As senior research manager and director, Noel Salazar recruits, trains and manages more than 60 staff in the Devex Manila office. He also conducts and oversees research on projects funded by the ADB, World Bank, and other international development agencies.
Noel has been a development practitioner for 20 years and has experience working for both local and international non-governmental organizations. He was a member of the editorial board of one of the oldest and leading human rights organizations in the Philippines.
From 1990 to 1997, he was based in Spain and Tunisia as a member of the international staff of El Taller, an international NGO. At El Taller, Noel oversaw membership drives, administered international workshops and training courses, and coordinated publications in English, French and Spanish.
Noel also worked as a consultant for Governance and Local Democracy, a project funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development and implemented in the Philippines by Associates in Rural Development.
In this Greater Good Philippinse interview, Noel talks about international development and its crucial role in global poverty alleviation and societal development especially in the developing world. He explains the origins of international development and its shift from post-war reconstruction to modern day economic development.
Listen to the interview or click below to read whole transcript. Visit www.devex.com for more information about the company and the international development sector.
Information from this write-up is derived from Noel’s profile in the Devex.com leadership webpage.
What do you do currently?
Currently I work for a company called Devex. It’s an online company. It’s a social enterprise servicing the international development community, which consists of consulting firms that work on development projects or implement development projects around the world. These are projects supported by the World Bank, ADB, USAID and other funding organizations. These projects aim to improve the quality of life of people in the developing world.
Our online community also includes consultants who take part in the implementation of these projects. I am currently the director of the company’s office in Manila and the head of the research teams.
Who typically are you clients?
Typically the clients that we service can be categorized in to two—they are either organizations or individuals. Organizations can be companies or consulting firms that are involved in the implementation of projects in developing countries. Individuals mean you and I—an education expert, a trainor, an engineer…professionals with expertise in a specific field.
Will you give us a brief account of your career?
My background is in the non-government sector. I have been working for the most part of my career with NGOs and started out as a child counselor for children’s rehabilitation center. I have worked as a community organizer to help the plight of our fisher folks. I also worked for one of the oldest human rights organization in the Philippines as writer and communications officer. It’s a broad array of work that I did—from managing publications and media relations to running and facilitating training programs. I have also worked abroad for seven years. I lived in Spain and in Tunisia; also working for international development.
So mainly from the non-government sector in the past and then recently over the last ten years, sort of jumped the fence and went corporate but still in the field of development. I’m still sort of in touch with my roots.
Can you narrate the story of how Devex started? As far as I know it originated from a thesis, correct?
Devex started as a project at Harvard University by the president and co-founder Raj Kumar. The idea was to find ways to make “things more efficient” in the field of international development. They started conversations with consulting firms; big companies that day-in, day-out implement projects in the developing countries, whether it’s about water and sanitation in Cambodia, infrastructure projects in Peru or education initiatives in Cambodia and Africa. During the conversation they asked “How can we help?”, “What kind of improvement do you want to see when you do work with donor agencies and go after business leads in order to take part in the implementation of development projects”? They found out that certain information where very difficult to find, thus creating inefficiencies. It takes a lot of person hours to do the small things to the big things, whether it’s preparing a proposal or contacting a consultant that you would include on your final proposal to implement a project. Tracking information was very difficult before Devex. They (the companies) said, “We wish there could be a place where we can go and get all these kind of information so we can do more important stuff.”
That’s how it started. Devex provides one of the most comprehensive database of information related to lifecycle of international development projects.
Those are what the companies that we work with do, which initially began with a handful of companies, then grew to about 25 after several months. The founders knocked on doors and said “…use Devex, it’s a useful tool. You can be more efficient when you are trying to pursue business leads in international development.” Right now we have more than 300 top consulting firms based in the USA, Europe, Asia and Australia as executive members. Through our website we facilitate the tracking and searching of information for these companies.
The services we provide can be categorized in to two business lines. One is business intelligence. If you watch Bloomberg you see the numbers flashing on the screen, people talking and making analysis; that’s business information in the financial sector. When you watch Bloomberg, it tells you what’s hot, what’s not, or when to invest and where to invest. It provides you with actionable information. We’re more of less the same but within the sphere of international development. We provide that kind of information—what’s going to happen, what’s in the pipeline, what’s already being implemented, when are the projects going to be closed, therefore, when are new projects going to open.
The other segment is about recruitment. We also have a searchable database of individuals, which helps organizations in their own recruitment efforts. For example, they can find out who are the energy experts who have worked in Cambodia or gender and development experts specializing in the East European situation. If a company needs these kinds of experts, they can search our database and perhaps find the right candidate. Along with these two major streams, we have specialized services. Under recruitment, we have candidate sourcing—it’s similar to head-hunting but instead of providing a final candidate what we provide is a shortlist of eight or ten candidates who meet the specifications that the client has given us. When we submit these names as our final product, all those people are ready to assume the post.
