Michael Kovach

Experience

• 

  Hospitality House, San Francisco

  Mar 1991 - May 1993

  Job Developer

  Managed a homeless youth job program for youth age l5 21. Responsible for the expansion of employment, material, and public resources for over 300 youth per year.• Developed private, public and local government partnerships to increase employment, skill building opportunities, and representation of homeless youth in local Community Development and Vocational Training programs.• Designed and led a life-skill, independent living and cultural adjustment program of workshops for recent Hispanic youth immigrants. Established special partnerships with community professional vocational training centers to allow workshop participants to simultaneously receive formal job training, school credit, and job referrals in computer technology, general administration, and restaurant and hotel services.• Expanded formal and non-formal education opportunities for out-of-school youth. Conducted literacy, numeracy, and high school graduation credit assessment, and coordinated work-for-credit schemes for homeless youth with the San Francisco Board of Education. Facilitated general equivalency diplomas (G.E.D.) obtainment and training.• Performed HIV/AIDS pre- and post-test counseling. Conducted assessments of youth risk behavior, safer sex and reproductive health knowledge needs during intake process, made special case management referrals, and led workshops on gender sensitivity, safer sex, and tolerance for others with regard to race, culture, and sexual identity.• Served as a Relief Group Home Residence Counselor for “Orlando House”, a transitional living program for formerly homeless youth ages 15-17. Show less

• 

  Community Educational Services of San Francisco

  May 1993 - May 1994

  Educational Counselor

  Concomitantly employed in three youth programs: Independent Living Skills (ILS), Educational Counseling Program (ECP), and the After School Learning Center. Provided educational counseling and tutoring services to students at risk for "educational failure" and independent living skills training to foster children.• Supervised the development of a computer lab for primary school children to strengthen literacy and numeracy.• Developed curriculum and course materials specific to Spanish monolingual, foster and disadvantaged children. Show less

• 

  Teach For America

  Sept 1994 - Jun 1995

  Mathematics Teacher, Computer Technology Teacher

  Nationally selected by Teach for America to teach public middle school, economically disadvantaged and at-risk Spanish-English bilingual students mathematics (Pre-Algebra and Algebra) and computer technology at I.S. 218, The Salome Urena de Henriquez School• 91% of my students passed their NYSED mathematics state test.• Led a weekly student advisory/peer support group. Organized community service projects.

• 

  Standard Chartered

  Aug 1995 - Aug 1996

  Trade Finance Support Specialist III

  • Designed sales reporting and tracking mechanisms to analyze product and regional coverage of Standard Chartered Institutional Banking clients. Prepared cross-data analysis to target the expansion of Trade Finance and Custody services to corporate, bank, and financial institution customers including Letter of Credit Reimbursements, Risk Participations, Correspondent Banking and Private Label outsourcing, and Newsflash services.• Analyzed social and political developments in international conflict areas to anticipate the Cash Management needs of relief agencies and multilateral institutions. Profiled and identified new potential Cash Management institutional clients. Marketed local and cross border payments, collections, information management, account and liquidity management services. Show less

• 

  Fordham University

  Sept 1996 - Feb 1997

  Prospect Research Specialist

  Oversaw fundraising research and strategies to augment university development plans by identifying, profiling and matching new major gift prospects and new opportunities with existing institutional, alumni, and individual donors.• Successfully obtained funding to support the construction of the Walsh Library, a 240,000 square foot library 8 times larger than its predecessor.

• 

  UNICEF

  Mar 1997 - May 1997

  Consultant, Urban Programming

  • Assessed progress in developing countries towards creating Local Plans of Action to implement the Convention on the Rights of Children with regard to urban basic service provision. Identified state decentralization typologies and determined their impact on municipal finances and capacity development needs.• Prepared and edited the report on "Africa’s Poor Urban Child" (Accra Conference, 11-13 March, 1997).

• 

  United Nations

  Jun 1997 - Sept 1997

  Department of Economic and Social Affairs Intern/Junior Economist

  • Prepared an annotated outline of leading research on state social security system models for developing countries to support debate by the Committee on Development Planning, First Working Group on Inter-generational Transfer and Social Security (Economics and Finance Branch).• Performed analyses of time-series national economic and social development indicators to support and verify classification of the list of Least Developed Countries (Economics and Finance Branch).• Researched and assessed national progress in developing countries for sustainable development following the Rio 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (National Informational Analysis Unit). Show less

• 

  UNICEF

  Jun 1998 - Aug 1998

  Consultant, Urban Programming

  • Provided research regarding the economic and social impact of globalization on children and its implications for governance practice for Cities for Children (UNICEF, 1999), a manual for urban leaders and organizations.• Identified, reviewed, and synthesized Local Non-government and Community Based Organization model programs and best practice examples for the book "Cities for Children: Children's rights, poverty and urban management" - UNICEF/Earthscan, London, 1999.• Screened entries in CSO Library to ensure appropriateness of material and consistency in terminology within framework developed by the Team (UNDP, UNFPA). Show less

