Myn Garcia comes to the Commonwealth Foundation with extensive and multidisciplinary experience in International Development and Communication. Most recently, she was the Director- Development of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) funded Afghanistan Technical Assistance Program (ATAP) and was based in Kabul, Afghanistan.

This follows the post as the Canadian Field Program Manager of the CIDA funded Local Governance Support Program in the Autonomous Regional of Muslim Mindanao (LGSPA) in Southern Philippines. From 2001-2006, she was the Communication and Peace Advisor of the flagship governance program of CIDA in the Philippines- the Local Government Support Program Phase II (LGSP II).

In her work in development, she drew on her areas of expertise in democracy and governance, peace building, gender, cultural diversity, communications for development, social marketing and advocacy, capacity development and knowledge management. She has solid experience in participatory governance, which includes strengthening civil society engagement with government and facilitating community consultations, dialogue and mobilisation. She has worked with national and local governments, civil society organisations, international organisations, academia, media and the private sector in Canada, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan. Her work in the NGO and private sectors included serving as Program Manager of the Laurier Institution, a non-governmental Canadian policy think-tank based in Vancouver, BC working on the economic and social impact of cultural diversity and peace.

Myn has an MA in Communication and Development from Simon Fraser University School of Communication in British Columbia, Canada. She has authored/co-authored, edited and published a number of books on governance, capacity development and knowledge management. She has also produced multi-media public education and advocacy campaigns for peace, access to justice and HIV and AIDS.

Taking up her post as Deputy Director on 14 May, Ms Garcia will have responsibility for Programmes, Grants and the integration of results based management across the organisation. She will join the Foundation’s Senior Management Team at a time when the organisation is pressing ahead with the re-launch that was mandated by Commonwealth Heads of Government in Perth.

On announcing the appointment, Commonwealth Foundation Director Vijay Krishnarayan said: “Myn Garcia brings a considerable breadth of experience to the Commonwealth Foundation. Her previous work in multidisciplinary programme management will be important in helping the Foundation to deploy its resources and build new partnerships in support of Commonwealth principles and priorities.”

Ms Garcia said: This is an exciting time to be joining the Commonwealth Foundation. It’s an organisation that is central to the future of the Commonwealth, placing as it does people-to-people connections and cooperation at the heart of its work. As the Commonwealth’s agency for culture I also believe it has an important role to play in peace building and international understanding and look forward to contributing my experience to those efforts.