We work with a team of internationally renowned specialists who share the same work ethics. Our team is based across Europe, Asia and the Pacific which allows us flexibility to respond to clients spread in different time-zones. Collaborating together allows us to draw from extensive experience and provide more effective support to our clients.

The OU Specialists

Our core team comprises of four practitioners whose main strength comes from working in-country for projects in all aspects of implementation and management.

Harald Bekkers

FOUNDER AND CEO

The founder of OU, Harald has established a business and a team that upholds his pursuit of ‘good’ development – development work grounded in context, evidence and ethics.

He has a unique ability to identify, understand and explain complex issues methodically and clearly, and can shift seamlessly from strategy to implementation, from results chains to reports, from a business plan to a blog. The challenge for everyone else can be keeping up!

Harald doesn’t shy away from getting his boots dirty and is recognized for his work in relation to shallow markets, resilience, women’s economic empowerment and the DCED Standard for Results Measurement. 

A history buff who likes to travel and with a family as up for adventure as he is, Harald has lived and worked in more than seven countries before finally (although maybe temporarily – who knows) returning to the Netherlands. We do take a moment to warn that his Dutch sense of humor really is an acquired taste.

You can follow Harald on Twitter at @haraldbekkers  

Nabanita Sen BEKKERS

Director

Nabanita brings that rare combination of a strategic mind who can also get into the details and do so with energy and enthusiasm. Private sector development is her forte and she has managed and/or worked within programs that apply market systems development across a number of sectors, including agriculture, skills development, urban economy, and health care.

Through her ongoing work with the DCED, Nabanita is at the forefront of new techniques that can be applied in research, evaluation, and results measurement and plays a key role in knowledge generation for the wider development community.

While Nabanita is a respected and talented private sector development specialist, this is outdone her super-mum status to three spirited children under six. Nabanita is also a fierce advocate for a more inclusive society and blogs regularly for HuffPost UK.

Muneeb Zulfiqar

PRIVATE SECTOR ENGAGEMENT SPECIALIST

Muneeb is on a constant quest to make data ‘work’ and is squarely focused on an evidence-based approach to private sector engagement, women’s economic empowerment, inclusion, and development more broadly.

Building, using, and adapting practical results systems is no easy feat, but with a strong research and evaluation background, coupled with the curiosity and people skills needed to make it work, Muneeb has successfully built results systems in different countries with different programs. He works side by side with teams to build their research strategies and results systems from scratch, or to re-work what is in place – all while ensuring alignment with the DCED Standard.

While data may take up much of Muneeb’s time, video games are where the action is at (or so he tells us!). He also likes to put the rest of us to shame with an unshakeable commitment to the gym.

Rofiqul (rana) islam

Senior private sector engagement specialist

Rana has walked the walk in terms of working in the private sector, so certainly knows how to talk the talk when it comes to making concrete partnerships with the private sector to contribute towards inclusive and sustainable growth. His experience of working in the private sector allows him to create realistic interpretations of the market systems development approach. And he keeps on developing both these skill sets by working with a multitude of development programs across the world and at the same time managing an agrifood business in Bangladesh that focuses on farm-to-table concept.

Keen observation skills and near photographic memory enable Rana to assess the context and where the actors’ interests are. But it also means you do not want to owe him any money!

An avid traveller, movie buff and music enthusiast, we will not be surprised if one day he launches his own production on ‘Keeping up with Rana.’

The Mazi Group

The Mazi Group is a consortium of six consultants who draw on their networks to collaborate on select assignments worldwide, with a focus on market systems development and monitoring and results measurement.

The Mazi Group is comprised of Miehlbradt Consulting Limited (Aly Miehlbradt), Opportunities Unlimited (Harald Bekkers and Nabanita Sen Bekkers), Phitcha Wanitphon, David Swete Kelly and Marshall Bear.

Alexandra Miehlbradt (Miehlbradt Consulting)

Aly has worked in private sector development for over 25 years as an implementer, consultant, researcher and trainer.  She has been involved in market systems development since the approach emerged in the early 2000s and has made important contributions to both theory and practice, particularly related to business service markets, inclusion, results measurement and adaptive management. Aly is a leader in the global effort to improve monitoring and results measurement and the effective use of information in PSD.  She has helped a wide variety of organizations develop strategies, design interventions, monitor results, and integrate lessons into program improvements. Aly has written a variety of widely used publications on market systems development and on results measurement with an emphasis on adaptive management. Aly is known for her client-centered technical assistance, backstopping, design, documentation, review and strategic advisory services, as well as effective knowledge management, training and facilitation.  She opened Miehlbradt Consulting Ltd in 2008 building on 10 previous years of independent consulting. 

