Wow! Today I am starting as the first Chief Strategy and Growth Officer at Intelehealth.

I am humbled by Neha Verma‘s trust in me to help Intelehealth improve access to primary health care and lower costs for national health insurance programs via telemedicine methodologies and technologies.

I’ll be focused on four core activities for the organization across our programs in India, Kyrgyzstan, and Indonesia – and future programs in other countries:

• Driving Strategic Alignment Across the Organization
• Leading an Organizational Growth Strategy
• Strengthening Fundraising Strategy & Execution
• Stewarding Strategic Projects & Cross-Cutting Initiatives

I am excited for this role!

Last year, I created a vision board of what I wanted in a new job. I thought I found that at Humentum, but alas, the destruction of USAID cast me into unemployment. I reassessed my vision board in February, and while the role I sought had changed, my underlying values did not.

• I still want to work in a small firm with global impact.
• I still believe in local ownership and digital innovation.
• I still have a strong humanitarian ethos driving my life.

That is why I am excited for my new role at Intelehealth – it has all the values I seek.

One of my first questions to Neha was the fate of ICTworks and Career Pivot. I have great news on both topics.

Career Pivot Will Continue!

I have a deep personal desire to help you get a new job. Unemployment (or the fear of it) is a deeply traumatic experience. Layoff trauma is real. This is my third time, and certainly the worst.  I am here to see you transition to success.

Look for more practical tips, tricks, and insights to accelerate your job search. Sneak peek: I’m building digital tools now to help you soon.

Career Pivot is How I Got This Job

Neha saw my resilience and my ability to help. Combined with my years of thought leadership via ICTworks, she sees me as a strong and conscientious leader for Intelehealth. I am honored by her belief in me.

I also spent years following the 7 Steps to Career Pivot success. I practiced what I preached, including defining my dream role so I’d know it when I saw it – this one!

You Can Be a Pivoter Too!

The whole reason I started Career Pivot is to share what works. I spent years in the wilderness, applying blindly to job ads with zero success. Don’t do that.

Do this instead. Follow our steps, join a Job Search Council, find your dream role, network like mad to break into it, and interview like a pro! Be sure to leverage Generative AI in every step.

You can do this! And for the love of god, do NOT search alone.

I am sad to say that USAID is dying.  I am watching in horror as 25 years of my life is crushed by this new Administration. Yet, I am not one to wallow in the past. What’s done is done.

I must move on.

I did so in a way that came naturally to me. I created Career Pivot – a community of action. And it is an amazing success. In just one month, its gone from zero subscribers to almost 9,000 – and its growing by 200 subscribers a day! I would rejoice, but each subscriber is someone in pain.

We are traumatized by our unexpected unemployment.

This was a bracing wake-up call to me. I realized that I can no longer be an industry-leading Digital Development Advisor. That role does not exist anymore. I needed to pivot my career and use my transferable skills in a new industry.

This led me to a realization. All these years, I’ve really been a very successful digital product manager!

Hire Me: I’m a Digital Product Manager

Looking back on my career, I noted four areas of success that weave throughout my different jobs. Success backed by clear evidence that should excite any employer to hire me as a digital product manager:

• I created software solutions that grew into multi-million-dollar business lines.
• I led teams to design and build software solutions deployed at nationwide scale.
• I formed industry-defining communities and events that engaged thousands
• I navigated large bureaucracies to deliver high-quality results in record time

I’m looking to start a new role now that builds on my comprehensive experience and has the following attributes. As you read this wish list, know it’s just that, a wish list. Like with job ads themselves, this is an idealized vision and subject to negotiation.

My employment wish list:

