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Rowan Ossama Salem

@rowanossamasalem

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Development professional specializing in climate resilience, water governance, and project coordination.

Egypt

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What I'm looking for

I am seeking a role in which I can lead climate resilience or water governance projects, contribute to policy and donor-funded programs, and grow in program management within a collaborative, impact-driven organization.

I am a development practitioner with experience in project coordination, research, and business development across Egypt and the MENA region, focusing on climate resilience, water governance, and social vulnerability.

My work has included leading proposal development, technical reports for water governance, coordinating multi-country EU and UK Aid projects, and producing policy briefs and donor reports that inform decision-making.

I bring strong stakeholder coordination, monitoring and evaluation support, and applied research skills, with fluency in Arabic, English, and French and proficiency in MS Office, NVivo, and Mendeley.

Experience

Work history, roles, and key accomplishments

Current

Business Development & Research Associate

Current

Capacity Building International

Apr 2024 - Present (1 year 6 months)

Lead business development and research for climate and water governance proposals, producing technical reports and supporting bids for multilateral donors including UNDP and EU-funded initiatives.

Proposal Writing Technical Reporting Stakeholder Engagement Monitoring

Project Coordinator

Center for Environment & Development for the Arab Region and

Nov 2022 - Mar 2024 (1 year 4 months)

Coordinated a UK Aid resilience project across Egypt, Jordan, Palestine and Lebanon, producing inception and quarterly reports, mission reports, and ensuring project delivery against logframe and donor requirements.

Project Coordination Donor Reporting Nature Based Solutions Research Administrative Support

Project Coordinator

Sekem Development Foundation

Jun 2021 - Oct 2022 (1 year 4 months)

Managed EU-funded projects promoting social entrepreneurship and TVET incubation, tracking startup milestones, organizing capacity-building workshops and preparing donor-specific progress reports.

Project Management Monitoring & Evaluation entrepreneurship Capacity Building Reporting

Business Development & Research Associate

Capacity Building International

Oct 2020 - May 2021 (7 months)

Led business development activities and supported proposal development for climate and social vulnerability focused bids, monitoring procurement opportunities from multilateral donors.

Bid Management Climate Policy Social Vulnerability Technical Writing Proposal Development

Economic Researcher

Egyptian Regulatory Reform and Development Activity

Mar 2019 - Aug 2019 (5 months)

Researched regulatory barriers to investment, organized stakeholder consultations, reviewed legislation, and prepared policy briefs to improve Egypt's business environment and Doing Business indicators.

Policy Analysis Report Writing OECD Coordination

Intern

Amideast

Jul 2018 - Aug 2018 (1 month)

Supported the Higher Education Initiative by evaluating scholarship candidates, managing budgets for student expenses, and coordinating with universities.

Budgeting Coordination Communication

Education

Degrees, certifications, and relevant coursework

University of Sussex, Institute of Development Studies

Master of Arts, Development Studies

2020 - 2020

Activities and societies: Master's thesis on climate change adaptation, urban resilience policies and social vulnerabilities in Cairo's informal settlements.

Master of Arts in Development Studies with coursework in impact evaluation, economic perspectives on development, and poverty/vulnerability policy and programming.

The American University in Cairo

Bachelor of Arts, Political Science

Activities and societies: Bachelor's research on developmental issues in Japan; involvement in Political Science Association fundraising leadership.

Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with a concentration in International Relations and Political Economy and a minor in Economics; coursework included international law, international relations, and economic development.