Inter-American Development Bank
facebook
twitter
youtube
linkedin
instagram
Abierto al públicoBeyond BordersCaribbean Development TrendsCiudades SosteniblesEnergía para el FuturoEnfoque EducaciónFactor TrabajoGente SaludableGestión fiscalGobernarteIdeas MatterIdeas que CuentanIdeaçãoImpactoIndustrias CreativasLa Maleta AbiertaMoviliblogMás Allá de las FronterasNegocios SosteniblesPrimeros PasosPuntos sobre la iSeguridad CiudadanaSostenibilidadVolvamos a la fuente¿Y si hablamos de igualdad?Home
Citizen Security and Justice Creative Industries Development Effectiveness Early Childhood Development Education Energy Envirnment. Climate Change and Safeguards Fiscal policy and management Gender and Diversity Health Labor and pensions Open Knowledge Public management Science, Technology and Innovation  Trade and Regional Integration Urban Development and Housing Water and Sanitation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Energía para el Futuro

  • HOME
  • CATEGORIES
    • Energy Access
    • Energy Efficiency
    • Energy Integration
    • Gender and Energy
    • Renewable Energy
  • authors
  • English

Cross-Institutional Mentoring Initiative: Improving Results through Collaboration

June 12, 2023 por Malaika Masson Leave a Comment


‘Mentoring is a brain to pick, an ear to listen, and a push in the right direction ~ John Crosby

In 2009, I was thrilled to join the Inter-American Development Bank as part of the Young Professionals Program. From the beginning, I had the opportunity to participate directly in field operations in La Paz and Cochabamba, Bolivia where I helped the energy team with the first leg of the execution of a power plant.

Today, 14 years later, as a Lead Energy Specialist within the IDB’s Energy Division and with more HQ and country experiences to reflect upon, I look back at my career, the opportunities I was provided, the different field postings that exposed me to boots-on-the-ground project implementation, and I am grateful. These experiences helped me to reflect on the need to continue exposing professionals to missions and projects. Project implementation experiences highlighted for me the importance of de-tangling seemingly complex problems, finding the pieces of the puzzle together with a range of stakeholders, creating spaces for change, listening to, and working side by side with our clients in the field to achieve effective solutions.

For this reason, I was proud to participate in the pilot edition of Cross-Institutional Mentoring (CIM) as a mentor. This project, which stems from a collaboration between the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF), the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and the World Bank (WB), sparked my reflections about creating spaces for specialists to share work experiences, shared values and not just dreams but concrete actions for making a difference in the Caribbean with young women who will become part of the workforce of the future.

The Mentor-Mentee Match

During this initiative, I had the opportunity to mentor Antonia Malika Hart, an Operations Officer, and civil engineer who now works as an operations officer within the Project Appraisal and Design team of the Economic Infrastructure Division of the Caribbean Development Bank. Based on sector similarity, we were immediately able to discuss the design and development of regional infrastructure projects. We bonded on our similarities and discussed common networks, along with the insights and critical thinking we were developing in our respective roles. We both see ourselves as change agents, passionate about innovation and making a difference, but we also recognize the importance of sharing our work and life hacks with others and recognizing when it’s time to chill out.  A key point of convergence was the need to support talent in the Caribbean and, in our case, contribute to the career development of women in technical roles.

We shared our insights into development effectiveness and the tools for evaluating this. We discussed the Results Monitoring Framework of a selected IDB project and compared how this tool is used to evaluate project success. Thanks to behind-the-scenes support from HR and the IDB Country office, we were able to facilitate in-person observation of a Project Completion Report (PCR) workshop.

Bringing shared insights to Life: Guyana Power and Light Project

The PCR workshop looked at the effectiveness and efficiency of electricity supply with the Utility from design to project close out. Stakeholders discussed the management and administration, system planning and design, information technology, and infrastructure to allow for loss reduction, consistent with the Utility’s strategic plans.  As part of our mentoring sessions, we discussed project objectives and execution trends, and challenges. The face-to-face workshop for the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) project brought to life the discussions we had around effective and efficient development impact and provided a first-hand opportunity to hear stakeholders’ perspectives on impact and lessons learned. During the event, we also celebrated the participation of other Caribbean women who interacted on energy and technical issues in the workshop like Dr. Niebert Blair (IDB PCR Consultant); Hollace Dazzalle (GPL- PEU Financial Specialist), and Chitra Singh (GPL-PEU ESG/Communications Specialist).

