FRANK CHARLES KASONGA

Work History

Executive Director

Mudzi Connect

01.2024 - Current

Manage day-to-day operations for Mudzi Connect including program strategy development, program design and development, implementation, and other technical support services
In partnership with the Director of Programs, create monthly and annual work plans that are aligned with the organization’s goals and objectives
Ensure compliance with donor terms and conditions, policies, and procedures
Ensure timely achievement of project deliverables and project accountability
Plan and oversee day to day program implementation and administrative activities of the initiative
Nurture existing partnerships and grow Mudzi Connect’s network of strategic partners in the country
Build a network of grassroots organizations and leaders and create a culture of learning, collaboration, and capacity development
Oversee and coordinate local staff/consultants for the effective monitoring and evaluation of the initiative to enable learning and inform decision-making
Create and monitor sub-grantee agreements in accordance with program objectives and donor guidelines
Collect relevant data required for compliance reporting and coordinate the preparation and submission of technical reports
Track grants and program budgets, assist in preparation and submission of amendments, award extensions, and other required reports
Manage all communications and media related to the initiative.

Country Director

World Connect Inc

01.2018 - 01.2023

Overseeing the programmatic, financial, and administrative components of a three-year USAID funded grant initiative in Malawi
Working in close collaboration with World Connect International staff to seed and support grassroots development initiatives in Malawi and Ghana
Manage implementation and achieve key programming milestones/Results, as well as with the World Connect headquarters on the successful technical administration of the award and compliance with federal rules and regulations
MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES:
Work and manage Malawi board affairs to the best of ability ensuring all policy requirements
Working with the FAO to manage finances of the organization, ensure the local audit is completed, recruit Finance and Administration officer, and further develop all systems needed for effective funds management; prepare for replication of financial management systems to other WC country entities
Support Director of Programs and HQ in regional/affiliate strategy development and implementation, including advising Rhoda on the formalization and growth of the Rwanda entity and readying additional countries for scale (Ghana, Uganda, Senegal, etc.)
Lead and oversee all aspects of partnerships with institutional donors as needed, including but not limited to:
The Mott Foundation-shaping the community foundations practice of WC Malawi and engaging with the donor on all aspects of the relationship and reporting
The Hilton Foundation, ensuring all activities leading to development of final report of the Hilton study are completed and full participation in research dissemination
Successfully oversee the launch, administration, and management of grants in Malawi, Ghana, and to a supervisory extent Nigeria, in line with approved budget
Lead and mentor the team to provide ongoing coaching and support to all projects in Malawi, Ghana and Nigeria to ensure successful implementation and sustainability
Support the organization’s efforts to design and manage internal (amongst the team) and external (amongst our partners) cross-country collaborations
Oversee and conduct site visits in Malawi; ensure quality control of Site Visit Reports across Malawi, Ghana, and Nigeria
Review and refine the Malawi Portfolio Study categorization document to ensure detailed analysis and information availability by the Q1 of 2023
Lead development and finalization of Ghana Portfolio Study categorization by June 2023
Lead the coaching and supporting of Vanessa under Nigeria program to ensure she reaches the level of complete system and programming understanding to be independent
Provide supervisory services to Program staff in all areas of their work
This including coaching, on job training and day to day guidance on priority work areas, ensuring proper management of our systems (i.e
Box, tracker and dashboard) to ensure accuracy of information, conducting and recording performance reviews, etc
Collaborate with the DOP throughout the year to streamline and improve our grant management systems and prepare them further for scale.

