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Layla Eshow

International development practitioner with a legal background and experience in partnership agreements including practical experience in building strategic public-private partnerships with diverse global partners with strong cross-cultural interpersonal skills, steadfast passion for delivering high-quality results on time, and a meticulous eye for detail honed reviewing partnership agreements and leading business process optimization projects.

Work Experience

November 2018July 2022

International Program Director

Cufa Ltd - Australia
  • Contract management and quality assurance lead and focal point for national and international partnerships including Asian Development Bank (ADB), Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) Australia, United Nations agencies including UNDP (Myanmar), and OHCHR (Cambodia). 
  • Established and strengthened over 10 strategic partnerships with multilateral, international and national organisations, NGOs, foundations and individual partners including establishing a public-private partnership with Blackboard International B.V. for a US$1.5m tender proposal funded by ADB to introduce EdTech to four South East Asia countries achieving third place amongst eight global bidders.
  • Led and successfully obtained accreditation as an NGO development partner of the Australian NGO Cooperation Program providing AUD$2.5m in funding across five years demonstrating a high standard in international INGO best practices, legal compliance and partnership due diligence. 
  • Led systematic due diligence processes across four business areas including analysing strategic project partners, preparing tender and fundraising proposals, analysing financial reports, and developing and reviewing memos, briefs and reports for senior management and national and international funding partners.
  • Led policy and business process improvements by recommending, consulting and implementing corrections maximizing operational efficiencies, legal compliance, and international best practice.
  • Developed and delivered staff training on such topics as child protection and preventing sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment, and developed and regularly updated tools, guidance and templates such as standard partnership memorandum of understanding (MOU) template.
  • Led all donor reporting submitting comprehensive project reports including carrying out rigorous due diligence, in-depth data analysis and articulating findings and recommendations.
  • Led project implementation including on-going monitoring against project deliverables, timeframes and budget in collaboration with three in-country teams in Cambodia, Myanmar and the Kyrgyz Republic with over 30 staff members ensuring high-quality project implementation across multiple projects simultaneously with a total project budget of over AUD$1m.
May 2018October 2018

Policy and Research Officer

NSW Education - Australia

Carried out evidence-based research informing NSW Curriculum Reforms embedding 21 century skills by synthesizing research from multiple and varied sources, and articulating findings and making recommendations for endorsement by senior management.

May 2017September 2017

Senior Research Officer

Safework NSW - Australia

Delivered a dynamic research report informing a six-year strategy aimed at improving work health and safety (WHS) outcomes for migrant workers and workers from culturally and linguistically diverse communities in NSW by synthesizing a high-volume of international literature across various sources and articulating findings and recommendations into a clear and concise research report.

May 2016February 2017

Research Officer

NSW Family and Community Services - Australia

Successfully influenced senior management to adopt proposed organisation-wide representation targets ensuring proportional representation was maintained post-structural reforms.

August 2014November 2015

Project Officer

NSW Fair Trading - Australia
August 2013August 2014

Customer Services Officer

NSW Fair Trading - Australia
  • Processed consumer complaints facilitating consumers and traders to come to agreed outcomes within Australian Consumer Law.
  • Accomplished speaker on consumer protection issues to various audiences including vulnerable community groups such as recently resettled refugees and new speakers of English.
May 2008June 2012

Business Analyst

Immigration New Zealand
  • Led end-to-end business process optimization projects recommending enhancements to operational policies and processes, and corresponding technology platforms and training maximizing efficiencies and compliance by undertaking thorough research and analysis documented in clear and concise business design documents with articulate findings and recommendations facilitating decision-making by senior management and legal office.
  • Gained strong analytical skills and demonstrated attention to detail applying systems thinking and process mapping for global operations with multi-end-users by developing, reviewing, analysing and correcting complex documents including business design documents, legal agreements, legislation, operational policy, IT business requirements, ministerial reports, and policy papers.
  • Gained rapport and commended for developing and maintaining excellent relationships with internal and external stakeholders across varying levels of seniority including Legal Office, Business Units, Operational Managers, other government agencies, industry representatives and NZ business owners by delivering training, speaking at conferences and liaison events.
  • Led digitalization of business processes by consulting Business Units and Legal Office and collaborating with IT colleagues to improve and effectively translate operational business needs and compliance/legislative frameworks into streamlined digital processes.
  • Worked with Information Management Unit to obtain relevant data to monitor performance and compliance of Business Units against operational policies and processes.

Education

20132017

Master of Law and International Development

The University of Sydney
  • 80% grade point average across seven units including international human rights, law, justice and development, and international humanitarian law.
  • International Refugee Law Research Paper recommended for publication for its original analysis, strong understanding of key issues and high-quality research.
  • Achieved High Distinction for International Humanitarian Law examining gender-based sexual violence in armed conflict.
  • Achieved High Distinction for Gender Inequality and Development for research paper examining the power the role of law can play to increase the compulsory schooling age and its impact to shift social norms and practices encouraging a greater number of young women to complete secondary school education.
  • Nepal In-Country Field Study examined the intricacies, complexities and interconnectedness of the process of development, law and human rights, and how it can affect and impact economic, social, civil and political rights, and state development.
20102011

Admitted to the High Court of New Zealand as a Barrister and Solicitor

High Court of New Zealand

First person of Assyrian ancestry admitted to the High Court of New Zealand

Professional Development

2 June 20163 June 2016

Capacity Development Across Cultures Course

Red Cross Australia

Gained strong understanding of the significance and impact of intercultural communication by deepening understanding of the role of cultural norms, values and practices play in intercultural communication and trust building, and how to work in partnership with people from different cultural backgrounds to form successful partnerships and/or successfully implement cross-cultural capacity development projects.

1 February 20119 February 2011

Information Mapping Workshop

Tactics

Significantly improved structured writing skills through in-depth examination of how to structure process and procedure documents such as user guides, training materials and knowledge bases applying principles of structured writing such as analysing the purpose and need of documentation, organizing information to meet audience needs, and presenting content based on information type.

LANGUAGES

  • English - Fluent/Native.
  • Spanish - Basic conversational, currently progressing via immersion and intend to formally study.
  • Arabic - Basic understanding with good vocabulary.
  • Assyrian - Native/Mother Tongue.