ANITA COWDELL
Salt Lake City,UT
Summary
Global humanitarian and operations leader with 20+ years of experience leading programs across 60+ countries. Proven track record delivering measurable impact, including process improvements and reducing financial discrepancies from 80% to 3%. Ability in financial governance, systems design, analytics, and cross-functional leadership. Passionate about empowering individuals through self-reliance and sustainable development.
Overview
23
23
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Assistant Manager for Planning and Development
Sanvez Corp
Guayaquil, Ecuador
- Assisting in Planning and Implementation of Strategic BU Educational Units from Kindergarten-Primary-High School,Univ.
- Developing organizational structure to outline and direct rules, roles, and responsibilities.
Cost Accounting Manager
Nobis Corporation
- Improved efficiency by 60%.
Finance Manager
ESDALSA
- Led financial planning.
Humanitarian Consultant | Program Development Leader | Operations Support Manager
Welfare Self-Reliance Department
01.2023 - Current
- Lead SMB and livelihood programs across 60+ countries, supporting thousands of participants.
- Provide leadership across 10 regions, aligning strategy and execution.
- Built Power BI dashboards, improving executive visibility and decision-making.
- Ensured audit readiness and compliance across global operations.
- Designed scalable systems with NGOs and ICS partnerships.
International Operations Support Manager
PEF & Benson Scholarships
01.2016 - 01.2023
- Directed full lifecycle loan operations (application to repayment) across global programs.
- Reduced loan approval turnaround time through workflow redesign.
- Standardized global processes improving scalability and consistency.
- Delivered global training and mentoring to regional teams.
- Innovation & Customer Experience Leadership
- Designed SLA frameworks improving response times and accountability.
- Built FAQ systems reducing support inquiries.
- Improved end-to-end participant experience globally.
- Systems & Analytics Contributions
- Developed business requirements with ICS for global systems.
- Built Power BI dashboards enabling executive insights.
- Participated in QA/UAT ensuring system effectiveness.
Financial Analyst
PEF
01.2014 - 01.2016
- Improved global financial processes by 60%.
- Developed dashboards and analytical reporting tools.
- Resolved complex financial issues across regions.
Accountant II
Global Service Center
01.2011 - 01.2014
- Reduced discrepancies from 80% to 3% through improved controls.
- Trained global teams on systems and processes.
Regional Sales Manager
Golden Bear And Texaco Corporation
01.2003 - 01.2005
- Led 25-person team, achieved 80% targets.
- Success in building, directing, and motivating a high-performing regional sales team.
- Increased operational efficiency to remain cost-effective while maintaining quality service.
- 60% reduction of financial discrepancies to minimize
Education
MBA - International Business Management
UNIR
SpainMPA - undefined
UNIR
SpainBS - Accounting
Brigham Young University
BA - Business Administration
Universidad Laica
Technical in Banking and Marketing
Albert Einstein University
Skills
- Global Leadership
- Financial Governance
- Data Analytics (Power BI)
- Systems Design
- Cross-functional Leadership
- Training & Capacity Building
- NGO Partnerships
- SLA & Escalation Design
Certification
- Business & Data Analytics. Harvard University Merton Business School
- Leadership for Innovation. Oxford University
- Project Management and Implementation UNIR/PMI
Languages
English & Spanish
ADDITIONAL EXPERIENCE
- Customer Service Team Lead — Global Service Center
- Led customer service operations and escalation workflows.
- Distribution & Operations Support — Humanitarian Programs
- Coordinated global logistics and distribution operations.
- Entrepreneurship & Consulting
- Co-Founder, ABEC (2020–Present): Led strategy and operations.
- Consultant, Hinet (2017–2019): Business operations consulting.
- Founder, Direcompras (2007–2016): Startup advisory and procurement optimization.
- Cost Accounting Manager — Nobis Corporation: Improved efficiency by 60%.
- Finance Manager — ESDALSA: Led financial planning.
Timeline
Humanitarian Consultant | Program Development Leader | Operations Support Manager
Welfare Self-Reliance Department
01.2023 - Current
International Operations Support Manager
PEF & Benson Scholarships
01.2016 - 01.2023
Financial Analyst
PEF
01.2014 - 01.2016
Accountant II
Global Service Center
01.2011 - 01.2014
Regional Sales Manager
Golden Bear And Texaco Corporation
01.2003 - 01.2005
Assistant Manager for Planning and Development
Sanvez Corp
Cost Accounting Manager
Nobis Corporation
Finance Manager
ESDALSA
MPA - undefined
UNIR
BS - Accounting
Brigham Young University
BA - Business Administration
Universidad Laica
Technical in Banking and Marketing
Albert Einstein University
MBA - International Business Management
UNIR