Patrick Tiefenbacher

Patrick Josef Tiefenbacher (born July 21, 1970) is an Austrian development practitioner and former international civil servant. He is currently executive director of Global Goals Consulting based in Vienna and Lochau, Austria.
== Early life and education ==
Tiefenbacher was born in Bregenz, Austria, on 21 July 1970, and attended the Collegium Bernardi of the Cistercians territorial abbey Territorial Abbey of Wettingen-Mehrerau. He started studying chemistry at the University of Vienna in 1998, and his first semester coincided with the Fall of the Iron Curtain just a few kilometers east of Vienna. He was influenced by the anti-nuclear movement and grew increasingly interested in the interplay between natural sciences and social sciences in areas such as environmental protection, nuclear disarmament, and technical Emergency management. As an exchange student at Georgetown University, he gained exposure to interdisciplinary academic work, and spent a semester at RAND Corporation. in Washington, DC, as research intern and congressional liaison following the Republican Revolution in the 1994 mid-term elections. In 1995 he graduated from the University of Vienna with a Magister degree in political science, and combined courses in chemistry, physics, and philosophy of science. His thesis was titled “Nuclear Diplomacy – How the U.S. and Europe negotiate nuclear energy”. Following his military service in CBRN defense at the ABC-Abwehrschule, Tiefenbacher applied to Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University, where he graduated in 1998.
== International civil service ==
During the summer of 1997, Tiefenbacher was seconded to NATO Civil Emergency Planning Directorate in Brussels, Belgium, as the first Austrian under the Partnership for Peace program. During that time he coordinated Nato's response to the 1997 Central European flood as duty officer, which coincided with the Madrid Summit inviting the 1997 Madrid summit, Hungary and Poland to become members. Following his graduation from Columbia University, Tiefenbacher started as an intern at the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) in the environmental and global projects division. Between December 1998 and March 1998 he was part of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Kosovo Verification Mission as a humanitarian affairs verifier until the mission evacuated to Ohrid, North Macedonia. He returned to UNOPS in New York and later joined the United Nations Development Programme's Bureau of Management. During that time he developed the concept of "strategic cost management", the concepts of which were later adopted by the UN system more broadly. He also contributed to the development of results-based management in the United Nations system. Between 2007 and 2009, Tiefenbacher was seconded to the United Nations Environment Programme as adviser to incoming executive director Achim Steiner. 
=== Social entrepreneur ===
In October 2016 Tiefenbacher founded Global Goals Consulting focusing on strategic planning, project and fund design, and independent programme reviews. His work includes the development of new business models to support international development. On behalf of the Multilateral Organisations Performance Assessment Network hosted by the OECD, he participated in the first UNIDO assessment in 2017 and the UNDP assessment in 2021. 
Category:1970 births
Category:Austrian civil servants
Category:People from Bregenz District