A system for growing TreesFor over two years I was lucky enough to permanently locate to Kenya and explore its breathtaking landscapes and learn about its beautiful people. The majority of this time I served as a director for Komaza: a social enterprise that implements small-scale tree farming with rural farmers. I developed monitoring & evaluation systems and business management systems for the organization, mostly from scratch. This entailed studying methods for collecting social and forestry data; constructing a back-end system to store it; and implementing all the tools to process, interpret, and disseminate this information to key decisions makers. I implemented business and GIS systems to combine this information with other spatial and temporal data sets so that the organization could better understand correlations in prolific tree growth, areas of high mortality, and general trends among our thousands of distinct tree farms.
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Management And Growth |
When I began there was one other guy on my team [a local who I had just hired] and an intern who only had a month left on his contract. There was an access database full of bad data and slowly collecting dust. There was a massive pile of basic IT work needed to be done, not considering this monumental mgmt system that needed to be built.
By the time I left my team had blossomed to almost a dozen people, not including the dozens of other field staff now using the new system. Data was cleansed and transferred to a virtual system capable of agile development of the organization's workflows. New processes and technologies for field collection were implemented and staff were provided new tablets and training. A dedicated Monitoring and Evaluation department was forged and equipped with advanced training, technical forestry practice, mensuration equipment, digital devices, and motorbikes. The working foundation for the organization's management was created successfully. By design and training, I ensured that the system would remain adaptable for future changes, scale-able for growth, and easy to use for various employees throughout the organization. |
From the Founder |
"Travis is a professional rock star. I worked with him for 2 years as his direct supervisor, though he worked very independently. Travis designed and built our IT department and MIS capabilities from scratch, including back-end database and front-end mobile phone reporting platform. In addition to being super smart and hardworking, he's also got high EQ and soft skills -- he's a stellar team player and inspiring mentor to those he manages. I'd hire him back in a heartbeat, and recommend him most highly to anyone considering working with him." - Tevis Howard, C.E.O. and founder of Komaza
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