Raiza has six years of experience in the nonprofit sector, and earned a Master’s Degree in Political Economy with a specialization in International Relations and Development from the University of Asia and the Pacific in the Philippines. While working as the Executive Director for the Philippine Center for Civic Education and Democracy, she led the implementation of Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid programs in various local government units and in the disaster-affected communities of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. Previously, Raiza worked for numerous civic education and good governance initiatives to address critical issues and challenges related to rule of law, participatory budgeting, and disaster risk reduction and management. Raiza also taught courses on Philippine Politics and Governance and Political Theories at the Institute of Political Economy of the University of Asia and the Pacific. Through these experiences, she strengthened her skills in community research, project planning and management, resource mobilization, and training and workshop facilitation. Raiza enjoys focusing on the topics of good governance principles, organizational and leadership development, and mainstreaming gender and human rights issues. She recognizes these topics as important elements in transforming communities into ‘schools of citizenship’.
Host Organization: Heartland Alliance International
Role at Host Organization: Raiza will support the Director of Learning/Program Quality by providing research on the wider field of organizational learning, the development and dissemination of learning tools, the development and administration of HAI’s intranet-based learning landing page, and some administrative support related to HAI’s Technical Team. She will also provide some direct support to HAI’s Technical Advisors, specifically with research related to HAI’s technical areas (gender, mental health, and access to justice), and with the administration and management of HAI’s technical communities of practice.