Lizah Makombore

My career has led me to work in multiple sectors and roles, but mostly in the following sectors:  Ngo,  public, private, international development sector, and recently in academia.  Having ‘development’ experience from the grassroots to the global level, I can navigate multiple governance structures with humility and agility. This experience has managed to see first-hand the impact of poverty, injustice, violence, and disasters. I’ve always found the courage to contribute positively towards transforming complex and diverse socio-nature challenges. My journey to development and ecological economics has led me to my current position as a PhD candidate and a Fellow in Leadership for the Ecozoic. Further to this, I am also a Gund Institute for the Environment at the University of Vermont, Burlington, USA.

I will include some of the following roles and projects to demonstrate my skill set and illustrate my suitability for the position.

1. I worked as a foreign direct investment analyst for the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, where I was exposed to banking regulations and learned to perform national due diligence assessments. I also sharpened my negotiation, monitoring, and evaluation skills for national projects.
2. Business Linkages Specialist for the South African International Business Linkages project, a United States Agency for International Development (USAID) project. I was involved in the grassroots development of small-scale farmers, miners, and businesses and linked them to local and international markets. In this role, I managed to understand trade rules and inequities and had firsthand experience with grassroots ‘development’.
3. I was the Project Manager for the National Business Initiative, a national NGO based in South Africa. At the NBI, I contributed to multifaceted projects at the regional and local levels in the following sectors: climate change, water sustainability, regenerative agriculture, public-private partnerships, equity and justice, and local economic development.
4. Junior Lecturer at The Independent Institute of Education in South Africa. I have spent the last 6 years of my life as a research assistant, lecturer, curriculum developer, and reviewer of assessments in Economics, Environmental Economics, and Development Finance.