Mike Bowles

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

SKILLS

ABOUT MIKE BOWLES

Specialist in economic inclusion in Central and South Asia, East Africa and MENA regions. Expertise in strategy, digital transformation, program and project management, green growth, entrepreneurship, small business growth, impact investing, access to finance, sustainable rural supply chains, poverty reduction, as well as youth employability in the future of work. Rich experience designing and managing large scale multi-country economic programs, including accountability for program design, quality, effective and efficient operations, outcomes, learning, partnerships and compliance. Led project design, grant management, implementation, assessments and close-out processes for leading donors in the economic domain, including DFID, EC, GAC, SDC and USAID, worth well over $100 million. Extensive experience leading program review and strategy workshops as well as trainings on a range of technical and development subjects, such as gender-inclusive market systems development, value chain development, youth entrepreneurship and employability, human centered design, theory of change, and results based management for effective performance measurement framework design. Provide ongoing mentorship to senior managers within AKF programs in technical and management spheres, including as an Ally within AKF\'s global Women\'s Leadership program. Since 2015, have led the design, setup and oversight of Accelerate Prosperity, a business accelerator focused on rural entrepreneurship in Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Co-leading AKF\'s global Future of Work initiative. Coordinating AKF\'s Central Asia Poverty initiative using asset creation to overcome spatial poverty. Technical lead for AKF\'s humanitarian and economic recovery efforts in Syria and Afghanistan. And globally, helping transform AKF\'s work and enterprise portfolios to drive green growth, including green jobs and a more sustainable and circular economy. Volunteer with the Enterprise Development and Microfinance (EDM) Journal as an Advisory Committee member, including article reviews with a focus on startups, entrepreneurship and Central Asia.