• Lead a team – I loved leading teams to success at Deloitte, IntraHealth, and Inveneo, and my direct reports say I’m a good leader too. Management by objective and treating staff like you want to be treated really does inspire high-performing teams. Being an independent contributor is faster but doesn’t have the same camaraderie and impact.
• Create solutions that solve problems – I am laser-focused on product/market fit. Everything I design and build has the customer’s needs and wants (those are different) front and center. User adoption is a clear metric, as is ARPU – average revenue per customer. That is how I developed a new $30 million Generative AI business line at Deloitte in less than 6 months.
• Work at scale  – I can go deep into a solution for a few high-value customers, yet I excel at creating solutions with nationwide scale. At IntraHealth, I led software development and sales for the largest health management information system for Ministries of Health – we had 20+ governments deploying iHRIS at nationwide scale. I also led the rebuilding of the solution on modern FHIR protocols, making it natively interoperable with global data standards.
• Engage thousands – I love the excitement of leading large communities of action – not practice. Communities of customers that find emotional connection and professional advancement through digital solutions, and who are included in its development – see product/market fit above.
  • Career Pivot is in the Top 5% of Substack subscriber growth ever – as measured by Substack.
  • ICTworks engages 25,000 email subscribers – who are unsubscribed if they don’t interact.
  • Technology Salon directly led to $165 million in new business won – that I could track.
• Be innovative – I’ve learned that the larger the company, often the slower it moves. You may have more resources, but paradoxically, it’s harder for you to get things done. I’m thinking of either working in a small firm or in a purposely innovative section of a larger company where my entrepreneurial spirit can lead us to new markets and faster growth.
• Do good – I have a clear humanitarian ethos. I live for the change I want to see in the world. I am motivated by solving problems that are core to the human experience and bringing joy and delight to customers. I’ve worked on everything from government procurement reform to global digital health and I can find value in many contexts.
• Remote or hybrid – I promised my family we’re not leaving Chapel Hill until the kids graduate high school in 2028, but I can travel up to 30% domestic or internationally, including going into the office. Working remotely should not be an issue – I’ve been leading remote, globally-dispersed teams since 2004, and I have a great track record of managing up and across from afar.

So, whatcha think? Know of any roles like this – existent or potential? Got any pointers or opinions on these themes? Or should I be going in a whole other direction?

Few people think of me as Hispanic. I don’t have a “typical” Hispanic look in the United States, I don’t speak English with a Spanish accent, and I don’t even speak Spanish. Yet my father was born in Mexico, was a naturalized American citizen, and certainly raised me to feel Hispanic – but only privately. Does that make me a Hispanic American?

When Is Someone Hispanic Enough?

When I was growing up in a very South Florida where rebel flags were a common sight, the term “Mexican” was used more than Hispanic, and often as an insult. There were worse terms, of course, and my dad heard many of them.

He could certainly look Hispanic when he wanted to, with dark brown skin, brown eyes, jet black hair, and a Spanish accent in his English. That wasn’t him normally though. Most days, he tried to pass as a typical American.

For example, I always thought his English was normal. However, I always thought my mom’s English was normal American too, till someone pointed out she actually has a Texas accent.

My dad never let me forget that he was from Mexico, and that made me half-Mexican. Not half-Spanish, but half-Mexican. (There is a whole intercultural debate about Spanish vs. Latino vs. Hispanic that is another discussion.)

Am I Hispanic-American?

I jokingly refer to myself as the Gringo Cousin to my Dad’s family, being the only one who doesn’t speak Spanish. Yet I don’t let them forget that my father was the one born in Mexico – all his other siblings were born in the USA – so I am Mexican-American, while they are Americans with Mexican heritage.

I also feel much in common with the men in construction and agriculture who emigrated from south of the Rio Grande. The feeling isn’t reciprocated. They see me as a “white” American, as do most US citizens. I easily pass as American – as my father dreamed for me.

I remember one night in my early teen years, after my dad sobered up from decades of alcoholism, where he sat me down for an unforgettable father-son discussion.

He told me of the discrimination he faced in the US and elsewhere, when people thought of him as Mexican. He made me swear that I would not speak Spanish in public, never own a Mexican flag, and always fight for my right to be a “true American”.

Not just a North American like him (heads up, Mexico is in North America), but a red-blooded citizen of the USA – never mind my different Indonesian name and birth location.

What Does Hispanic-American Mean?

That brings me to my confused state today. I certainly claim Hispanic heritage when asked on official forms. I answer “USA” when asked where I’m from – much to the delight of Mexicans I meet who appreciate the specificity.

I also have a real issue with the misplaced anti-immigrant sentiment in the USA. We are all immigrants on this continent – even Native Americans who immigrated here thousands of years before Europeans. We are a nation of immigrants, which should be a point of pride for us.

I am proud of my background, my past, and the future I am building for my family – regardless of national origin. As I told my dad years ago, when he was explaining our multicultural family tree – its all red white and blue to me.

Germany doesn’t matter. My third direct circumnavigation of the earth doesn’t matter. The only thing that matters to my daughters is Taylor Swift.

I’ve come to that conclusion as I walk the streets of Swiftkirchen – the town of Gelsenkirchen temporarily renamed in honor of Ms. Swift – while my family waits in line at Veltins Arena for her appearance. I dropped them off at 7:30am for the show that starts at 7:30pm, and they were not even the first to arrive.

I arrived in Europe two weeks ago, to enjoy Budapest’s urban spa, meet friends in Bratislava, and break rules in Vienna. This brings my country count to 90, and since I started in Bangkok, and traveled via Lusaka, this will be my third time flying around Earth on the same trip.

