (ICF).

Salma has worked in different communication roles in the UN all over the world over the past 15 years. This includes strategic communications, video production, social media, writing for the web, media liaison and event management. Salma has worked with UNICEF, UNOCHA, UNDPA, UNESCO and UNDPKO on major national and international projects and has extensive experience of working with the UN in the field as well as Headquarters.

Her work has taken her from Kabul to Kenya, Yemen to Syria, Egypt to Afghanistan and Pakistan. Salma has worked with UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Mia Farrow, UN Education Envoy Gordon Brown, UN Peace Ambassador Malala’s father Ziauddin Yousafzai and her longterm teacher Mariam Khalique. Prior to working with the UN Salma was a journalist with the Associated Press TV, BBC and ITV.

Salma was voted one of the most inspirational women to hail from Birmingham and her works featured in the book Once Upon a Time Women Who Dared to Dream. https://theemmapress.com/books/once-upon-a-time-in-birmingham/

Salma is also a finalist for the national UK Asian Women of Achievement Awards (Social/Humanitarian category). https://www.awaawards.com/our-alumni-category/2019/

Veronika has extensive experience with recruitment, career transitions, and international moves, having worked in the private staffing industry, almost a decade with HR matters in the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and consulted for WHO's HR Global Services Center.

She is an ICF Professional Certified Coach (PCC), and has coached clients on life, health and career matters since 2015. Her coaching is aimed to be strategic and action-oriented.

She equally enjoys helping early-stage professionals and aspiring leaders as she does seasoned professionals looking for career support, whether it is a transition to, from or within the international development field.
 

Amaya has lived and worked overseas for more than 20 years working with a number of UN agencies. She has a PhD in public health and behavioural science and has worked directly in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Middle East  in emergencies and development contexts.

As a career coach with particular expertise in executive coaching, she has diverse clientel and is attuned to cross-cultural issues. Her approach is practical, focussing on taking steps to move forward while deepening understanding of unhelpful patterns and how to manage or interrupt them. Part of her secret to success is her direct experience in the UN and international settings which means a shorter intro period, less explaining and more action. She is also good at converting the latest evidence into practical actions that build the skills and confidence so many people are seeking in their personal and professional lives. And she knows the tricks of the UN, how it can be simultaneously the best and worst place to be, what it feels like to burn out, and how to refresh and reinvent yourself.

Javier has worked in global development and humanitarian operations for more than 20 years, primarily for Oxfam and had executive HRD experience in the intergovernmental sector. He has worked in Africa and Latin America, resourcing talent, fostering leadership and developing organizational and individual capacity. Certified Professional in Career Coaching and Associated Professor at the Deusto University in International Careers. Javier holds a Master’s Degree in Political Science & International Relations, with a specialization in peace and conflict management, from Uppsala University in Sweden. Javier is fluent in English, French and Spanish.

Career Coach Chibesa A. Mwape is a mother of three, writer, blogger, expat spouse, and a Certified Career Coach who has always had a passion for making the lives of others more meaningful and leaving a positive impact on them through the alignment of their personal and professional goals. With a Communications and HR Management background, Career Coach Chibesa has had experience living and working in five different countries outside her own passport country including Ghana, Denmark, USA, Kosovo, and Kenya since 2004 as an accompanying spouse aka STAR (Spouses Traveling And Relocating Successfully).

With extensive Africa experience spanning 15 years, Chibesa has written and delivered workshops on career progression & job search, and successfully coached expats and expat spouses/partners on career growth and international relocation. Additionally, she has engaged clients with effective job search tools and strategies in Africa, the Americas, Northern Europe and Asia and helped them to navigate an ‘out of the box’ perspective. Her clients have endorsed her for high energy, empathy and simple but practical coaching approach. Chibesa is a cultivated coach equipped with the most expedient tools, skills, and resources for coaching success.

Chibesa is not available for sessions October-December 2022.

Anna has 20+ years experience in the UN (UNICEF & WFP) and International Organisations, in progressively responsible roles within Human Resources Management in field and HQ duty stations. This includes experience as a Recruiter, Young Professionals Coordinator, and HR Operations Manager. Anna thrives in multicultural environments as a 3rd generation global nomad, and knows how international life opportunities can challenge and impact work/life choices.

Anna now works as a Solutions Focused Coach, HR Consultant, Blogger, and Small Business Owner. Proud to be one of the first coaches on Impactpool since 2016. Anna is a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) and member of the International Coach Federation (ICF) and an accredited Senior Practitioner by the  European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC).

