Markus Thessing

About Markus Thessing

A seasoned professional with over 20 years of professional experience in the field of International Development and Program Management working with individuals, clients, governments, international organizations and civil society counterparts, as well as U.S. Government (USG) and Foreign Government Agencies. Some of these organizations include the UN, NATO, the US Department of Defense,(DoD), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the US Department of State (DOS), US Drug Administration, and Foreign Ministries of Defense officials while deploying around the world.As a Subject Matter Expert on Afghanistan developed daily election monitoring reports on the implementation of the election observing process for the 2014 Afghanistan Presidential election in adherence to the Independent Election Commission (IEC) regulation and Afghan election law. Created relevant and contextual curriculum to train participants under Civilian Expeditionary Workforce (CEW) and Ministry of Defense Advisor (MODA) programs and the State Department RS415 - Afghanistan Familiarization (FAM) field course. While working for the USAID-funded Local Governance and Community Development Program in Afghanistan, managed a budget of over $3M, where I designed, managed and implemented over 70 contracts, grants and procurements. Comprehensively monitored grant proposals and programmatic activities for non-profit organizations in Latin America and the Caribbean, while implementing anti-poverty programs such as housing and education initiatives, HIV/AIDS, food security & anti-poverty programs for vulnerable and under-represented populations.Extensive experience coordinating plans, campaigns, and programs with inter-agency counterparts as well as the Department of State to facilitate the U.S. mission to create, develop, implement, and strengthen best practices for strategic communication efforts to counter violent extremism. In addition, under the Assessment, Monitoring and Evaluation Strategic Report on Colombia, examined the efforts by the DoD to develop Institutional Defense Capabilities within the Colombian Security Forces by establishing baselines and correlating data to better examine the different levels of effort of both Defense Institutional and Capabilities of the Colombian Military. Earned a Master of Arts, in Non-Profit Management from Regis University and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, Sociology, and Human Development and Family Studies from the University of Missouri. In addition, currently possess a SECRET Security Clearance.

Experience

1. Director of Member Experience

   Becoming

   May 2023 — Present

Education

• University of Missouri-Columbia

  Bachelors of Arts and Science, Political Science, Sociology

  1997 — 1999

• Regis University

  Masters, Nonprofit Management

  2011 — 2012

Skills

• Hiv Prevention
• Program Management
• Capacity Building
• Fundraising
• International Development
• Community Development
• Strategic Planning
• Stability Operations
• Ngos
• Disaster Response