Oh, I’ve circled the Earth a few times if you count all my miles traveled – I’m a million miler on United. Yet, I often go back and forth via the same path, rarely going all the way around this third rock from the sun in one swift direction.

I’m feeling accomplished by this little feat, but my kids couldn’t care. For them we are not here to enjoy Germany, and Taylor Swift is a great conclusion. We are going to see Taylor Swift, and Germany is a diversion. Or at least they are seeing her. While I took them to their first Swifty experience, this time, I am not invited.

That’s okay. There are plenty of things to do, like getting Taylor tattoos, drinking good beers, and surfing the English Garden – as long as you follow the rules. Hey, this is Germany after all!

Next stop is home. A welcome destination.

The Elephant Epic is a 75-kilometer perineum-punishing mountain bike ride from Lusaka to the Zambezi River in Zambia. Over 180 people rode it yesterday – an annual human migration that many Zambians we passed think is mad. I think they may have a point.

The racecourse is mostly downhill, which matters greatly when you’re on a bicycle. However, the path taken is really three separate courses.

First, there is 37km of tarmac and graded dirt roads that a best ridden on a road bike. Because road bikes are made for roads. Mountain bikes are not, leaving this stretch long, slow, and boring, broken up by teams jamming to tunes and easy downhill glides.

Next is the real mountain biking experience I yearn for. We followed a mix of single track and rutted 4×4 roads that featured The Mother. And she was a mother all right. This climb is straight from a thigh-burning, breath-gasping hell that was way too steep to ride. Loose gravel made it hard to walk, harder yet to push a bicycle up the hill.

At the top of Mother was a welcomed rest stop. Big thanks to Niner Juliet Logistics for their setup of the best food on the Elephant Epic course: egg and bacon breakfast sandwiches. I was ready to eat a second one when Terry called on me to join him for the downhill.

Flying downhill on Mother is a whole other experience. This is the mountain biking I love. Riding right on the edge of my skill level, constantly reminding myself: safety over speed! Still, I pumped my breaks, hoping they didn’t overheat as I dropped quickly in altitude to the flat lands of the lower Zambezi.

Finally, the last 25 km was a long, boring stretch of sandy, hot trail that I raced to complete. I dreamed of the finish line after every turn, only to be met by more sun, wind, and drought-stricken lands daring me to stop.

I was overjoyed to reach the finish in four hours, per my Strava, or 4.5 hours if you include the needed first and second rest stops. Either way, in the top 15 for the over 50 crowd. An ice-cold Mosi rewarded my efforts and quenched my thirst for closure to Elephant Epic 2024.

I’m proud to announce that USAID/Zambia is hiring a Zambian Digital Development Advisor to replace me. This is an awesome development. It shows the Mission is committed to digital development for the long term, and they will have a staff person able to dive into the minutia of ICT4D on a daily basis.

A clear shift to local tech4good expertise also means I can be public in my job search for the first time in 20 years.

Hire Me! I’m looking for a new job

I love my work designing a potential activity (that’s USAID speak for writing an RFP) for USAID/Zambia. I am also leading global AI efforts at USAID. Yet the 50% travel to Zambia is hard on my body and my family.

I’m looking to start a new role in October 2024 that builds on my comprehensive experience and has the following attributes. As you read this wish list, know it’s just that, a wish list. Like with job ads themselves, this is an idealized vision and subject to negotiation.

My employment wish list:

• Lead a team – I loved leading teams to success at Deloitte, IntraHealth, and Inveneo, and my direct reports say I’m a good leader too. Management by objective and treating staff like you want to be treated really does inspire high-performing teams. Being an independent contributor is faster but doesn’t have the same camaraderie and impact.
• Promote tech to achieve development outcomes – I trust you know me as a digital development leader in new and emerging technology. Did you also know I am deep into AI overall, with multiple GenAI technology and methodology accomplishments? If not, how can I express that better?
• Work across sectors  – I can go deep in health, education, agriculture, economic development, democracy & governance, etc.  Yet I also believe there are many commonalities across sectors. We work in complex, interdependent systems and we to build collaborative interventions to reflect this reality.
• Win proposals – I love the hunt and the win, and I have a long record of business development success – over $20 million per year. I also know all the gory sausage-making details that go into USAID procurements and I am deep into OAA rules and regulations for acquisition awards.
• Be innovative – I’ve learned that the larger the company, often the slower it moves. So you may have more resources, but paradoxically, it’s harder for you to get things done. I’m thinking of either working in a small firm or in a purposely innovative section of a larger company where my entrepreneurial spirit can lead us to new markets and faster growth.
• Global impact – I’d love to stay in international development in some capacity. It doesn’t have to be in the USAID/implementing partner world – recently I’m excited by private foundations – but I am not sure I’d survive on domestic impact alone. I’ve been to 87 countries so far and would love to see new ones.
• Remote or hybrid – I promised my family we’re not leaving Chapel Hill until the kids graduate high school in 2028, but I can travel up to 30% domestic or internationally, including going into the office. Working remotely should not be an issue – I’ve been leading remote, globally-dispersed teams since 2004, and I have a great track record of managing up and across from afar.

