Maria del Pilar Domingo Vargas


: May 19, 2020


Looking for Partnership Looking for Extra EU Funds
About Me

International Partnerships Expert with over 10 years’ experience leading on the engagement, acquisition and strengthening of donors relationships in Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), the Americas and Asia, including with multilateral organisations and banks, intergovernmental bodies, private sector, foundations and CSOs. Currently manages over 15 active partnerships, over 20 donors adding up to approximately 40 million Euros in 14 countries. Successful donor engagement includes multi-stakeholder partnerships, one-off contributions, specific technical and infrastructure support, knowledge exchange and long-term partnerships.

Human Rights and Governance Specialist with technical experience designing, leading and implementing rights-based approach (RBA) programming in the areas of child protection, gender equality, food and nutrition security and community development. Developed and pioneered a Human Rights Strategy in 14 field offices; created and defined objectives; developed instructional tools and materials; conducted training on RBA to project staff and fundraising teams. Areas of expertise also include education, health, disability and inclusion.

Results-based Programme Management; provide technical assistance to end-to-end programme cycle, from strategic planning, setting benchmarks and priorities, project design, financial planning and management, to implementation, evaluation, and reporting. Proven value addition, coherence and synergy creation to programme planning and design processes providing viable recommendations on project implementation, alternative approaches and optimal utilisation of resources.  

Leadership: Held increasingly progressive roles as a Project Coordinator, Grants Administrator and Project Officer. Ensures efficiency and consistency in handling operational and administrative functions including staff management, budget and quality control and reporting. Simultaneously managed diverse, field-based cross-cultural teams including national and international consultants to ensure the organisation targets were met.

People Management and Capacity Building. Provided technical leadership in enhancing capacities of 20 civil society counterparts, and up to 50 staff members in RBA, Logical Framework, fundraising strategies, donor engagement and partnership development. Equipped with longstanding experience in designing training and instructional modules (IEC materials, manuals, ); Designed and conducted Training-of-Trainers (ToT) activities within multiple training sites.

Expertise in Fundraising Strategies, Proposal Writing and Grants Management. Successfully developed proposals and won funding/grants from multiple donors including DFID, UNHCR, UNICEF, UNDP, AfDB, Open Society Foundations and USAID as well as corporate partners and foundations among others. Set up and managed fundraising strategies; assessed risks and value-addition; designed reporting templates; keep track of income raised, prospect pipelines and income projection. Holds a grants proposal’s approval rate of 40%.

Expertise in European Union’s funding mechanisms, reporting and engagement, particularly of European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR) and Civil Society Organisations and Local Authorities (CSO-LA) under DG DEVCO. Have increased NGO’s annual portfolio from EUR 500,000 to EUR 1, 5 million in Mozambique, Guinea Bissau, Malawi Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe; secured funding for the first time in Ecuador, Belize Botswana and Laos.

Monitoring and Evaluation Skills. Possesses significant M&E experience; able to analyse and integrate diverse and complex qualitative and quantitative data, and easily identify issues, opportunities and risks. Designed a Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) System including creating surveys, checklists and FGD questions; and conducting data collection (including KAP assessment) and analysis.

Communication and Representation. Native Spanish speaker with fluency in English and working knowledge of Portuguese and French. Has built solid stewardship plans to increase engagement of existing donors, nurture, develop and oversee existing donor relationships; prepared pitches and proposals and negotiated new relationships; organised and participated in high-level meetings and events.

Keywords and matching areas:

 Rural Development
 Young Farmers
 Social Farming
 Humanitarian Aid
 Education and Training
 European Union
 Partnership Management
 Spanish
 Policy Evaluation and Governance
 Human Rights

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