What is the role of Devex’s Manila office in the whole organization?
This is the biggest office in terms of people.
How many offices are there?
The main headquarters is in Washington, D.C. We have an office in Barcelona and London, the purpose of which is to address the in European market. We have an office in Japan and then here in Manila. This is the second office that was established following the office in Washington, D.C. Functionally, perhaps 90 to 95 percent of the content we have on the website is generated here. The researchers are here. Our team of editors and writers are here. The website that you see is created here in the office. Our virtual sales and marketing team do their work here as well, the webinars or training sessions are conducted here on the phone virtually with a client, say, in Tanzania. It also acts as an overall support system for the logistics operation of the entire company. The other specialized services like candidate sourcing are also here. Practically, every aspect of the company’s operation, there are people here who execute each function–whether it’s about research, IT, human resources, client or account management.
How many team members are there?
I don’t have the exact number right now but I think we have 75 to 80.
How is a typical day at work to you like?
A typical day at work for me would be, of course, there’s the email—I have to respond to and monitor email messages. For me it’s a variety of items that I have to attend to. I have to manage the research teams and that in itself makes up a huge portion of my day. Since I am also the director of the office, I respond to requests or communication pertaining to overall office management—whether it’s about training new people to doing research. There are regular team meetings as well’s. Every quarter, we conduct performance reviews and I have to stay on top of that as well and provide reports to management. There’s a sundry of activities that come in as well from the global offices that I also attend to.
Your whole career, as you said earlier, is marked by non-profit involvement and social work. Is this something that you have always wanted to do?
I have a degree in social work. When I was a child I wanted to be an engineer. I entered UP as a civil engineering student but that didn’t happen. UP is very tough. Changes happened along the way and when I got into social work, it sort of paved the way for what I would eventually be doing. I think I was always good with people, working with people. I liked children so I eventually worked for a children’s rehabilitation center. From then, got involved with doing human rights work, working on campaigns for the release of political prisoners and documentation of human rights violations, developing modules for human rights education, conducting training, and going on speaking engagement to promote human rights. It was not a conscious effort, like how, for example, one decides on becoming a doctor.
I guess it was part chance, part natural assimilation. It’s a combination of those things that led me down this path and eventually I worked abroad so I got to meet many people also working in international development—from Peru to Colombia; from Cameroon to Zimbabwe; or Cambodia to Thailand. I’ve always thought that I don’t think government work is for me. I have always thought in the past that private sector is also not for me. Economics may come into play at the latter stage one’s career and one needs to be wise about the situation. In the mid to late ’90s particularly in the Philippines, international development aid for the Philippines was shrinking so the opportunities are becoming less and less in terms of getting projects or getting work with organizations that would be sustainable for long periods of time. Then I stumbled upon Devex. Fortunately, it’s corporate, but a social enterprise and still all about international development. It’s a little bit distant from working on the ground on actual projects but it is equally fulfilling to see another side of international development.
What essentially is international development and how does it work?
International development is, to put it simplistically, all about public money from rich nations given to poor nations through what we call development projects. The projects are either long term or short term initiatives focusing on specific sectors—infrastructure, education, agriculture, etc.—with the aim of improving the quality of life of people in the developing world. It’s public money from rich nations because it’s through bilateral assistance or Official Development Assistance (ODA). Crtain agencies in governments of rich nations facilitate the allocation of a portion of taxpayers’ money for use in projects in developing countries. Since there are two nations involved at least, that’s why it’s called international development.
Going back a little after World War II, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) was established. IBRD has become part of what we now refer to as the Bretton Woods (New Hampshire) institutions, and eventually under the World Bank Group. The goal then was to support (financially) the reconstruction of countries that have been ravaged by the war. What we now call a multilateral relationship entails agencies like IBRD and other lending organization, providing money either through loan or credit to support projects in poor countries. That means the government receiving that money in poor countries have to pay back that money. It’s called “multilateral” because the money might actually come from various governments like Germany, Japan, and France. So that’s essentially international development, public money from rich nations given to poor nations, aimed at economic development and reducing poverty.
Has there been a remarkedly exciting moment in your career? You mentioned earlier that you work in Tunisia and Europe.
