What I do

Posted on August 5, 2018 by jocknoble

What I do – Empowering Communities through Sustainable Economic Development

It has been my privilege to work in various countries including India, Kenya, Senegal, Indonesia, USA, Australia, and Armenia.

Now in semi-retirement I only take on projects that are of high value to my clients and maximize the use of my gifts and skills.

Most recently as a leader within World Vision International, my role involved overseeing a global team of specialists in economic, agricultural, and small business development, market systems, and financial services. We provided expertise and support to World Vision staff in more than 40 countries.

In my earlier positions with World Vision International, I served as the Economic Development Learning Hub Lead for the Middle East and Eastern Europe. Additionally, during my time with World Vision Australia, I established and led the Social Entrepreneurship and Economic Development Unit (SEED). This team of economic development specialists focused on creating and supporting innovative initiatives in impoverished communities across Africa, the Asia Pacific, and from Senegal to Timor Leste.

Throughout my career, I have been a leader projects that include:

  1. Community mobilization and development initiatives.
  2. Evaluation of local economic opportunities and competitive advantage.
  3. Youth workforce development, vocational education, skill training.
  4. Small business and entrepreneurship development.
  5. Markets development, particularly value chain development.
  6. Microfranchising.
  7. Utilization of financial services, particularly microfinance and savings groups.

My core competencies lie in:

  1. Strategic planning, ideation, model development and systems sense making
  2. Project design, implementation, and evaluation, with a focus on troubleshooting in local economic development.
  3. Facilitating and managing partnerships with public, private, and government stakeholders.
  4. Conducting training needs assessments and designing/delivering training in local economic development methodologies.
  5. Mentoring staff.
  6. Negotiation, conflict resolution, and mediation system design, training, or service delivery.

I am passionate about making a positive impact and empowering communities through sustainable economic development. With my diverse experiences and expertise, I strive to contribute to the growth and well-being of staff teams and communities around the world.

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About jocknoble

I have worked in thirty countries with most time spent in India, Kenya, Indonesia, USA , Australia and Armenia. My current role with World Vision International is as a Livelihoods Advisory based in Manila. Before this I spent 4 years based in Armenia leading an economic development learning hub for 10 countries across the Middle East and Eastern Europe. I spent 8 years with World Vision Australia where I founded and lead the Social Entrepreneurship and Economic Development Unit (SEED), a team of economic development specialists,to establish and support innovative initiatives in poor communities from Africa to the Asia Pacific, Senegal to Timor Leste.. I believe the reason people are poor is that they do not have enough money and our challenge is to help instill hope and a genuine sense of self-belief, starting with those of us who somehow work in development. I was the founder and CEO of Diversity@work Australia Inc, a social enterprise developing innovative models, strategies and educational programs to strengthen companies through diversity and inclusion. I hold a Master of Entrepreneurship and Innovation and a Masters of Strategic Foresight from Swinburne University in Melbourne, post-graduate studies in Not for Profit Management at Georgetown University and Negotiation and Conflict Management at Latrobe University Melbourne. I was the Carey Medal winner for 2007 for exceptional and outstanding service to the community. So it goes Published Books: 'Postcards - What am I doing here' (2016) which is a collection of my blogs along with selected photographs, and Stores from the Road - Ten stories for workers in international development (2016)
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