Jens has more than 25 years of human resources, project and organizational management experience spanning over the multilateral institutions, government, NGO and the private sector. Since 2003 he has been in senior HR functions, e.g. Deputy Director HR and Head, Talent Management in the OSCE in Vienna, and Director Human Resources at the European University Institute in Florence. After an interim position with Germany's leading corporate branding company, he is now the HR Head of Wikimedia Germany. Jens also has 9 years of service with UNV/UNDP and has been teaching at Free University Berlin, Hertie School of Governance, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna Pisa, and the UN Staff College.

Jens will be available for sessions as of October 18.

Beate looks back at a successful career in Human Resources, having worked twenty-five years in HR at the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in New York and Copenhagen where she was instrumental in the relocation and build-up of the JPO Service Center.  Beate also worked several years in the private sector in Germany.  She has experience in the various HR areas with emphasis on recruitment, staffing, learning, talent management and leadership development.  In 2010/2011 she trained at the leading Coaches Training Institute (CTI), accredited by the International Coaching Federation (ICF), to become a Certified Professional Co-active Coach (CPCC).  In 2013/14 she graduated from a ten month Leadership Development Program with CTI. In 2019, Beate also certified as a coach in the Process Communication Model® (PCM).

Since her retirement from UNDP in 2014, Beate works as a professional coach at the national and international level. Beate shares the conviction that we are all naturally creative, resourceful and whole. She is committed and grateful to support others in developing their full potential. She is particularly passionate about individuals seeking professional transformation and helps them on their journey to realize the envisioned change. Beate holds a M.Sc. in Human Resources Management from the New School For Social Research, New York, USA, with a Certificate in Organizational Development; a M.A. in Translation French and Spanish from the University of the Saarland, Germany and a M.A. in Linguistics/Terminology from the Université Laval, Québec, Canada. 

Michele is a consultant and an ICF (International Coaching Federation) Professional certified coach with 12+ years of experience and Masters in Coaching and Profiling. He is currently the Board Member of ICF and works with UN leaders and professionals to discover and unleash their 'naturabilities' to reach new heights. His coaching has been deeply informed by 12+ years spent working in global organizations, such as the United Nations, and by a wide range of industries, such as nuclear energy, banking, criminal profiling, and by half of his life spent living abroad, including in developing countries. He holds a PostGraduate in Executive Coaching from the University of Pompeu Fabra Barcelona, and he is a chartered expert in Psychometrics with the British Psychological Society and a Masters Degree in Profiling from the University of Bologna. His specialties include conscious leadership development and career development.   

He is a firm believer in possibilities and leading your life and work from the core of who you naturally are. He focuses on a person's natural talents and traits and supports the steps necessary to make conscious leadership choices and behavioral action steps that best align with their authentic selves. Today's ever-changing, complex, and demanding world requires new ways of work. The best leaders lead consciously, utilizing creative intelligence and leadership capacity for greater impact. His coaching style is practical and gently direct, provocative, and genuine.

Available for sessions as of October.

Jens is an experienced HR Manager and Transition Coach with over 20 years of experience designing and implementing talent acquisition and performance management programs for humanitarian and development organizations, including the World Bank, UNICEF, and IFC and the private sector.

He is a Certified Professional Coach (CPC), an ICF Professional Certified Coach (PCC) and has been coaching professionals from UN Organizations (UNICEF, UNDP, UN Secretariat, UNOPS, WFP, WHO, IOM, UNHCR), NGOs (Plan, PACT, Médecins Sans Frontières, Save the Children, NRC) and Job Seekers, to assess their job situations, plan the next career steps and prepare the application and search processes. Jens is a trained Competency Based Interviewer and familiar with current recruitment standards and job market trends in both the development and private sector. As International Mobility Manager and Coach, having designed and implemented mobility and recruitment programs for international organizations, he has extensive experience with international relocation and cross cultural management topics. Jens lived and coached job seekers on 6 continents and enjoys to connect with an international network of UN and NGO colleagues to keep updated with the latest recruitment and HR practices.

Jens’ coachees describe his Coaching as “engaging, honest and effective”. He applies a reflective and forward looking coaching style, that enables coachees to look inwards and get more aware of their own self and their career search habits, so that they can identify sustainable solutions and ways forward to their questions and concerns. Jens is a committed Coach who gets energized when working with his coachees to identify the best fit for their career path and lead them to success.

