I moved to San Francisco in 2006 after many years living in Washington (and a few African countries) working for some wonderful NGOs as both a consultant and on staff. My beat was mostly francophone Africa, and mostly in small business and NGO development. My last seven years in DC were with USAID’s Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance, where I was in charge of staff training and also supporting OFDA partners on institutional/staff development.

I went back to being a consultant once I settled in SF, and was busy and happy doing training, evaluation and curriculum development for many of the same organizations I worked with earlier. After a while that slowed, and I was lucky to be able to fully retire in 2016.

Retirement is full of volunteering: on the board of San Francisco Village (part of the senior aging-in-place movement), neighborhood and local library gardens, and historic garden restoration with the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy (I don’t have a yard like I did in DC – these are all now “my” garden spots).

Michael and I are also active in our Peace Corps cohort (Central African Republic, 1977) alumni activities. While I have gotten used to no longer working in the international development sphere, it’s always with me. As is CIE; it’s an honor to be able to support it. [1-21]

Email: b.howald@yahoo.com