“With Adi, there was simply commitment and dedication to getting work done without any unnecessary chatter, leading the implementation of a $120 million project in a complex setting of diverse stakeholders and numerous demands. Adi’s leadership ensured the delivery of critical services and infrastructure to assist my island nation to get back on its feet after Hurricane Irma, and was truly appreciated by my government and the project’s beneficiaries.”

Silveria Jacobs – Prime Minister of Sint Maarten

“Adi led a team of short and long-term experts on behalf of the EU, providing a broad range of advisory services and products to assist the National Reconstruction Authority in its oversight and coordination of the Earthquake Response in Nepal, between 2017-2021. During this period Adi also worked in close collaboration with me, in the conceptual design, planning and implementation of numerous events and initiatives, culminating in a large-scale International Conference on Nepal’s Reconstruction, held in December 2021.

Adi’s strategic proposals for the diverse technical assistance we required, his consummate professional manner, his clear capabilities and his innovative and frank communication and presentation style, were sincerely appreciated. Recollecting our journey, I have no doubt that people like Adi have been sustaining this world where mockery is in abundance. Personally I am really thankful for his contribution which immensely enriched our outputs and sophisticated our delivery – not only for the International Conference, but for the entire period. I hope we gave justice to his contribution.”

Dr. Chandra Bahadur Shrestha – Former Executive Member, National Reconstruction Authority Government of Nepal

“I had the opportunity to work closely with Dr Adi Walker from March 2017 to April 2021, when he was Team Leader for the EU-funded NEARR Facility (Nepal-EU Action for Recovery and Reconstruction) in Kathmandu, Nepal. In his capacity as the Key Expert, he was responsible for the leadership, coordination and management of the implementation of activities. Dr Adi worked tirelessly to maintain and deliver high quality advice, services and products to the Facility’s government counterparts and this has been clearly appreciated, as expressed by the recipients. Personally and professionally, I found Adi to be professional, sincere, focused and highly efficient.”

Mim Hamal – Senior Programme Manager at European Commission

“Adi has been working for GFA in Nepal and leading our team there for more than 4 years. In the complex, challenging and ever-changing political and operational environment he constantly proved his excellent leadership skills. His technical guidance and versatility to adapt the strategic approach where necessary, while at the same time ensuring the overall vision and purpose of the Technical Facility, have been outstanding. Even more so has been his ability to build relationships and engage with both the government partners and his team based on trust and a quick, comprehensive grasp of the actual demands. Adi has shown superior and continued commitment, leading the Technical Facility to success.”

Ms. Anja Desai – Managing Director, GFA Consulting Group, Hamburg, Germany

“I worked closely with Adi in Pakistan for over six years, where he was a Principal Advisor to the Provisional Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Development Planning. He managed a challenging programme in an equally challenging environment, yet brought both innovation and creativity into his role and work. He designed a model for participatory planning, and tested it with a population of 35,000 in six villages; through hard work, negotiation and ingenuity, and by obtaining the buy-in of both large international donors as well as the Government of Pakistan, this was scaled up to be part of the development planning process for over 120 million citizens across two provinces.

Aside from this, Adi contributed equally to the development of the company (GIZ). He led a national initiative to address the issue of “work-life balance”, ran ’employability workshops’ for a number of projects and the GIZ country office, was instrumental in the design and elaboration of the company’s ‘Vision for Pakistan’, and contributed substantially to the elaboration of a National Personnel Handbook. Adi is very result oriented, and weaves innovative and creative ideas into the solutions he presents to overcome challenges and deal with problems.”

Dr. Ulrike Reviere – Country Director GIZ, India

“I supervised Adi’s PhD at Oxford Brookes University. He was one of my best students – articulate, thorough, and clear minded about what he wanted to achieve. His research work was based on expert knowledge of the subject gained through both practice and wide reading, then deeply enhanced through the process and findings of his research. He used adaptation and ingenuity in order to overcome the huge international and political challenges of his project, with the result that his conceptualisation, design and implementation achieved the highest standards. His appropriate use of mixed methods resulted in a rich accumulation of data which was meticulously analysed to produce well-rounded and significant conclusions. His project broke new ground by addressing a previously neglected aspect of international humanitarian and development assistance leadership, with results that will have a major impact on the organisations in this field. He must now be regarded as a leading expert in this subject.”