• 

  Catholic Relief Services

  Jan 1999 - Jan 2000

  International Development Fellow

  Received a one-year international development fellowship in La Paz, Bolivia to supervise, monitor, and provide capacity development to two CRS micro-credit programs; conduct field visits and evaluations of CRS emergency relief efforts and rural development programs; elaborate and fund new project proposals; and help create a strategic five-year plan for CRS/Bolivia programming activities. • Designed a Civil Society Education and Strengthening project funded by USAID and CIDA to pilot methodologies for rural community self-management and local government advocacy and engagement within Bolivia’s poorest rural communities.• Managed two Village Banking projects with local NGO partners to provide microcredit, training and education services to poor urban women in La Paz and Cochabamba, Bolivia. Advised partners on vision and strategic planning, needs assessment, financial sustainability analysis, performance monitoring and evaluation, participatory programming, results-based management, staff development, and fundraising. Oversaw project closure and final impact evaluation (negotiated terms of reference, consultant selection, etc.). • Supervised CRS Emergency Relief efforts for victims made homeless by two separate events: fires in Los Guarayos and Moxos, and floods in San Julian during 1999. Provided technical assistance to program managers and field staff of local NGO implementing partners to develop and refine monitoring and evaluation systems, establish protocol for program delivery, increase relief coverage, and improve targeting. Performed field impact evaluations and accounting audits of all expenditures, and negotiated budget amendments.• Provided a historical case-study of the social impact of Structural Adjustment and Debt Relief in Bolivia to support the June 21, 1999 United States Catholic Conference response to World Bank and IMF questions posed by the HIPC Review Committee to improve the link between human development objectives and debt relief. Show less

• 

  UNICEF

  Aug 2000 - Oct 2001

  As part of UNICEF’s Gender, Partnerships and Participation Section, I helped oversee and improve the participation of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), women, and young people under 18 in the United Nations General Assembly Special Session for Children (UNGASS). Duties included:• Liaising with the UNGASS Under 18 Participation Group to ensure coherence of proposals regarding young people with general arrangements for Civil Society Organization (CSO) participation• Coordination of regional input to CSO side events, and direct assistance to the NGO Committee to prepare the scheduling of said events• Reviewing of the ECOSOC NGO list, and liaising with regional focal points to identify key NGO's of the women's movement and encourage their participation in the Special Session process• Helping to coordinate the planning, organization, and logistics of special events with selected women's NGOs at Prep Com 3 and the Special Session• Providing technical advice and support to the UNGASS accreditation team to ensure timely products of high quality, and in support of CSO participation and registration processes for the Third Prepcom Show less During a time when UNICEF's Programme Division was reforming and its former Gender, Participation, and Partnerships section was no longer funding a centralized Urban Affairs department at its headquarters, it became of critical concern that the de-centralizing of UNICEF's field program support for urban children might have negative consequences. I was hired as a consultant to identify key country offices with a high degree of involvement in urban areas, and provide analysis as to their specific areas of activities in order to identify trends, commons issues, and innovative program approaches. This research resulted in a UNICEF working paper which I authored, entitled, "Survey and Assessment of UNICEF's Recent Programme Work in Urban Areas, 1999-2000" detailing the state of UNICEF program interventions to improve the situation of marginalized urban children and provide examples of lessons learned. Show less Helped streamline the accreditation process of NGOs interested in participating in the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on Children (UNGASS) of May 8-10, 2002 and subsequent PrepComs. Responsible for the development and maintenance of the UNGASS accreditation database. Represented UNICEF in direct communications with NGOs interested in participating, fielding inquiries related to UNGASS and the PrepComs, and resolving all accreditation issues (i.e. - UNICEF policies regarding acceptance, group delegate size limits, arrival and orientation in New York, lodging, issuing of security passes for UN access, etc.) Show less

  • NGO and Child Participation Officer

    Apr 2001 - Oct 2001

  • Consultant, Urban Programming

    Dec 2000 - Mar 2001

  • NGO Participation Consultant

    Aug 2000 - Nov 2000
• 

  Save the Children International

  Nov 2001 - Jun 2002

  Project Manager for Child Participation

  Represented the Alliance’s Task Group on Participation to ensure implementation of Alliance objectives on child participation at the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on Children (UNGASS), 8-10 May, 2002. Chaired the NGO Committee on UNICEF’s Under 18 Participation Task Force (U18PTF). Lead the acquisition and coordination of special events and opportunities for Save the Children and the U18PTF.• Chaired the NGO on UNICEF’s Under-18 Participation Task Force.• Lead the coordination and prioritization of special side events hosted by Save the Children and other NGOs, and served as a main representative and spokesperson for NGOs regarding the planning and preparation of the youth-led “Children’s Forum” and its integration with formal SSoC activities. Show less

• 

  Kovach Business Consulting

  Jun 2007 - Dec 2017

  Principal

  Led and oversaw specialized employee and executive training programs, and provided writing, editing, interpretation, translation, and localization assistance in English to Brazilian companies seeking to expand commercial opportunities with foreign clients. Elaborated and revised the English content of company websites, international conference presentations, marketing materials, press releases, et Al. • Secured exclusive private consulting contracts with the executives of various large, renown, international and multinational corporations including Haliburton, Petrobras, Ambev, Wilson Sons, and more. Show less

• 

  Diversified Vocational College

  Apr 2018 - Sept 2019

  Lead Business Instructor

  Developed student technical and soft skills in Business Office Administration and Transportation, Logistics, and Technology. Authored lessons and led instruction in Computing, Basic Accounting, Customer Service, Presentation, Business Communication, Word Processing, Data management, Data Entry, Web Design, and Career Development. Conducted one-on-one student advisement, course-specific student academic remediation and student coaching/tutoring.

• 

  ICANN

  Apr 2020 - now

  Associate Project Manager