Photo: A longtail boat travels through hydroponic tomato farms on Inle Lake, Shan State, Myanmar, November 2014 (Alex Bookbinder).
For a more detailed version of my CV, please get in touch via email.
- Nationality: Canadian; long-term UK work authorisation
- Research, media, international development, and project management professional focused on migration, organised crime, governance, security, politics, business, and conflict.
- Co-winner, 2014 Society of Publishers in Asia Award for Excellence in Human Rights Reporting
- Languages: Native English speaker; full professional proficiency in French and Spanish; conversational German, Burmese, Portuguese; elementary Arabic, Hindi, Romanian
Professional Experience
March 2018 – January 2019: Research Analyst, Aktis Strategy, London, UK
- I was responsible for a portfolio across Aktis’ consulting practices, primarily as part of Aktis’ Governance, Security and Justice practice. My duties included bid management and technical support for security sector reform and communications projects in Libya and Iraq; monitoring and evaluation work for the Independent Monitoring Agent (IMA) of the Syria Recovery Trust Fund in Amman, Jordan; writing Aktis’ internal guidelines for engaging with institutions on CT/CVE programming and the legalities and ethics around data use and privacy; and conducting research on radicalisation in Europe and modern slavery in Bangladesh.
October 2017 – June 2018: Co-Team Leader, The Rakhine Files
- With the International State Crime Initiative (ISCI) at Queen Mary University of London and cartographer Pablo Gallego, I launched an initiative intended to leverage GIS, mobile survey tools, and big data analytics to promote accountability for crimes perpetrated by the Myanmar military and give Rohingya refugees a voice in policy debates through targeted opinion surveys. Due to competing priorities and difficulties securing full funding, the team decided to indefinitely postpone work on the project in June 2018.
January 2016 – May 2016: Southeast Asia Project Coordinator, Migrant Report (Xchange.org)
- Migrant Report (now Xchange.org) is an information service affiliated with Migrant Offshore Aid Station, a search-and-rescue and medical aid NGO headquartered in Malta. I was responsible for managing a network of ground informants in Rakhine State (Myanmar) and Bangladesh who provided intelligence on maritime movements and irregular migration. These efforts informed a groundbreaking quantitative report on attitudes towards migration and other original reporting. I developed research tools and methodologies for collecting migration-related field data, variations of which have been subsequently been deployed by MOAS research teams in Bangladesh, the Sahel, and in the Central Mediterranean.
June 2015 – November 2015: Deputy Editor, Frontier Myanmar magazine
- I was the founding Deputy Editor at Frontier Myanmar magazine, which has subsequently become Myanmar’s publication of record for foreign audiences and policymakers. My duties included day-to-day management of the newsroom, including line management of a team of reporters, designers, translators and editors in conjunction with the Editor-in-Chief; feature/opinion writing; managing web presence/social media; editing copy; overseeing layout/production of a weekly print magazine, and commissioning freelance work.
March 2013 – June 2015: Myanmar Correspondent, The Edge Review
- I was the Myanmar correspondent for The Edge Review, a digital weekly magazine focused on business and politics in Southeast Asia, for more than two years. I primarily wrote short features, as well as occasional hard news pieces.
- In June 2014, my coverage of Buddhist nationalism and religious violence in Myanmar for The Edge Review was awarded the 2014 Society of Publishers in Asia Award for Excellence in Human Rights Reporting, as part of a package on similar trends throughout the region [PDF 17.6 MB].
November 2013 – June 2015: Correspondent, Democratic Voice of Burma
- I produced short news stories and longer features for the Democratic Voice of Burma’s English-language website.
December 2012 – July 2013: Editor, Acumen: Myanmar B2B Management Magazine, Yangon, Myanmar
- I was the principal editor of a business-focused, English-language monthly magazine. I was responsible for developing story ideas, writing feature articles, commissioning content from freelance writers/photographers, copy-editing and overseeing layout/design matters.
August 2011 – June 2012: Research Assistant, Maritime Security Programme, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Singapore
- I prepared monthly Horizons maritime security bulletin, conference reports and contributed to other RSIS publications.
Other
2014/2015: EU Support for Reform of the Myanmar Police Force
- I conducted a number of media skills trainings for officers of the Myanmar Police Force in Yangon and Naypyidaw in 2014 and 2015, as part of a reform project backed by the Instrument Contributing to Stability and Peace of the European Union.
- Political risk analysis and commercial due diligence services on a freelance basis (client references available upon request).
Education
Master of Science, Strategic Studies – S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, 2011-2012
Bachelor of Arts, International Relations – University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, 2007-2011
Professional Certifications
PRINCE2 Agile® Foundation and Practitioner Certificates in Agile Project Management
