Advisory

Working between the institutions and the ground

I advise organizations working in Somalia and the Horn of Africa, and Canadian organizations delivering settlement and employment services to newcomers. Two decades in both systems, most of it spent where the policy meets the people it was written for.

I have sat on both sides of the table: as a minister receiving delegations, and as a program manager delivering services on a municipal grant. Most of the failure I have watched in both systems comes from a translation problem that is not linguistic. Donors and communities describe the same situation in terms that do not map onto each other. That gap is where I work.

Somalia and the Horn of Africa

For UN agencies, international NGOs, donors, research institutions, and commercial organizations operating in or entering Somalia.

  • Political economy and authority mapping: who actually holds decision-making power in a given region, and whose agreement a program needs in order to last
  • Government and ministry engagement, including sequencing, protocol, and a realistic read on what a regional administration can and cannot commit to
  • Context and risk assessment across the SSC territories, the Northeast State, and contested areas
  • Program and proposal review: whether a design will hold up against conditions on the ground
  • Localization strategy that goes past consultation into actual transfer of decision-making

Humanitarian response and disaster management

  • Response planning and donor coordination
  • Preparedness and disaster management frameworks
  • Appeal and proposal review
  • Post-response assessment and lessons capture

Canadian settlement and employment services

For settlement agencies, employment services providers, school boards, and funders.

  • Program design for IRCC, provincial, and municipal funding streams
  • Grant proposal development and review
  • Service delivery models for school-based settlement and employment programs
  • Team structure, supervision models, and frontline staff support

Also available for conference panels, guest lectures, board briefings, and commissioned written analysis.

Engagements

How the work is usually shaped

Briefing call

A single 30-minute session on a specific question, with a short written summary afterward.

Written assessment

A focused piece of analysis, delivered in one to two weeks.

Retained advisory

Ongoing access for a program or country team, monthly.

Speaking

Panels, lectures, and briefings, in person or remote.

Rates on request.

Background

Former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, and Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, for the Regional Government of Northeast Somalia. Currently Senior Advisor to the Ministry of Energy and Water Resources.

Previously Manager of Employment Services at CultureLink in Toronto, leading school-based settlement and employment teams across programs funded by IRCC, the Government of Ontario, the Ontario Trillium Foundation, and the City of Toronto, and securing more than $2 million in grant funding. Before that, fourteen years coordinating school-based settlement programs for newcomer families across the city.

BA (Honours), Public Policy and Canadian Public Administration, Toronto Metropolitan University. I work in Somali, Arabic, and English.

Full experience →

Contact

Start a conversation

Tell me the question you are trying to answer and the timeline you are working against. If I am not the right person for it, I will say so and point you toward someone who is.

Book a call cabdi.yousuf@gmail.com LinkedIn