Program Assistant Administrative Specialist
Resume:
ISKENDER USUPBAEV
****@*******.***
Jersey City, NJ
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Abt Associates, Rockville, MD, May 2022 – April 2023
Project Management Analyst, International Development Division
Managed the LHSS Afghanistan startup and implementation activities
Developed job descriptions for local country national (LCN) in Afghanistan through an EOR
Developed 7 RFPs for local and regional grantees and partners such as Banyan Global, Avenir and TRG
Procured medical equipment for grantees, including office equipment under the regulations of USAID
Led technical reviews of USAID project deliverables and tracked project risks
Formulated the concept of security for the LHSS Afghanistan project based on the USAID requirements
Almaty Management University (AlmaU), Almaty, Kazakhstan, Aug 2019 – Aug 2021
Head of Business Incubator, School of Entrepreneurship & Innovation (SEI)
Developed viability and scale-up strategies for student led start-up companies
Created an incubator program and raised funding from corporations for 19 start-ups
Coordinated audit and compliance reports for assessing investment risk
Analyzed marketing data collected using Google Ads and predicted trends to follow
Interfaced with corporate stakeholders to find areas of mutual benefit and opportunities for financing
Coordinated SGE focused startup program to coach young adults on ideation and business formation
Project Manager, School of Entrepreneurship & Innovation (SEI)
Was a liaison between AlmaU and Babson College on the coordination of the Global Student Challenge (GSC)
Conducted workshops on SDGs, sustainability for students’ ideation and business concept formation
Coordinated over 538 teams in total, 3 teams won the 1st place
Facilitated Creative Spark program funded by the British Council to fund and coach start-up founders
Monitored and evaluated the project (M&E Report)
Developed a grant proposal for UNDP for an incubator program in Uzbekistan, and executed the project
Executed the project, produced quarterly reports on startup, implementation, and close-out phases
Trained 50 Afghan women in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan in business management skills
Managed budget of $50,000 and reported finances for incubator programs
Regional Environmental Centre for Central Asia (CAREC), Almaty, Kazakhstan, March 2019 – August 2019
Administrative Specialist, Energy Department, Climate Adaptation and Mitigation Program for Aral Sea Basin
Oversaw contracts and payments for contractors, experts, vendors, and suppliers
Developed 27 ToRs for domestic, international experts, and technical experts
Co-organized 11 climate change in Central Asia workshops during Central Asia Climate Change Conference
Led communication with representatives of INGOs, government officials from 5 Central Asian governments
Organized agenda, discussions, concept notes for water crisis, CO2 emissions, sequestration in CA countries
Organized travel, meetings, discussions, and roundtables for IPCC and World Bank (Donor) at CAREC
International Alert, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, January 2018 - August 2018
Intern, Program Assistant, Democracy and Religion – EU funded project (EUR 800,000)
Monitored Young Researchers (YR) Program, kept track of monitoring indicators in IA M&E System
Developed proposals for the US Government, Norwegian Peace Fund, UN, and Swiss Embassy
Fundraised CHF200,000 for the PVE intervention in Osh region
Collected necessary documents for project proposals
Supported to organization of the conferences and workshops or research studies
Managed and undertook Finance-related activities in line with local and International Alert’s regulations
EDUCATION
Cornell University, Ithaca, USA, Aug 2021 – May 2022
Master of Professional Studies in International Development
Dean’s List, GPA 3.97
KIMEP University, Almaty, Kazakhstan, Aug 2018 – Feb 2020
MA in International Relations
President’s List, GPA 3.92
PUBLICATIONS
Digital Censorship in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan: Comparative Analysis, 2019
Youth Entrepreneurship in Central Asia: Case of Kazakhstan, 2019
Ecosystem of Student Entrepreneurship Case Study Report, 2020
Impact Assessment of the Ecosystem of Student Entrepreneurship: Quantitative Analysis, 2021
ACADEMIC PROJECTS
Comparative Emerging Market Analysis for Cornell Emerging Markets Institute, 2021
Nonprofit Management and Transparency of the International Aid, 2021
Carbon Sequestration through Climate Investment in Forests and Rangelands in Kyrgyzstan, 2022
Impact Assessment: Quantitative Case of UNICEF in Uganda, 2022
Ithaca New Green Deal: Environmental Justice Community, 2022
Policy Brief on the conceptualization of an environmentally inclusive community in Ithaca, NY, 2022
CONFERENCES AND TRAINING
UNDP Monitoring and Evaluation for SME and SDG-aligned Initiatives training, Almaty, 2018
UNEP Environmental Impact Assessment Training, Almaty, 2019
Regional Peace Conference for Peacebuilding organizations in Kyrgyzstan, Bishkek, 2019
OSCE Youth Leadership Summit, Dushanbe, 2019
U.S. DRL Proposal Writing Conference, Washington DC, 2020
Harvard Economics for Managers training, Cambridge, MA, 2020
University of Pennsylvania Customer Analytics training, Philadelphia, PA, 2023
HONORS
KIMEP University Full Scholarship for $15,000 2020
ProKG EduGrant Recipient 2021
Erasmus Mundus CEA 2 grant for 24,000 Euro 2021
AlmaU internal Innovative Leader Competition Winner 2021
Representative of the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem project in Prague, Winner 2021
WYSE International Program for Social Impact Finalist 2022
COMPETENCIES
Python (matplotlib), Stata17, Tableau, Power Bi, SQL, R
Fluent in English, Russian, Italian, French.
Lived in US, Bulgaria, France, Italy, and Kazakhstan
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