November update

Dear friends and colleagues,

Happy November! I'm sending another occasional update. 

I'm about 1.5 years as an independent consultant. I'm learning a lot and mostly it's been fun and interesting. Doing my taxes was a new challenge, but otherwise I think it's been a success. Here's a little reflection on my work as a consultant.

Most of my work has been in the category of strategic analysis, policy, and advocacy strategy. I've organized a few convenings and also done a lot of research, interviews, and some directed networking. I've been involved in grant-making. I've written a bunch of papers - usually 10-20 pages providing analysis, advice, strategy recommendations. These are mostly advisory to the client and not in public domain.  

About one-quarter of my work has focused on international climate change policy, especially on loss and damage. I've done several projects related to the emergent global food crisis and agriculture development. And a big chunk of my time has been engaging in the policy and advocacy around international economic policy focused on helping low-income countries. At first, we thought the job was to facilitate a quick recovery from the pandemic. Now we see the economic pathology is growing deeper and will take a more comprehensive strategy as vulnerable countries face high inflation, rising sovereign debt, degrading balance of payments, and increasingly frequent climate change shocks. As before, my clients have been name-brand international non-profits and philanthropies.

If you follow me on social media, you'll know that I'm a big fan of feminist foreign policy and I am excited by the growing number of countries (more than 11) that have embraced the idea. Sadly, Sweden, the fore-mother of FFP has now "scrapped" their feminist foreign policy after the last election. So, I'm very pleased to be starting a new project to create a scorecard, evaluating the Biden Administration against feminist foreign policy indicators. The future is feminist.

Working from home and with a flexible schedule has given me a more time and space to pursue new interests and concerns. So, I've thrown in my hat to be a candidate for elected office: Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner (ANC) for my little slice of Washington DC. It's an unpaid position with no real legal power, but can be influential in solving local problems and building the community. In Washington DC, ANCs are a kind of micro-democracy where local issues are argued and fought. I've been campaigning vigorously, making signs, knocking on doors, and talking to hundreds of neighbors. I don't have serious political aspirations, but it's been a fun and energizing experience. The election is November 8!

In my last update, I mentioned making a conscious priority of scheduling time to talk to people, old friends and new. In 2021, I made a list and scheduled 47 of these intentional conversations. So far, in 2022, I'm up to 44 and I'm still going strong. You're probably on my list already, but let me know if you're interested in scheduling a chat. In person or on zoom. I'd love to hear what you're working on and how you're doing.