Melissa Downs

Experience

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  The World Bank

  Mar 2000 - Aug 2000

  Student Intern, Office of the East Asia Pacific Vice President

  • Provided direct support to the Vice President for the East Asia & Pacific region.• Researched and gathered data for corporate presentations; scheduled meetings; arranged executive travel; drafted official correspondence; and maintained daily news media database.

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  Michaels Arts and Crafts

  Aug 2001 - Jun 2003

  Front-end Supervisor

  • Managed customer service. Trained new employees, accounted for and distributed large sums of cash, and created positive sales and customer relations environment to enhance future sales; consistently exceeded corporate expectations as reflected in multiple pay raises and awards.

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  The World Bank

  Dec 2003 - Sept 2006

  Junior Professional Associate, East Asia Pacific Infrastructure Department

  • Managed multiple components of the Second Ulaanbaatar Services Improvement Project working closely with the Task Team Leader and project team. Collected and summarized data, tracked project timelines and milestones, managed associated grant activities, ensured compliance with World Bank safeguard policies and best practices, wrote numerous project reports and official correspondence, and provided quarterly project status reports to Mongolian government officials. • Assessed the World Bank’s Third Urban Poverty Project using development indicators and interviews of the communities involved; resulting report was to be used by the government of Indonesia to show positive accomplishments of community-based organizations on the outskirts of Jakarta. • Extensively researched and wrote a transport infrastructure needs assessment of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. • Served as a member of the Infrastructure Policy Team, responsible for managing the department’s knowledge management portfolio. Monitored and reported on the department’s non-lending regional infrastructure projects, ensuring that project milestones, budgets and objectives were on track. • Supported the production of a number of country and regional assessment reports, including Connecting East Asia: A New Framework for Infrastructure. Gathered data from the field for a statistical annex for the aforementioned report. • Managed all aspects of planning and logistics for a 120-person departmental retreat in Bangkok, Thailand. Performance was recognized by management with a major monetary award.• Provided critical support to the Management Advisory Team, responsible for providing strategic and operational counsel to infrastructure sector leaders. Show less

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  FHI 360

  Jan 2007 - Oct 2018

  • Managed multiple corporate-level strategic projects in collaboration with executive sponsors and cross-organizational project teams.- Led a project to define a standardized approach for managing organizational records, with an emphasis on field-based record requirements. Ensured continued compliance per legal requirements by facilitating updates to FHI 360’s record retention policy. Oversaw the development and roll-out of global records management systems and processes in FHI 360’s US and field offices. - Integrated three functional areas (Business Development, Knowledge Services, and Communications) by managing a $2.5 million portfolio of 16 projects (as part of post-acquisition integration work).- Ensured effective communication through regular progress reports to Executive leaders, stakeholder presentations, and sharing information across multiple teams. - Achieved consistency by developing standardized tools and resources for CPM-supported projects. • Ensured the quality of over 800 corporate directive documents (policies, standard operating procedures, work instructions, and associated appendices). Designed and continually improved document management workflows and processes to maintain a Part 11 compliant enterprise document management system. Provided day-to-day supervision and guidance to a Document Coordinator. • Managed, monitored, and reported on financials for FHI 360's Chief Executive Officer, the FHI 360 Board of Directors, and other executive leaders. • Supported organizational adoption of project management methodology through the facilitation of a project management community of practice and certification trainings. Show less • Managed the Strategic Development and Communications (SDC) Core team responsible for supporting business development and communications operations in a highly complex global development organization. Trained, oversaw, mentored and led a team of two Senior Administrative Assistants, two Business Development Assistants, two Communications Assistants, temporary staff, and interns.• Developed and provided full oversight to SDC’s operational, corporate, and special initiative budgets. Created monthly financial reports, produced mid-year forecasts and year-end spending analyses, proposed recommendations for cost savings, and systematically allocated funds across departments. • Designed and implemented essential workflow processes to increase efficiencies and ensure the successful operational performance of SDC. Continually improved upon and adapted these systems to serve SDC’s evolving needs and scaled them to accommodate growth.• Led and supported cross-organizational special projects. Past projects included developing a tool for monitoring and measuring organizational success, conducting landscape analyses for expanding into other areas of development, proposing alternative partnership models, and developing back-end fundraising systems. • Developed high-level presentations for the Chief Strategy Officer to use when reporting on various initiatives to FHI 360 leadership, the Board or the FHI 360 Foundation Board. Show less

  • Project Manager, Corporate Project Management Office

    Oct 2011 - Oct 2018

  • Manager, Strategic Development & Communications

    Jan 2007 - Sept 2011
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  Fur-Get Me Not

  May 2008 - Aug 2010

  Part-time Pet Sitter
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  The Nature Conservancy

  Oct 2018 - now

  Associate Director, Strategy and Project Management, Global Development