So, whatcha think? Know of any roles like this – existent or potential? Got any pointers or opinions on these themes? Or should I be going in a whole other direction?

What happens when you fly one million miles on United Airlines? This is my experience reaching lifetime Star Alliance Gold status.

Before 1 Million Miles: Nothing

I’ve been tracking the One Million Miler goal on United Airlines Mileage Plus program for a few years now. I was close back in 2019 when I reached 85 countries, then COVID hit and I changed jobs, and I didn’t fly a single United flight for 4 years.

Now I have a job with a RDU-EWR-JNB-LUN commute every month, so the One Million Miler goal came back into focus.

I knew I would cross 1 million miles on somewhere over the Atlantic on my birthday. I bought a normal economy ticket thanks to US government procurement rules, but I did buy an upgrade to Premium Plus, which was only offered to me via miles vs. cash. Big difference: cash upgrades clear immediately, miles upgrades clear nearer to the flight.

I felt confident that United would clear my upgrade as they had in the past, or best case, see that I was about to be 1 million miler and that Friday was also my birthday, and upgrade me to Polaris – the new business class seats on United flights. HAHAHAHAHA! As if.

One Million Miler Pre-Flight: Something

Thursday night, I start to board my flight and I’m still in Economy Plus, sans upgrade. At least I’m in Exit Row, which is survivable. During boarding, I came out of the bathroom to see someone in my seat and the flight attendant asking them, “Are you Wayan?” I quickly counter that I am Wayan, not this imposter, who is quickly directed back into the bowels of Economy.

The flight attendant then says, “You’re gonna make 1 million miles on this trip!”, and hands me janky plastic wings and a bottle of water. Yes, I was very, very disappointed. After one million butt-in-seat miles, all I got was a generic plastic pin, which probably retails for $1.99.

She then said, “Its not like Up in the Air, eh?” To which I commented that had Scott Kirby magically appeared at that moment – Pow! Right in the kisser! The flight attendant laughed and agreed.

One Million Miler Flight: Free Drinks

A bit later, she invited me to go into the cockpit, which was a fun treat. I was able to meet the pilots and I sat in the captain’s chair. While I was there, we talked weather and routes to Johannesburg (I know this one by heart). Then they gave me an actual Million Miller coin. Now that was cool!

I don’t know if they knew I was on the flight, or hand one handy, or if that was actually the pilot’s coin. Regardless, it is metal and hefty. Not sure what I’ll do with it – any ideas?

I then went back to my Economy Plus seat. I did check that all the Polaris and Premium Plus seats were taken, so I couldn’t complain too loudly about not being upgraded. Still, I was 1st on the upgrade wait list. Ugh.

Side note: I really hate the new pay-to-play United Airlines Mileage Plus tiers. I miss qualifying for 1K status on flight miles versus the new focus on airline ticket prices. Flying in international development, I will never reach high status again – 1K currently requires $19,000 in airline ticket purchases per year! United Airlines doesn’t have a “mileage” program anymore.

The flight itself was meh. I really wanted Premium Plus with its larger TVs, better food, and free drinks. However, before I could feel sorry for myself for flying Economy Plus on my birthday, the flight attendant hooked me up with free drinks for 14 hours.

United Airlines Fails 1 Million Milers

The flight attendant was the best part of United Airline’s craptastic treatment of million milers. If this milestone is coming up for you, set your expectations low. Like at zero recognition from United. Still, be sure to befriend the flight attendant. They will make all the difference in your flight. United Airlines itself doesn’t care.

At least I now get Star Alliance Gold status for life (or until United screws us again), which means I get access to good lounges overseas. Sadly, my ass is still flat from too many economy seat flights.

Fifty-one years ago, I came screaming into this world. By some cultures, that makes me 52 today. Either way, I don’t feel a half-century old. I certainly don’t think of myself as 51. That is until I see a selfie of some old guy who looks like me.

