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John-Paul Chandonia

Permanent Address (in U.S.): 948 Oak Street S.W., Atlanta, Georgia 30310 404-755-1595 jeepay@usa.net

Objective: Project Planning, Management & Implementation for Inner-City or International Development

Employment Experience:

2000 - U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer, Bénin, West Africa, in Small Business and NGO Development program

1997 Assigned to Caritas Bénin for primary project, writing and administering the "Projet de Réhabilitation," a 3-year, 12-village infrastructural and income-generating project with a budget of $208,000 serving residents of an area prone to cyclic flooding, financed by Catholic Relief Services (CRS) Bénin, Secours Catholique France, the U.S. Embassy to Bénin, and Caritas Bénin. Extended service to finish project. Responsibilities included:
  • Writing project document and budget using results of a needs assessment study, seeking approval of project through CRS technical commissions, and seeking financing for project from a variety of donors;
  • Creating and helping to train village-level project management committees and training parish-level Caritas volunteers with a wide variety of ethnic, language, and educational backgrounds;
  • Supervising bidding process and hiring/managing private-sector contractors and consultants;
  • Preparing budgets and reports (financial and narrative) for a diverse set of donors;
  • Mediating conflicts among villagers, contractors, Caritas parish-level organizations, and other stakeholders;
  • Traveling at least 2 days/week in the field for monitoring/troubleshooting purposes;
  • Training host-country counterparts at Caritas Bénin in skills of project design and management; and
  • Working full-time in a French-speaking office environment.

1996-7 HTML Assistant, Defenders of Wildlife, Washington D.C.(telecommuted during school year, on site summers)

  • Designed pages for the Defenders World Wide Web (http:\\www.defenders.org\) site using HTML, simple Java scripts, and a wide variety of graphics, scanning, and other software; and
  • Assisted with other network managerial tasks, including hardware and software installation and maintenance.

1994-5 Research Intern, International Personnel Management Association, Alexandria, VA

  • Interviewed human resource professionals on salient issues in personnel management; and
  • Compiled research into personnel practices handbooks for distribution to member organizations.

1992 Assistant to the Desk Officer, U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of Export Promotion / Africa

  • Helped re-write investment manual titled: Overseas Business Report: Investing in Ghana; and
  • Researched and answered questions of U.S. investors to Ghana and Nigeria.

Education:

1997 - Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, Department of Urban and Regional Planning

1995 Master’s of Planning, with concentration in Development Planning with U.S. Peace Corps Master’s Internationalist Program, College Teaching Fellowship recipient, G.P.A.: 3.94 (1st in class)
  • Helped research employment patterns in FL nursing homes 15 hrs/week for grant, 1995-96;
  • Worked 20 hrs/week as departmental computer assistant 1996-97, troubleshooting, maintaining and upgrading computer hardware and software and designing departmental web site;
  • Performed Studio Research for Capstone Project in Belize, Central America, researching the feasibility of an income-generating aquaculture project for a Mayan village with a team of 7 students.

1995 - Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. Edmund Walsh School of Foreign Service

1991 Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service with concentration in Science and Technology in International Affairs, John Carroll Scholarship winner; Atlanta Mayor’s Scholarship winner; G.P.A.: 3.67
  • Spent junior year abroad (1993-4) at Université Cheikh Anta Diop in Dakar,Senegal (West Africa): completed 6-credit Wolof language program at Centre Baobab training center and a regular university course load.

Practical Abilities:

Language: French fluency (tested as advanced high in December 1997) for conversation and business

Analytical Skills: Planning analysis skills for both developing world and U.S. contexts, including population / demographic analysis; economic analysis; survey design, implementation and interpretation; environmental analysis

Computer Skills: Computer programming and literacy including use of word processing, statistical, database and spreadsheet programs, Internet literacy, and HTML programming skills

Other: Demonstrated ability to cope with different cultures and live at varying levels of material well-being

 

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