James is a senior analyst with 20 years’ experience working in the humanitarian and development sectors. He collected his first master’s degree in Microelectronic Systems Engineering from the University of Manchester and started his professional career as a trainer/lecturer in IT, including teaching courses for Vietnamese refugees (a sign of things to come). He later transitioned to an IT consultant role with the international IT firm Cap Gemini, before taking a career break to work as a VSO volunteer in Nigeria where he ran the Computer Science and Engineering Dept at a technical college near Abuja.
This experience lit a desire to travel so James went back to school at the UEA to gain a second master’s degree in education and development studies. He has since spent the last 17 years working in the humanitarian field including four and half years as the head of the Global Education Cluster with Save the Children in Geneva. His assignments have taken him to Mozambique, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Palestine, the Philippines and Iraq amongst other countries and several more visits back to Nigeria. James opines that the secret to good analysis is having a good listener to talk through your ideas with. For James this is often his Romanian rescue dog Max who listens attentively during long walks through Karura forest in Nairobi where James and his wife Sonia currently reside.