Grants and Project Management Specialist

American Embassy

01.2012 - 01.2020

Designing of programs (education, health and other sectors) and writing of project proposals, and project reports
Overseeing the implementation of all projects for empowering girls in education (infrastructure development, sponsorship, scholarship and grants administration)
HIV/AIDS programs, gender-based violence projects etc
From design to closeout
Logs in and categorize proposals and scholarship applications in preparation for review by the respective Technical Working Groups
Helps in conducting review for all projects and Applications for the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) program submitted to embassy
Assess the organizational capacity and status of individual student’s applicants who receive concurrence from the technical through pre-selection site visits and due diligence
Prepare written reports summarizing the Self Help, USADF, and PEPFAR proposals for the Committee's review
Analyze the Self-Help, USADF, PEPFAR, S/GWI, Julia Taft Migration, and Democracy, Labor and Human Rights grant proposals, individual scholarship applications for soundness, feasibility, and potential impact and makes both oral and written reports and recommendations to the selection committee
Prepare Grant Agreements and Federal Assistance Awards (DS-1909) cooperative agreements, Individual Award contracts, scholarship agreements and get clearance of the Public Affairs Section (PAS)
Manages activity financial status by: (a) monitoring the financial status of the award (organization and individuals) to ensure that the level of funding is the minimum necessary to ensure the grantee ability to perform; (b) estimate accruals on a quarterly basis and assure that grantee is meeting expenditure projections; (c) initiate requests to the Finance Office to de-obligate funds, if deemed necessary, especially prior to close out; and (d) administratively approve or disapprove all vouchers submitted by the grantee
Coordinating knowledge sharing and strategic learning efforts to speed adoption of new learning and to replicate successes and lessons learnt and bring them to scale; tracking performance of students on scholarship and grants, and documenting issues for learning
Organizing organizational trainings, preparing training materials, evaluating trainings and compiling training reports
Building the capacity of sub-Grantees through trainings and assessments
Monitors the progress of contractors/grantees/students in achieving the objectives of the Scope of Work/Program Description, verifying that activities being funded by the mission conform to the terms and conditions of the award;
Recommends in writing to the Contracting/Grants Officer any changes required in the Scope of Work/Program description and/or technical provisions of the award with justification for the proposed actions
Lead the development of high performing teams while in the process training team members to different areas including proposal development as part of their capacity building drive
Prepare periodic reports for USAID/Washington on the status of all projects, including the end-of-the-fiscal year report for all funding instruments, and semi-annual and annual reports for PEFPAR
Organize signing ceremonies or other event to recognize current year grant recipients, and distribute the signed contract documents to all relevant offices and recipients
Prepare administrative approvals, advance/liquidation vouchers, de-obligation letters, and receiving reports for all projects
Monitor the use of the funds, and prepare all necessary accounting reports
Compile project closeout documentation/checklist and communicate project closing out to partners
Act as a capacity building hub for grantees and staff responsible for grants management.

Program Manager

Federation of Disability Organizations in Malawi

01.2010 - 01.2011

Disability Organizations in Malawi (, Designing of programs and writing of project proposals for inclusive education, scholarships for children with disabilities, HIH/AIDS and many more
Drafting request for Proposals from Disabled Peoples Organizations (DPO) and reviewing them
Supporting DPOs with grant reviews, monitoring and capacity development in implementing & reporting
Implementing micro finance activities such as village savings and loan group formation, training & loan management
Development of training materials i.e
In inclusive education, empowering girls, human rights, HIV and AIDS, gender, and advocacy
General capacity building in strategic planning, project implementation and compliance
Formulation of action plans, monitoring tools and monitoring of project activities
Supervising and on job training of field officers in various subjects
Budgeting and crosschecking of liquidated projects
Preparation of technical reports
Developing monitoring and evaluation tools and conducting the same in different projects.

Program Officer

Center for Alt for Victimized Women and Children

Designing of programs and writing of project proposals for different projects
Managing water related programs and activities for Chikwawa
These included development of materials and training water committees
Developing training materials for early childhood education, inclusive education, HIV and AIDS, Gender, Gender Based Violence, Human Rights and undertaking the trainings with various groups
Networking and supervising contractors of different water technologies
Networking with players and stakeholders at District level
Formulation of action plans, monitoring tools and monitoring of project activities
Supervising and on job training of field officers
Budgeting and crosschecking of liquidated accounts and approval of accounts
Project monitoring and reporting to ensure grants compliance with donors.

Summary

Overview

Work History

Executive Director

Country Director

Grants and Project Management Specialist

Program Manager

Program Officer

Education

Master of Science - Transformative Community Development

Bachelor of Science - Rural And Community Development

Bachelor of Science Degree - Rural and Community Development

Certificate in Law (Credit) Certificate in Marketing. Certificate in international human rights law Malawi School Certificate of Education and motor vehicle driving license - undefined

Certification

Timeline

Skills

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