Role

Project Management Lead

Futuro Sostenible · San Cristóbal, Venezuela

Project management lead for renewable energy adoption in rural communities with limited resources and external funding. I planned and executed the projects, coordinated more than ten solar installation and maintenance workshops, and managed the human, technical and financial resources.

I produced the reports for international funders and built a network of alliances with non-governmental organisations and government entities that expanded the resources available and the reach of the programs.

See my projects Let's talk

Apr 2020 — Aug 2021

Project managementInternational cooperationTechnical training

People
Operations

10+Workshops coordinatedInstallation and maintenance of solar systems

1 year 5 monthsDurationApril 2020 to August 2021

3Types of resources managedHuman, technical and financial

My responsibility

Project planning and execution, coordination of more than ten solar installation and maintenance workshops, management of human, technical and financial resources, and reporting to international funders.

Result

Network of partnerships with NGOs and government entities that expanded available resources and programme reach.

The challenge

Rural communities with limited resources and projects sustained by external funding
Two recipients at once: the community receiving the installation and the funder expecting a report
Technical transfer that would require a continued presence impossible to fund
Every expense item had to be justified in the format expected by whoever had paid for it

How I approached it

Plan for two criteriaI planned each project to satisfy both the community and the funder, who assessed the same work with different criteria.
Concentrate training in workshopsI coordinated over ten solar installation and maintenance workshops, the smallest unit that concentrates technical transfer into a few days.
Organise each workshopI solved at the same time the material, the trainer's travel, the attendees' availability and a space with the minimum conditions.
Trace spending and progressI managed the human, technical and financial resources with the traceability required to account to a funder.
Build the partnership networkI understood each organisation's constraint before proposing anything and offered each one something it could defend internally.

Work blocks

Planning and execution

I planned and executed renewable energy adoption projects in which external funding shaped the management more than the technical content did.

Over ten solar workshops

I coordinated over ten solar installation and maintenance workshops. Organising one means solving material, trainer, attendees and space; the technical part was the easiest.

Human, technical and financial resources

I managed the programme's three types of resource with a traceability of spending and progress that an internal project relaxes, planned from day one.

Reports for funders

I prepared the reports for the international funders: every item had to be justifiable in the format expected by whoever had paid for it.

Partnerships with NGOs and government

I built a network of partnerships with non-governmental organisations and government bodies, accepting that each one joined for a different reason.

In detail

The full story

The role

I joined Futuro Sostenible in April 2020 as project management lead and left in August 2021. The scope was rural communities with limited resources, and the projects ran on external funding, which shapes the management far more than the technical content does.

An externally funded project has two audiences at once: the community receiving the installation and the funder expecting a report. Both evaluate the same project by different criteria, and the planning has to satisfy both without one crowding out the other.

The workshops and resource management

I coordinated more than ten solar installation and maintenance workshops. The workshop is the smallest useful unit for this type of project because it packs into a few days the technical transfer that would otherwise require a continuous presence impossible to fund. Organising one means solving the materials, the trainer's travel, attendee availability and a venue with minimum conditions all at once, and the technical part is the easiest of the four.

I managed the program's human, technical and financial resources. Being accountable to a funder requires a traceability of spending and progress that an internal project can relax: every line item has to be justifiable in the format the payer expects, and that changes how you plan from day one.

The network of alliances

The most valuable result wasn't a number of installations but a network of alliances with non-governmental organisations and government entities, which expanded both the resources available and the geographic reach of the programs.

Building it required accepting that each organisation joins for a different reason and that the project has to offer each one something it can defend internally. It isn't a sales skill, it's understanding the other party's constraint before proposing anything.

Results and impact

Result

Partnership network

The network with NGOs and government bodies expanded the available resources and the geographic reach of the programmes; it was the most valuable result.

10+ workshops coordinated

Over ten solar installation and maintenance workshops in rural communities with limited resources.

Accounts rendered to the funder

Reports for the international funders with traceable spending and progress, every item justifiable in the expected format.

Stack

Project managementInternational cooperationTechnical training

Skills used in the role

Domain

Logistics managementOperations research

Frameworks and methods

Team leadershipProject managementContinuous improvement

Contact

Raw signals · real decisions

Let's talk See my projects

Next role

Sales DirectorPapelería Moderna C.A. · Jan 2018 — Feb 2020