You’re a resourceful and dedicated aid worker who wants to have a positive impact on the world.
And yet, you know you can do better.
Right now you may feel as if you’re blocked from performing at your best (or supporting your team in performing at its best).
You know that you need something from your current environment that you’re not getting. Sometimes you know exactly what, sometimes you can’t name exactly what that is.
The reality is that there are many challenges that come with this career choice.
With Aid Worker Support, individuals and teams acquire the skills and tools they need to better manage the challenging issues they confront, improving their work-life balance and giving their personal and professional life greater meaning and happiness.
We’re Charles Vincent and Kenden Alfond, a husband and wife team currently living in rural Cambodia.
As former aid workers, we have a combined 35 years of international humanitarian experience in field and headquarters environments.
Aid Worker Support started in 2011 from our observation that there is a need in the aid worker community for support outside the system.
Our vision is to provide support for aid workers worldwide—in the field, headquarters, or in transition.
We believe there are no small projects or insignificant improvements.
About Kenden Alfond
CO-FOUNDER
Kenden Alfond worked for six years with the United Nations and NGOs in the field and in headquarters. She holds an MA in Psychology, and is a certified co-active coach. Kenden also is a certified Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (a form of therapy aimed at relieving and resolving PTSD and chronic stress). When she’s not serving Aid Worker clients, Kenden operates a lifestyle site for Jewish women, Jewish Food Hero.
About Charles Vincent
Co-Founder
Charles Vincent started his career in the United Nations as a volunteer with the World Food Programme (WFP). He remained with WFP for 28 years, ending his career as a Director (D2). During his tenure as an international civil servant, he managed some of WFP’s toughest and largest humanitarian operations. He holds an MS in international agricultural development and is accredited as a coach for individuals and team development facilitator. Charles was awarded the French Legion of Honor in 2011 and the Haverford College Alumni Award for Lifetime Service to Humanity in 2013. When he’s not serving Aid Worker clients, Charles is the Founder and President of the International French School in Battambang, Cambodia.
Our coaching and consulting practices draw on a wide range of training, tools, and experiences, including:
Certified Individual Coach from Coaches Training Institute (CTI)
Certified Somatic Experiencing Practitioner
Masters in International Agricultural Development from UC Davis
Masters in Psychology from Naropa University
Certificate in Plant-Based Nutrition from Cornell University
35 years of combined experience in humanitarian aid work and international development, working in over 20 countries
5 years of training and coaching individuals
4 years of training and coaching teams
12 years of providing psychotherapy for individuals
Certified Team Coach from Team Coaching International (TCI)
Some of Our Valued Career Highlights
Recovering US$30,000 stolen from a poor community in Haiti and providing seeds and educational material with the recovered funds.
Conceptualizing and operating a Joint Programme for HIV prevention for truck drivers and sex workers in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Sitting in a hot spring in a small hut with an open roof at the end of the Wakhan corridor in the Pamir watching the Milky Way.
Stimulating small farmers production by starting local food procurement in several countries.
Creating an operational manual on Protection for Homeless Women With Mental Illness for a national NGO in India.
Improving railroad, lake, and river transport in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Including women’s special livelihoods, economic needs, and psycho-social needs resulting from years of armed violence in the Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration Programme in Afghanistan.