Dr Nicholas Walliman – Senior Lecturer, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK

“In 2010 Adi successfully completed an MSc in Management and Development with University of London through its international academy. He passed with a distinction and notably he also achieved an excellent distinction level mark of 79 in his dissertation. Completing a demanding Masters programme through distance learning studying part time over a number of years, demands a great deal of commitment, especially when also engaged in demanding work roles.
Adi’s achievement in completing this so successfully demonstrates his ability to work independently and also successfully study at the postgraduate level. He has considerable relevant work experience gained in a variety of roles and management positions over the last 12 years, and has worked extensively in international humanitarian and development organisations (IHDO), in Sri Lanka, Democratic Republic of Congo, India, Haiti, and Pakistan.”

Jon Gregson – SOAS Tutor, University of London International Academy

“As a Statistician in the area of statistical methodology it is sometimes difficult to find the necessary appreciation from Programme Leaders to apply the required methodological rigour, as this is most of the times associated with an increase in the implementation effort. However, Dr. Walker is one of only a few Programme Leaders that I have worked with that takes seriously the inclusion of robust and systematic research methodologies for monitoring, evaluation, analysis and learning in his work, whilst in parallel developing knowledge building capacity for these approaches in his teams and with his host government counterparts.

Based on his experiences using Randomised Controlled Trials (RCT) and quasi-experimental comparative analysis within a target population of over 2 million people in DR. Congo, we jointly developed the design and approach for an RCT in Pakistan suitable for small and medium sized projects by incorporating spatial information into the design. Applying a base, mid and end line surveying system using state of the art Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) techniques, we implemented the proposed design with the methodological rigour required for a statically sound measurement of the attributable effect.

Given its almost unique nature within GIZ worldwide, Dr. Walker and I were requested by GIZ Headquarters to present the design and approach at an international conference on M&E at the prestigious German Institute for Learning and Development. A large governance programme in Pakistan, subsequently built on this ‘best practice methodology’ for their own results-based monitoring system, funded by the German and Swiss Governments.”

Dr. Michael Wild – Senior Statistician/Sampling Expert, the World Bank, Washington, US

“I have worked with, and witnessed Adi in the conceptualisation, design, moderation and facilitation of a broad range of events. These include strategic multi-stakeholder planning workshops, organisational development and training programmes, leadership performance appraisals, work-life balance sessions, and team building activities.

Adi brings a strong capability and broad range of innovative tools and instruments to these events, combined with a stimulating presentation style and persona that swiftly engenders and encourages the engagement and energy of participants. Adi’s expertise in planning and running these kind of events, combined with an innovative and captivating approach to public speaking, provide both rich and memorable experiences.”

Mr. Michael Zillich – Senior Consultant – Organisational Development, Denkmodell GmbH, Berlin, Germany

“Adi is a highly driven and personable leader who ‘gets things done’ to an extremely high standard and with a forensic eye for detail.  Adi designed and delivered my Leadership Performance Planning Review and Appraisal System, which took into account our school’s context and needs. It was so beneficial, and provided such valuable feedback, that I have used the model with my own leadership team.”

Mr. Brian Platts – Principal, the British School, Kathmandu, Nepal

“Only one other person speaks to me so frankly, explaining where I can do better… and that is the Prime Minister. This coaching from Adi is really good for me and really appreciated.”

Mr. Sushil Gyewali – Chief Executive Officer, National Reconstruction Authority, Nepal

“I worked with Adi for the International Rescue Committee, implementing one of the largest DFID-funded Community-Driven Reconstruction Programmes, for which we jointly recruited over one hundred team members. Adi understood the importance of having the right team in place for the successful implementation of the programme. He prioritised team building and staff development like few other colleagues did. He introduced tailor-made Manager Assessment days for our senior staff recruitment, built stimulating and valuable team-building activities into the team’s work plan, and capably drew on a large toolbox of well-suited methods to implement these. He approached staff development strategically and systematically and supported individual team members’ growth through a range of relevant solutions.”

Ms. Jana Frey – (Former) Country Director, International Rescue Committee, Greece