Phitcha Wanitphon 

Phitcha has 10 years of experience in the private sector and 14 years in private sector development.  Before joining the development profession, he worked with the largest Thai industrial conglomerate and was responsible for domestic and international sales and marketing.  After that, Phitcha managed GIZ’s Thai-German Programme for Enterprise Competitiveness, a market development program, for 6 years (2005-2011) as a resident manager and Deputy Program Director.  In this role, he supervised the design of new interventions, ensuring that these were sustainable and demonstrated how they will achieve impact.  Phitcha piloted and contributed to the development of the DCED Standard for Results Measurement in 2008.  Since becoming an independent consultant in 2011, Phitcha has established a reputation as a highly effective technical adviser. He has helped a wide variety of organizations improve their monitoring, better use information in decision making, and report more credibly to their stakeholders. Phitcha is also a certified auditor for the DCED Standard on Results Measurement. He has conducted numerous training courses on the DCED Standard and has undertaken many audits.

Mujaddid (Muja) Mohsin

Sustainable and inclusive private sector interventions are Muja’s specialty and he has worked on the ground with program teams and partners across Asia, South Asia, and the Pacific. A results measurement specialist turned implementer, Muja can quickly visualize opportunities within partnerships, sectors, and countries and he brings his trademark creativity to strategies and solutions for economic growth.

Curious and approachable, Muja can be dropped in the middle of ‘anywhere’ and he will ask the right questions, meet the right people and come away with everything needed to develop smart, effective strategies. He will also find and connect with the right partners. Most importantly, he very quickly finds the best local food.

These days Muja calls Fiji home and makes the rest of us jealous as he grows vanilla and enjoys Pacific hospitality on a daily basis. He balances out the love of history books with comics and watching cartoons with Kaiju, Kira, and Cole, his beloved canine friends.

Our Associates

Every job is unique and needs a unique team. Our experience at OU is that when we closely tailor the team requirements to what needs to be achieved, the results are stronger. Our OU associates are people we have worked with over many years. We know and trust them. They are established professionals who will work with our clients just like they were theirs.

Jon Marlow (PROAND ASSOCIATES)

SENIOR ADVISER - AGRIBUSINESS AND PRIVATE SECTOR DEVELOPMENT

Jon has an extensive career working in the agribusiness and livestock products sector, particularly addressing processing, supply chain and marketing issues. Jon has worked everywhere – from South East Asia to Africa, South America, across the Pacific, and everywhere in between. He has been the Managing Director and Principal Consultant of ProAnd Associates Australia Pty Ltd since 1988, a small specialist consultancy servicing the livestock products sector. Jon has a chemical engineering degree from Canterbury University and has a solid grounding in strategic analysis and change management. In recent years Jon has been involved in a number of market systems development programs on management and technical advisory roles, including GEMS1 in Nigeria and the Market Development Facility in Pakistan. Jon has a strong understanding of how to engage with the private sector on initiatives designed to deliver sustainable impact.

Lisa Ritchie (ENGAGINGDEV)

COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALIST

Lisa is a versatile communications professional, able to turn her hand to strategic communications, communications team management, writing, photography, report production, multi-media content development and everything in between. She’s no stranger to private sector development, having worked on a number of market systems programs, most recently in Vietnam, Uganda and Ethiopia, and she spent three years with the multi-country Market Development Facility. Outside of traditional development programs, Lisa has worked with a range of private sector clients striving to improve their social impact through a development approach. Lisa specializes in communications within the humanitarian and development sectors and teaches social and digital media at Australia’s Deakin University.

Maira Riaz

Results Measurement Specialist

Maira brings a decade of experience in research, monitoring and evaluation and impact assessments and has worked across a range of sectors and program areas, including education, financial inclusion, ICT for development, agriculture, nutrition, gender, disability inclusion and private sector development. During her three years with the Market Development Facility, Maira helped design and implement a monitoring and evaluation system for the multi-country program that was successfully audited by the DCED. Maira has extensive fieldwork experience that has involved working across socio-economic classes, gender, geographies and cultural contexts.

Maira is interested in human-centered design and applies this approach to create systems and strategies designed to foster results-oriented cultures within organizations or programs. Maira also draws on this approach to align individuals to organizational goals. She has worked with various international donors such as the World Bank, DFAT and DFID. Maira is also an Acumen Fellow and holds a Masters in Public Administration from Columbia University.