Yes, that’s one of the high point. One colleague of mine remarked in Spanish that, “Noel you are a citizen of the world.” For me it is an extreme privilege to have been able to do that—work in Europe, Africa, the Americas, and Asia and to get to know the different kinds of people and learn about their experiences in the same domain—international development. That’s pretty exciting. When I was living abroad I work with a team of people and we were in an office that looked more like a “zoo of professionals” from all over the world—a 17-year old, really big volunteer from Hungary, a Jamaican celebrity and journalist or the Latinos from Colombia, Peru and Spain. There were the local Tunisians as well. Also Ethiopians, Canadians, Dutch, Bangladeshi… practically from all corners of the world. We were in one office, all these nationalities, working together.
What do you see is the importance of what you do now and being in the international development sector in general?
I think when you work in international development, it already says something. It connotes working, whether directly or indirectly, to address poverty in poor nations. It means that you’re working to achieve what the United Nations has set forth, for example, as part of the millennium development goals—universal primary education for all, reducing child mortality, etc., as opposed to working for example in the mining industry or the banking sector. Of course, to each his own, but for me it’s gratifying that no matter how distant or close, I still work under that umbrella of international development. That to me is important, to be connected to reducing poverty in the world.
How far are we?
Very far. I think we’re very far. It’s a complicated issue. Here in the Philippines we always talk about political will. I think that applies (globally). There is too much imbalance. There is so much greed as well. Unless we come to a point wherein…another Hiroshima or Nagakasaki comes and then we realize that, as one poster very aptly puts it “we cannot eat money”, we will continue to do things that are detrimental to the environment, that delays the progress of women, that does not respect the rights of indigenous people, that does not respect people’s rights, etc. There’s going to be plenty of sacrifices to be done. But it would be a lot worse if we don’t do things that we are doing now in international development.
What to you is the most pressing concern here in our country?
Corruption is one. Foreign debt to me is a big issue. Education is important. It’s a whole slew of things that are interconnected.
Do you have any personal advocacies?
Yes. I am a human rights advocate. I have friends who work for Freedom from Debt Coalition. But I just personally believe that if a large part of our budget does not go to paying debts but goes isntead to building schools and educating people, we would be better off, but that’s a long time. If we start doing things right at this point in time, we’re not really doing it for the next generation. We’re doing it for the generation that would come in hundred years or so, that’s how cynical I am. How many years have we been a republic? How many years, for example, have countries in Europe been a republic? That’s really a big challenge. If our government has the guts to say, “No, we won’t pay our debts. We want to build schools, we want to educate people, we want to build roads, we want to improve our agricultural production so we won’t depend on imported rice, we want to take care of our children, we want to implement better healthcare programs so that our children don’t grow up impaired and lacking necessary nutrients in their body allowing them to acquire and keep knowledge.” It’s a long process. For me, foreign debt, corruption, the environment is important, good governance is important, these are all interconnected.
What do you do during your free time?
I try to work out. I try to go to the gym every day. I run every weekend when there are fun runs, organized runs. I play basketball sometimes. I read. I do researches on the Internet. I listen to music, travel. I cook.
Where did you grow up?
I was born in Manila. I lived in “Erap-country” in San Juan.
Where exactly in San Juan?
Near Pinaglabanan.
And then we moved to San Mateo. I studied elementary and high school there. A huge part of my adult life I stayed in San Mateo as a “migrant” to that community but we’re not really from there. Then I lived abroad for seven years. I came back in 1997. I started to work for USAid as a consultant and then also worked with other organizations doing consultancies and then found Devex.
How was childhood to you like?
It was fun. The wounds, the running around, I was very much out there. I don’t think I lacked the necessary interaction with people my age. There’s that email that always circulates and says, “We would play outside and find our friends and we were fine.” I sort of identify with that. The email refers to people who were born in the ’50s and the comparison being made to the recent generation of kids confined in their sofas playing video games etc.
Who would you consider as your greatest influence and biggest mentor?
Professionally my bosses when I was working abroad. At first it was very difficult to work with him. It was my first time to work with a foreign national, a European. But then in hindsight a lot of the things that I tell my people now are the things that I learned from him. I left when I was about 24 or 25; I have people now who are younger, 22 or 23. He was one of the biggest influences in terms of doing quality work, having great tremendous work ethic, and respecting time.
What would you consider as your greatest challenge so far and how did you overcome it?
Greatest challenge so far? You often hear people talk about reinventing themselves. I don’t know if sometimes I understand that. I guess sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t. But that’s always a challenge when you come to a point when you can say that you’re really good at doing something, then would have to ask “what’s next?” That’s always a challenge. It’s always dependent on one’s ability to hurdle challenges. It’s also dependent on the circumstances…the environment. I speak Spanish and French fluently but learning it and communicating properly in those languages was a tough challenge when I was living abroad. It wasn’t a challenge here but when I was there, it was a challenge.