From Left: Mr. Andrew Thorington (IDB Consultant), Dr. Niebert Blair (IDB Consultant), Mr. Amir Dillawar (GPL Engineer &  Program Coordinator), Dr. Malaika Masson (Lead Energy Specialist IDB), and Ms. Antonia Hart

These discussions of the project life cycle provided an opportunity to share how we would do things differently next time around – be more flexible, simplified, and coordinated.  It also highlighted the importance of shadow-managing, providing in-the-field opportunities to learn how innovations in project design can result in better outcomes in execution.

During our university studies, we learn about best-practice concepts, designs, and standards, and as infrastructure-development professionals to make a difference and have an impact going into the field and working through the complexity of different environments, rules, behaviors, and systems is critical. The journey is thrilling and fulfilling, offering loads of opportunities to grow professionally and personally. As busy women in our technical and project management fields, mentoring gives us the space to reflect and share what works and where change is needed. After all, a problem shared is a problem halved, and sharing is critical to building an ecosystem of innovators equipped to be the change we wish to see in the world.

We wish to thank the Human Resources Departments in IDB and CDB for making this possible. Specifically, we recognize Mr. Bruno Taborga and Ms. Patricia Arenas of IDB; Ms. Lianne Fingall and Ms. Ria Balbos Jordan of CDB; Ms. Lorena Solórzano Salazar, IDB Guyana Country Representative, and Marcelino Madrigal, IDB Energy Division Chief whose collaborative efforts facilitated the logistics of CDB attendance at the workshop in Guyana.


Filed Under: English, Gender and Energy Tagged With: caribbean, energia

Malaika Masson

Malaika Masson is a Lead Energy Specialist in the Energy Division at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) currently managing the IDB energy portfolio for Guyana. Since joining the Bank in 2009, she has been involved in the development and oversight of projects related to solar PV generation, rehabilitation of transmission and distribution and electric mobility across the Caribbean. She has worked on resilient energy infrastructure, micro-grids in remote areas, training programs for women in solar installation, extractive industry governance and regional dialogue on renewable energy. Malaika holds a PhD in 2003 in Management Studies from Cambridge Judge Business School, Cambridge University. Prior to joining the IDB, Malaika worked on public private partnerships and policy within the UK Government, Chatham House, and Shell Group and served on public boards.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Follow Us

Subscribe

Search

Energy

A blog about the impact of renewables, technology and innovation in the energy industry.

Recent Posts

  • The Challenge of Renewable Energy Curtailment
  • Exploring Dual-Use PV: Unlocking Renewable Energy’s Hidden Potential
  • Energy development lights up the Honduran Moskitia
  • Five Takeaways from Advancing Inclusive Energy Transition in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2024
  • The Importance of Resilient Infrastructure in Addressing Climate Change

Categories

  • covid-19
  • Digitalization
  • Electromobility
  • Energy Access
  • Energy Efficiency
  • Energy Integration
  • Energy transition
  • English
  • English
  • Español
  • Gender and Energy
  • Green hyrdrogen
  • Infraestructura sostenible
  • Minerals
  • Renewable Energy
  • Sin categorizar
  • Uncategorized

Footer

Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo
facebook
twitter
youtube
youtube
youtube

    Blog posts written by Bank employees:

    Copyright © Inter-American Development Bank ("IDB"). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons IGO 3.0 Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives. (CC-IGO 3.0 BY-NC-ND) license and may be reproduced with attribution to the IDB and for any non-commercial purpose. No derivative work is allowed. Any dispute related to the use of the works of the IDB that cannot be settled amicably shall be submitted to arbitration pursuant to the UNCITRAL rules. The use of the IDB's name for any purpose other than for attribution, and the use of IDB's logo shall be subject to a separate written license agreement between the IDB and the user and is not authorized as part of this CC- IGO license. Note that link provided above includes additional terms and conditions of the license.


    For blogs written by external parties:

    For questions concerning copyright for authors that are not IADB employees please complete the contact form for this blog.

    The opinions expressed in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the IDB, its Board of Directors, or the countries they represent.

    Attribution: in addition to giving attribution to the respective author and copyright owner, as appropriate, we would appreciate if you could include a link that remits back the IDB Blogs website.



    Privacy Policy

    Derechos de autor © 2025 · Magazine Pro en Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

    Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo

    Aviso Legal

    Las opiniones expresadas en estos blogs son las de los autores y no necesariamente reflejan las opiniones del Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo, sus directivas, la Asamblea de Gobernadores o sus países miembros.

    facebook
    twitter
    youtube
    This site uses cookies to optimize functionality and give you the best possible experience. If you continue to navigate this website beyond this page, cookies will be placed on your browser.
    To learn more about cookies, click here
    X
    Manage consent

    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
    Necessary
    Always Enabled
    Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
    Non-necessary
    Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
    SAVE & ACCEPT