Then I remember the many orbits around the sun I’ve made, and I wonder which of my decades I enjoyed the most?

Was it the early decade, before I was 10, that is all but a blur to me now? Of memories told to me by others, reinforced by photographs, of the South Pacific, South America, and the Southwest USA. I know I lived out of a backpack for most of this time, but other details escape me.

Could it be the next decade, my teens, when I did all manner of smart and stupid things growing up in South Florida? I remember many escapades, and thankfully I cannot remember all, as I came of age on the beach, in the sun, and swinging a hammer.

My twenties were wild. I moved to the big city, DC, and then to Russia, China, and other countries, as I married, divorced, and lived life to to the fullest. A clear memory – looking at a magazine page I’d torn out and saved that listed all the key dance club cities in the world. I’d been to most of them by 27.

In my thirties, I settled down as a husband, father, and homeowner. I came into myself then, confident in who I am and what I do. At least, that’s how I feel now, looking back on my younger self. I don’t remember anything but pure scrambling to do the right thing at the time.

The last decade, my forties, was invested in building on the activities of my thirties. I raised kids, amassed (modest) wealth, and built a strong family, community, and career. I like to think of it like that anyway. If I hand a mid-life crisis that decade, then the stress of COIVD surely erased that indulgence.

Now I look forward to the next twenty or thirty years I’ll get in this life – God willing. What will I do now? What is next for me? The near-term is easy. For this decade I have teens to raise and guide into the world. A loving wife that will hold my hand. Home and health to protect.

But what then? In the decade hence of my sixties. What does one do once children are adults? Once work has retired? Once we are free to rediscover the joys of youth wasted on the young? If I am so lucky to have many retirement years to navel-gaze, what will I see? What will I find? Do I want it to be found?

A few questions I ponder at fifty-one. Might you have answers? Cheers if you do!

Now I do my best to dodge bushes, branches, and hidden boulders while biking across FR27 for two hours. Surprisingly, I am not alone.

Forest Reserve 27 Farmers

Around every turn and on every hill, local Zambians are turning the soil and planing peas and corn (maize).  They are not out here for fun like me. They are planting food they intend to eat as a survival tactic.

Sadly, there are also Zambians out here to chop down trees. They are making charcoal, the main heat source for cooking, from the very trees that shade the ground, hold the soil, and help moderate the climate.

Please support FR27 rangers like I do. Scenes like this are heartbreaking.

Forest Reserve 27 Flowers

Yet there are reasons to be happy. Farmer trails are awesome for mountain biking and FR27 is very close to my hotel. I can taxi out to the start, ride for two hours, and then have a quick zip home in time for breakfast. All the while, I see the beauty that is Zambia.

With the rains, plants are billowing forth with new growth and amazing flowers. I’m told that this year is a bumper crop of fire lilies. Here’s a stunning flowering tree – any idea what it is?

Swoosh! I fly down the hills outside of Lusaka, with a smile on my face and my hands on the breaks – but only lightly! I am finally really enjoying mountain biking in a country that’s not known for good single-track trails – or at least I haven’t found them yet.

I’m spoiled with Carolina North Forest in my Chapel Hill backyard. There, the trails twist, turn, and jump in ways that always feel new and challenging. Here in Lusaka, there are great trail treats – like a waterfall! – but overall, the rides feel pedestrian in comparison to North Carolina.

I Hate Acacia Thorns

Just as I started to have fun, just as I swooshed past villages and farms, just as I turned down a rutted trail, I heard the dreaded “Pssssst” sound of my tires deflating. I braked hard, flipped over my handlebars, and landed on dirt and rocks. Luckily, I was unhurt, but looking at my bicycle tires, they had multiple acacia thorns sticking out of them at odd angles.

I patched six holes in both tubes over the next hour, but still the tyres would not hold air. I had more holes than patches, and I gave up. Looking at my Strava map, I had a two hour walk in any direction to find a paved road and my way home. So there wasn’t anything to do but to do it. Off I went, walking hot and dusty trails I should’ve been flying along on my bike.

Hitchhiking Home

When I finally came to a quarry, I looked pitiful and hopeful to the trucks leaving it for destinations unknown. The second truck slowed, stopped, and welcomed me aboard. The driver and his two friends added my bike to their load, and myself to their cab, for the long slow drive back to Lusaka.

Five hours after I left my hotel, I was back home, with my double flats. That’s when I found my backup tubes were Schrader valves, not Presta, and would not fit in my rims. Now I’m double flat, hoping to find 29 inch self-sealing Presta tubes, or tubeless supplies before next weekend’s ride in Forest 27.