Dear Development Practitioner: Advice for the Next Generation

In this book, influential development practitioners reflect on their careers by writing letters of advice to their younger selves. Sharing their successes and failures, the challenges and barriers they have encountered, and the changes and continuities within their work, these deeply personal accounts provide an invaluable window into the world of development practice.

The authors come from nearly 20 countries. They have held a rich mix of jobs across a range of sectors and organisational types, bringing a long-term perspective to the sector’s contemporary challenges. The distinguished list includes a Nobel Peace Prize winner, senior figures in government and international organisations, those working at the frontline of humanitarian aid and civil society organisations, and those who might not even have thought of themselves as "development professionals", such as technologists and social entrepreneurs. Despite the differences, common themes emerge: the pursuit of meaningful change, the navigation of barriers, and the ongoing sense of hope.

This book will inspire those about to embark on their professional careers and remind new entrants and current development practitioners alike how much there remains to be done.

Simon Milligan is an Independent Advisor with more than 20 years of professional experience in development cooperation. As a consultant and "critical friend", he has been engaged by various governments, multilateral agencies, inter-governmental organisations, and non-governmental organisations. He has a particular interest in evaluative thinking, partnership-based approaches, and mentorship. He has a PhD in Geography from the University of Sussex, UK. Simon is an Adjunct Senior Lecturer at the University of Lund and teaches on Lund’s Masters in International Development. He lives in The Hague, Netherlands.

Lee Wilson is an organisational anthropologist who has spent the best part of the last two decades striving to understand and drive change in a diverse range of institutional settings and cultural contexts. A particular focus of his work has been on innovative approaches to capacity building and culture change. When asked what he does professionally, he will probably tell you rather glibly that he works "to put the people back in to strategy". He has worked as an advisor to national and regional government agencies, international organisations, non-governmental organisations, research centres, arts organisations, and law enforcement agencies in Australia, Asia, the Pacific, and Europe. Lee has a PhD in Social Anthropology from the University of Cambridge and is an Adjunct Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Policy Futures, University of Queensland, Australia. He is currently based in Geneva, Switzerland.