Samah Goussous

Leads community engagement and gender integration for the new $45M Syria Essential Services (SES) II program, funded under a USAID contract, to enhance the stability of communities and strengthen local governance in southern Syria by restoring essential services and livelihoods. Supported program startup, coordinating the transition from SES I, engaging Syrian partners, and recruiting and hiring local staff, specifically including Syrian women. Engaged Syrian women in the design, selection and implementation of interventions. Manages five officers working in civil society engagement, livelihood activities, training and governance; coordinates remotely with a growing team of Syrian staff members starting in three southern governorates in Syria. Works closely with six international and local partners. Builds the capacity of 20 Syrian civil society organizations (CSOs) and 90 local councils to engage their communities equitably and improve livelihoods. Leads training-of-trainers (TOT) for members of Syrian civil society in topics such as community engagement, youth inclusion, governance and finance. Manages gender mainstreaming throughout the program, including engaging male civil society leaders on the importance of gender inclusion.

Engaged government, school and community actors to ensure a match between national priorities and community needs, and the knowledge and skills of Peace Corps Volunteers. Mobilized communities, particularly youth, to support a three-month home-stay-based training program for Volunteers. Organized town hall meetings in each host community to orient them to the Peace Corps and the Volunteers’ expected work. Liaised closely with staff from the Ministry of Education (MOE), Ministry of Social Development (MoSD), and Higher Council for Youth through regular meetings, newsletters, annual reports and other communications. Overcame MOE resistance to a Peace Corps request for a seconded employee to facilitate Volunteer skill development and identified a retired MOE employee to fill the role, thus improving coordination. Developed and conducted regional trainings based on the needs of both Volunteers and local youth counterparts to maximize skills transfer and capacity building of local youth on topics such as project management, monitoring and evaluation (M&E), and youth inclusion. Trained Volunteers on community engagement and the context of Jordan; topics included language and cultural sensitivity, plus technical skills, assessment tools, youth-specific engagement methods and tools, leadership training, and ways to mobilize the community to encourage youth participation and community investment in development. Developed and maintained an M&E plan. Created master data collection and tracking tools and assessments to measure work and skill development; trained Volunteers and community partners in the use of M&E tools. Led focus groups and conducted pre- and post-activity testing and interviews with partners and participants. Prepared periodic reports on project status, accomplishments and challenges for host-country partners, Volunteers and Peace Corps Washington. Despite an early end to the service term due to Peace Corps evacuation, the Volunteers’ first three months demonstrated substantive progress toward project goals and optimistic engagement by community partners

Led implementation of the $3.8M USAID-funded Community Mobilization for Partnership in Schools (CMP) project, which developed community-school partnerships to foster participation in education reform; create a sense of ownership among public school stakeholders; and promote innovative and sustainable use of school space. Managed 15 staff in five units: community mobili-zation, training, extracurricular activities, communication, and M&E. Oversaw the successful pilot of a Community-Parent-School Coalition (CPSC) model in 67 under-resourced communities across Jordan, leading to additional funding to expand the model and recognition by USAID for excellence in management in 2011. Managed recruitment and training of community leaders to mobilize CPSCs, with particular attention to empowering younger CPSC members to voice their opinions. Through training, TA and grants, built CPSC capacity to conduct needs assessments, raise funds and mobilize the community, as the basis for Community-School Improvement Plans and Extra Curricular Activity Plans to increase opportunities for students and communities through school-to-career programming, computer training, adult literacy classes and other activities. Engaged community networks to identify vocational training opportunities for 120 girls and boys. Trained CPSCs in outreach to businesses and helped them raise funds to support programs through corporate social responsibility and community match programs. Advocated with the MOE for the value and importance of community engagement accreditation, eventually securing an MOE office for community engagement with a staff member assigned to the project. Worked with MOE to formalize a model and criteria for school-community collaboration, and integrate the model into school evaluation criteria. Also worked with the MOE to enable CPSCs to register as an association with the Department of General Education; oversaw the training via TOT of mature CPSCs and 26 MOE Field Directorate staff to mentor 350 schools in the CPSC model and the accreditation and registration process, with 100 accredited by program closeout. Coordinated community advocacy by CPSC and others to secure changes in MOE directives on the use of school space to facilitate community use; by the end of the project, 52% of CMP schools were open for community use versus 28% of non-CMP schools. Worked with MOE staff to develop a results-based M&E framework for improved community-school engagement; trained M&E coordinators in data collection and analysis, Results-Based Management, and reporting. Formed a steering committee to work with the MOE’s Curriculum Development Unit to modify, expand and highlight policy changes in support of the Education Reform for Knowledge Economy national education strategy. Collaborated with USAID’s Jordan School Construction Project and Education Reform Support Project to ensure complementarity of activities and community mobilization efforts. With the Finance Manager, oversaw procurement and financial operations, advising on compliance with USAID regulations. Developed and implemented annual work plans and M&E plans. Conducted baseline and annual surveys and assessments of community development and training needs. Led production of reports to USAID and promotional materials.