John has been coaching for more than 20 years. He recently co-designed the coaching and mentoring education programme for the global Humanitarian Leadership Academy. John was formerly Global Practice Leader at World Vision International where he pioneered the charities’ global leader orientation, talent and succession management, and education processes, leadership assessment and leadership coaching services. Previously, as Global Consulting Development Leader for Hewitt Associates (now Aon) John led the global consulting focused “Hewitt University” and European organizational development consulting practice. He has worked with clients including The CHS Alliance, Vision Fund International, World Vision International, numerous INGOs, UK and foreign governments and in partnership with Development Decisions International, Cranfield and Ashridge Business Schools.

John has a Master’s degree in Management Development; post-graduate Diplomas in Management and Career Guidance; holds a Certificate in (Cognitive Behavioural) Coaching and is an accredited and experienced MBTI, Life Styles Inventory and Insights Discovery practitioner. John has considerable international experience gained in Africa, Europe, Asia, and North America.

Manuela is a pedagogue, certified coach and career counsellor. She brings in her coaching over 15 years of international HR management experience across a variety of HR functions with a particular focus on talent development. Manuela uses pedagogical methods to gather best talent in individuals, helping them achieve their utmost potential. Her motto is “transform challenges into opportunity for growth”. Her current role is as Head Human Resources Planning and Development at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the UN Organization dealing with technology for the accomplishment of the 2030 sustainable development goals agenda. 

Previous to that Manuela has led a variety of HR functions in different UN organizations (FAO, UN Secretariat, UNICEF, WHO, UNON, UN-HABITAT), European Union and Private Sector (Daimler Chrysler and Kuwait Petroleum) and has lived in 5 continents. She speaks fluent Italian, English, French and Spanish. During her academic research P.h.D and Master Degree studies in Psychology and Social Sciences she has deepened leadership in humanitarian contexts. She teaches talent development and human resources management at Bocconi University and is Visiting Professor at the Institutions Market and Technology University in Italy. She has several publications on career counseling and HR trends including with Harvard Business Review and collaborates with Harvard, Yale, Oxford Universities coaching students to become the talent workforce of tomorrow.

Carmen is a passionate person who strongly believes in the power of individuals supporting each other and the fact that when you support others, you get much more than what you give, a motto that has guided her life and she translates into her Coaching practice.

Carmen´s international career in Human Resources where she has occupied positions up to Chief HR, has taken her to live in 6 countries over 3 continents. After 10 years in the engineering private sector, she spent 20 years working for several International Organizations, including the European Space Agency (ESA), the UN System (UNFPA, UNICTR, UNMIL and the UN Secretariat), both in headquarters and hardship locations, as well as the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). She has a master’s in Psychology and Coaching certification by ICF. With a practical and action-oriented approach, she accompanies clients in identifying and focusing on what is needed to grow personally and professionally while developing the competences required to successfully fulfil their goals. She offers a full array of Coaching services for personal, professional, and cross-cultural matters, whether you want to develop your career up to executive level or successfully transition to, from or within International Organizations.

I am a coach and consultant with 20 years’ international managerial experience in IT, HR and institutional development in the United Nations system and international organizations (UN Secretariat, UNICEF, UNHCR, UNDP, UNFPA, UNWFP, UNESCO, WB, OSCE and CTBTO). It means that I hired and developed staff and teams, delivered capacity building programmes that helped thousands of experts, managers, and diplomats to enhance their personal and professional development in local and international contexts. My international career has taken me around the world, to numerous field offices and Headquarters in Europe, Asia, and North America. I gained an MBA from Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration, Austria, and Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota, USA. I am a qualified CO-ACTIVE COACH®.

Antonio is a former Head of Talent Outreach & Acquisition with UNHCR, former HR manager for Syria with the Norwegian Refugee Council and most recently, a learning and development specialist with UNESCO in Paris. Antonio has vast experience in international organizations in the US, Europe, and Africa in the areas of recruitment, career development, training, and organizational development. Background in Psychology and organizational behavior, expertise in cross-cultural management and communication.

Ronda, through her experience and research on international development NGOs and social enterprises, is committed to using career coaching to transform lives, communities, and the world. For more than 20 years, with a primary focus on international development and social services, Ronda has worked with hundreds of people, helping them to translate their skills into rewarding work and meaningful lives. Past clients have found their calling by working with US Government Agencies such as USAID, multilateral organizations like the World Bank, NGOs, non-profits, and other social impact organizations. Several clients have also started their own social enterprise, leveraging their unique talents, skills, and perspectives to make the world a better place. Her main focus is to help those who want to make a different design a career path that leads to maximum impact as well as a balanced and healthy life. Ronda holds a Doctorate of Management from University of Maryland University College, a Master of Social Work from the University of Maryland, Baltimore, a Bachelor of Arts in World Studies from the School for International Training, and is a Global Career Development Facilitator.