International Program and Partnerships Specialist

ABV is an international development agency with nearly 4 decades of experience supporting sustainable and inclusive economic growth in Australia and the Asia Pacific Region.

From our beginnings as part of the Australian Aid program in 1981, Australian Business Volunteers (ABV) has evolved into an innovative not-for-profit leveraging the skills and experience of several hundred of our Skilled Business Professionals who donate their time alongside our small team of salaried staff to create lasting change in our region. Together we source opportunities throughout Asia Pacific and in Australia to work in partnership with corporates and deliver impactful corporate social responsibility programs. We guarantee sustainable outcomes for communities, through strengthening small businesses and not for profits, leading to poverty alleviation.

ABV is unique in that as an international development agency we are skilled in business management and facilitation skills, supported through our ABV team and that of our skilled business professionals to support our mission, and the mission of our partners. Our skilled business professionals are donating their time and expertise and as such have a powerful, and life changing approach to the service they provide. They focus on capacity building, using a strengths-based approach that is profoundly different from simply consulting on the work.

ABV is operating in a climate of ongoing change and adaptation as the landscape of international development is opening to an increasing range of stakeholders and approaches. ABV is working to leverage its history of successful capacity building and institutional strengthening to capitalise on these emerging opportunities. Critical to this challenge will be developing new partnerships, innovative program design and quality service delivery that makes a difference.

ABV currently provides mentoring and capacity building for small and medium sized enterprises (SME), institutional strengthening of government agencies that support an effective private sector, and corporate skilled volunteering engagement programs. For example, we deliver:

• A diverse business services development hub for a large resource corporate on-site
• A corporate skilled volunteering program in partnership with a number of national and global organisations
• A multi-year professional mentoring program with a regional Bank in the Pacific
• Mentoring and training programs in-situ for SME’s across the region

We are currently experiencing an exciting period of growth in our Australian and PNG-based programs facilitating community consultations and building SME capacity with a diverse program with new opportunities to work with donors, multilaterals and financial institutions around economic development, trade agreements, and a variety of business support mechanisms.