not as innovative as you think it is, and raising money is going to be impossible. You will have no economy of scale, your overhead will be disproportionately high, and adding one more tiny NGO to the overburdened international system may well make things worse instead of better." But Alanna goes on to give some advice for those who ignore her brilliant opening: go work for an existing NGO first to learn from it; identify a new funding source so you bring something new to the world; hire experienced people to work with you; your finances will probably be the most important part of your NGO. Advice from a journalist on how to do what she does. It's not so different from advice for international development. __________________ What am I missing? It seems like there should be more out there, especially on the pros/cons of various graduate school options. If you've got links to other posts, or thoughts of your own, please make liberal use of the comments section. Dave Algoso is an international development professional in Nairobi, Kenya. I've also worked in Uganda, Egypt, Kosovo, and the United States. He has a Master of Public Administration from NYU's Wagner School. Prior to grad school, Dave worked in a variety of roles in political organising, nonprofit management, and management strategy consulting. He blogs over at Find What Works. Facebook Discussion 12 Comments to "Career advice (from people smarter than me)" Great post Dave and many thanks for putting the work