Anna-Kim has seven years of work experience in the development sector and is passionate about youth leadership and empowerment. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations and Economics and a Master’s Degree in Economic Development Policy. Her experience in the development field started at age 15, when she participated in a U.K.-based global youth-to youth mentorship project. This experience gave her the opportunity to interact with young leaders from the U.K., South Africa, and the U.S., and inspired her to start a youth-to-youth mentorship program in Jamaica. As a young professional, Anna-Kim continued her promotion of youth empowerment as the Project Officer of Sports Development and Youth Leadership at the N.C.B Foundation. There, she assisted with the design and implementation of grassroots initiatives that provided access to basic necessities and encouraged young people to shape their own futures. She also managed the Foundation’s operating expenditure and public relations and advertising budgets. Throughout her career, Anna-Kim has worked in several areas of development, such as education, youth empowerment and development, rural regeneration, health safety and security, social entrepreneurship, and advocacy. Through these experiences, she has developed strong competencies such as grant writing for USAID, UNICEF, and UNDP funding, project coordination and implementation, monitoring and evaluation, budget forecast and tracking, marketing and communications, event coordination, and community mobilization.
Host Organization: Heartland Alliance International
Role at Host Organization: Anna-Kim will support the operational aspects of HAI, including but not limited to: subaward, human resources, budget, and finance management and provide translation or interpretation as needed. She will provide back-end support to ensure quality operations that are on par or better than international standards and best practices.