What can you say is your proficiency in French and Spanish?
I can read and write pretty well in Spanish. I can watch a full-length movie in Spanish and understand it without reading the subtitles. I can read books in Spanish. It’s not perfect but I can hold a conversation and attend a conference. French I am probably less fluent. When I left Tunisia it was about 80 percent. Now it’s probably about 60-65. I can speak what I read and understand them; but I can probably just get as much as 50 percent if I watched the news for example or if I watched a movie. But if it’s a one-on-one conversation with someone, I can get by.
Touching on Tunisia a little bit, when you were there did you ever see that the country would experience what they had just experience?
What I knew then, was what my boss told me, “…if Tunisia goes you can forget about the rest of the Arab world…” and that’s what’s happening. We’re seeing the changes now in that part of the world.
How long ago was this?
This was in the early ’90s.
Because Tunisia is still a Moslem country and an Arab state, by that I mean there’s a lot of restriction that you don’t find anymore in other countries in the West or in other parts of the world. There’s perhaps less freedom and I’m using it very “loosely” when comparing it for example to countries like, the Philippines. Here if we don’t like people in government, we impeach or go to the street. We have no fear. There it is very repressive regime. It’s a police state technically. The president has been there 20 years until the recent event in December last year, which triggered the uprising early this year. What I know then, if Tunisia goes, the rest of the Arab world might just crumble apart. Like the Marcos regime, like the regime in East Timor and even now in Burma. Authoritarian regimes like that feel like they’re going to be in power forever. But the regime underestimated, what we call here as “people power” and showed that history is not on the side of autocratic regimes.
What would you consider as your greatest achievement?
Being in Devex is a great achievement. Working abroad for a reputable international organization is a great achievement. I consider an achievement having known many people from many parts of the world. Perhaps it’s not even an achievement, but a luxury and a privilege that I have had the opportunity to experience. I got to know people who are really making positive changes for the world—whether it’s establishing a cooperative in Bangladesh or it’s about Palestinians working for the establishment of their own country. Knowing all these things and having real contact with real people, I think it’s a great achievement and opportunity. What happened in North Africa when I was there was that we had a program. It’s like a Masters program. We brought in people from different parts of the world to study and part of the methodology was for them to share their own experiences. It’s actually a course and it’s for three months and they lived together for three months. For several courses of three months, I was interacting with people from Mauritania, Bolivia, and Zaire so I had very direct contact. To me that’s important, that’s an achievement more than having to establish an office or leading people. And I am still in touch with these people right now. Facebook and all these social networks were able to facilitate tracking of all these people.
What role does faith play in your life?
I have faith in people. I have belief that things will get better. It’s just not happening as fast as one would hope for, as I would hope for. I think the changes that we are aspiring to, the progress we are aspiring to can happen. What’s sad or unfortunate is that I don’t think it’s going to happen in my generation or your generation or the generation after that, but it’s going to happen at least in our context. I have faith in the goodness of people but I’m also practical that… people can go bonkers sometimes. It’s balancing those beliefs I guess. I have faith in the way things should be done and there are only two ways for things to be done—the right way or the wrong way—whether it’s fixing the computer, or sweeping the floor, or writing an article, or nation-building.
What’s in store for you or Devex in the next months or next couple of years?
I was just talking to the president just last night. We want to position ourselves, Devex at least, better in terms of our business by creating more useful content, more relevant content, more viral content, meaning content that are useful and consumable by our community. We have aggregated a lot of information but we want to provide more analysis. Let’s say if someone goes to our website and wants to find out what’s happening in Kenya, we want Devex to be a place where they can in snapshot be able to provide them with what really is happening—what USAid is doing?, what is USAid doing for this particular sector? How is the fight against HIV/AIDS there? What is the level of corruption and other similar questions? We’re heading towards that.
Any last words?
We’d like more people whether they regard themselves as international development professionals or just merely professionals—doctors, engineers, teachers, lawyers—to come and visit our website. Just like any other social network or professional networking site, they can put up their CV or resume out there, get connected with people, look up projects and tell people about this initiative called Devex. By increasing the numbers in our community, that’s already helping in terms of creating efficiencies because more people means more consultants, more options for those who are seeking specific expertise to implement development projects. Having less options mean more inefficiencies. If we have a pool of a hundred engineers versus a pool of ten engineers, having a hundred is certainly better.
Our goal is to reach one million users. We have a very niche market. We have about 250,000 unique hits every month, that’s quite a lot. But if we get one million, then we would really be making our mark in our industry. So we have to do a lot of more work still in terms of reaching out and spreading the “Devex gospel.”
<End of interview>
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