Guest Speaker Carla Benham has a Masters in International Community Development and degrees in Economics and Social Science, and has recently returned to Albury to live after working internationally for nine years, most recently as a Senior Accountability Advisor with World Vision UK.  Carla is an expert on establishing community feedback and response systems in development and humanitarian disaster relief operations which have extended across Asia, the Pacific, Middle East and East Africa Regions. For the past seven years her professional focus has been on building organisational architecture, culture and staff competencies to effectively listen and respond to community feedback, so that resources intended for these communities are used in their best interest. Drawing on 2013’s Super Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines as an example, Carla presented on how Aid agencies prepare, respond and eventually transition out of
disaster response. In each of these phases, good intentions aren’t enough. How Aid agencies share information with communities and listen and respond to their priorities and concerns is integral to successes.