Nathan

Wilkinson

n E-mail

nathanaelv@gmail.com

n Skype

nathanaelv

n Telephone

+264 (0)81.732.6982

Communication for Development specialist focusing on participatory multimedia with marginalized youths
and other grassroots groups. Tackles systems change by enabling high-impact self-expression across diverse media,
based on 12 years of international expertise and a world-class social psychology MSc.

Education
London School of Economics | UK | Oct 2008 to Aug 2009

MSc Health, Community and Development | Institute of Social Psychology

Dissertation (awarded distinction) | Trust, social network analysis and transforming public roles in a community
health partnership: a case study of urban sanitation in Alagoinhas, Brazil
Publications Wilkinson, N., Ang, R.P., & Goh, D.H. (2008). Online video game therapy for mental health concerns:
a review. International journal of social psychiatry, 54, 370382.
Awards
Graduate Merit Award

McGill Institute for Health and Social Policy | Montreal, Canada | Dec 2006 to Dec 2007
Research fellow (field study on Barbados labour policy and health | coursework in global health)

McGill University | Montreal, Canada | Sep 1997 to May 2001

BA (first class joint honours) Langue et littrature franaises (translation) and Russian Studies
Publications Translations and introduction in Russian Short Stories from Pushkin to Buida, Penguin Classics (2005)
Awards
Award of the Yugoslavian Ambassador in Canada, for promotion of intercultural studies (2001)

Academic scholarships and awards (all years)

Work experience
KAYEC | Windhoek, Namibia | Jan 2015 to present

Communications officer at leading Namibian community-based organization for youth empowerment

Mentoring on national youth-led campaigns (e.g. pre-hire TV advocacy for child rights law, anti-poverty rally)
Programme restructuring to promote genuine youth participation, career paths inside and outside organization
New branding and media (e.g. website, dataviz) to drive $87K in donations, allowing programme survival in 2016

Pact | Windhoek, Namibia & Pretoria, South Africa | Jun 2012 to Sep 2014

Senior communications officer to strengthen government and civil society services (multiple projects)

Superhero comic book on child rights, by and for residents of childrens homes, under Namibia Ministry of
Gender Equality & Child Welfare (participatory co-authoring of characters and script; full-colour digital artwork)
Mentoring of partner organizations (e.g. fundraising brochures, conference posters, publicity design)
Content, dataviz and design to disseminate project successes (e.g. poster series, reports)
Research including coordination of child-services Network Analysis at South Africa Dept. of Social Development

FHI 360 | Hanoi, Vietnam | Mar to Jun 2012

Communications consultant for Alive & Thrive project to improve nutrition of 16M children under two
Blogging, policy advocacy, four-day workshop on staff media skills, redesigned reports, etc.

Pact | Hanoi, Vietnam | Jun 2010 to Mar 2012

Communications specialist for $43M USAID award to strengthen civil society in national HIV response

Production and strategy for pioneering photo exhibition on lives of Vietnamese drug users, by top Vietnamese
team in collaboration with illegal drug-use community (toured nationally and abroad)
Revamping of media and knowledge mgt. (e.g. documentaries with local film grads, monthly reporting network)
Mentoring of partner organizations and interns (e.g. grassroots success stories, multimedia, branding)
Introduction of communications impact monitoring via Network Analysis, Google Analytics, media tracking

Freelance communications & copywriting | Canada/Singapore/UK | Jul 2004 to Jun 2010

Editor-in-chief managing Canada-wide journalist pool for Jobboom careers publications

Copywriter/translator/editor for European Parliament Visitor Centre, $40M Montreal Neurological
Institute donor campaign, Montreal mayoral campaign, VISA, Rio Tinto Alcan, etc.

National University of Singapore (Development Office) | Singapore | May to Aug 2006

Communications officer for Annual Giving Campaign, major donors, web redesign

Verbomoteur Communication | Montreal, Canada | Mar 2002 to Jul 2004

Writer, FrenchEnglish translator for Health Canada, Telefilm Canada, Cirque du Soleil, etc.

Other international experience

HIVAIDS Technical Working Group | Hanoi, Vietnam | Jul 2011 to Mar 2012

Co-chair of HIV & Communications subgroup (stakeholder forum on media and behaviour change)

WaterAid (Technical Support Unit) | London, UK | May to Aug 2009

Intern for report on techs used by 15 African/Asian country programs via English/French/Portuguese
liaison; trilingual brief to guide global discussion on urban strategy; water-point e-mapping manual

Partnership for Health and Humanity (YMKK) NGO | Batam, Indonesia | May to Sep 2006

Volunteer for Anti-Child Trafficking Day (brokering between Indonesian and Singaporean stakeholders)

Education for Life (EEV) community-based organization | Salvador, Brazil | Mar to Jul 2005
Volunteer arts outreach with periurban children, homeless youths

Bah community | Port-au-Prince, Haiti | Summer 1999

Office assistant

Languages
English

Native | 800 on Verbal SAT (1995), 750 on Verbal GRE (2004) | professional editor

Portuguese Excellent | Acquired while living in Brazil (periodically from 2001 to 2015) | travel writing
and painting published in Matrix (04) and World Order (06/07) magazines

French

Excellent | Acquired as a child in Quebec | 10 years of experience as French translator

Spanish

Very good | Acquired in Mexico (2003) and after, via similarity to Portuguese

Russian

Very good | Acquired in native RussianCanadian community and Russia (92, 94, 96)

Afrikaans, Literary Arabic, Bahasa, German, Mandarin, Japanese, Oshiwambo, Vietnamese

Basic

Professional skills
Training

Mentorship for strong, long-term community communication skills

Workshops for targeted skills-building (2010 to present)

English teaching in Japan (1997), Brazil (2001), Vietnam (2010 NGO training series)

Comms IT

Desktop publishing (exceptional skills with Adobe Suite, Microsoft Office, etc.)
Digital graphics (first-class photos, maps and charts, Wacom tablet illustration, video)
Web publishing (innovative dynamic content within CMS platforms)

Research

Quantitative methods (survey design and analysis, secondary data collection | SPSS)
Qualitative methods (interview and focus group design and analysis | ATLAS.ti)
Written and photo journalism (technical and general audiences | print and web)
Organizational Network Analysis (MSc, Asian and African networks | Pajek, Gephi)

Teamwork with local youths and leaders (2011 drug user exhibit, current youth advocacy)
Popular on-demand consulting on partner initiatives (web, photo books, film, TV)
Hands-on photography, video, social media and design; networking with local creatives
Interactive storytelling (interviewing, dramatic arc, Most Significant Change, etc.)

Math & stats 760 on Math GRE (2004) | Top marks in advanced social-science statistics courses

References
Nelson Prada
Director, KAYEC
nprada@kayec.org

Stephanie Posner
Former Namibia Country
Director, Pact
sposner@pactworld.org

Richard Nyberg
Development Outreach &
Communications Advisor,
USAID Vietnam
rnyberg@usaid.gov