Education

Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs

Master's, International Affairs

1998

Podcasts

34:18

39: Why Taking Calculated Risks is a Career Asset With Provash Budden, Mercy Corps [Main T4C Episode]

Provash Budden is Regional Director for the Americas at Mercy Corps, with 20 years of experience in international development, leading programs on land rights, access to education, economic development, violence prevention, natural resource management and support to displaced communities affected by conflict. Provash has designed and implemented programs for Mercy..

10:31

180: How to Break Into International Development with Provash Budden, Mercy Corps [Espresso Shots]

Career Path

Interview Highlights

“There’s people that burn out because of the type work, especially in the big emergencies. And it’s always important that we are keeping ourselves mentally and physically agile and prepared.”

Best Career Advice

“Spend more time on getting involved in different community activities around the place you live in and the college town you’re in.”

Career Challenge

“This particular [boss] was just always on my case every single day over things like, how are you managing your fleet management, what’s going on with the finances? What are you doing around this program decision? Why are you making this program decision? I said you hired me to make these choices, why are you questioning me? Because I’m not getting that type of feedback from the rest of my team who think we’re on a pretty good track. So it was one of those relationships where I felt that he was too much in my shop and in the weeds, and he wasn’t feeling like he could trust me to deliver on certain things.”

Skills

International Development, NGOs, International Relations, Program Management, Proposal Writing, Human Rights, Economic Development, Foreign Policy, Strategy, Sustainable Development, Global Health, Corporate Social Responsibility, Gender Mainstreaming, Climate Change Adaptation, Elections, Disaster Risk Reduction

Professional Interests

Mercy Corps, YOGAESSENTIAL, Columbia | SIPA, ReliefWeb humanitarian discussion group, U.S. Agency for International Development, School of International & Public Affairs (SIPA) Alumni