Shumon Sengupta (PFM 1989-91) is an International Development Professional with over three decades of experience in leadership and management positions with International NGOs in Asia and Africa.
He is currently working with Concern Worldwide as Country Director, South Sudan. It is an international humanitarian organization dedicated to tackling poverty and suffering in the world’s poorest countries. He has expertise in managing a wide and complex portfolio of projects and programs in Public Health covering RMNCAH, Family Planning, HIV AIDS, and Infant and Young Child nutrition. He has worked successfully with Governments, bilateral and multilateral donors, national and international NGOs, the private sector, and the media. Before joining Concern Worldwide, he has also worked as Country Director (Laos) with Save The Children, UK.
In addition to his experience in downstream program management, Shumon has worked extensively on upstream advocacy, Policy Change, and Health Sector Reform work, the latter including Health Systems Strengthening, Private Sector Support, and PPP. He is a voracious reader, loves music, and is an avid traveler. He is also into fine and performing arts, gastronomy, and people and culture.
LinkedIn ID –https://www.linkedin.com/in/shumon-suman-sengupta-2341621b
Q) How has been your journey from IIFM to this role?
A) Simply put, it has been one great roller coaster ride that has taken me on exciting jobs in Asia (India, Bangladesh, Laos) and Africa (Sierra Leone, Uganda, and now South Sudan), and allowed me to travel almost all over the world – on work as well as on leisure.
I started my career in India, immediately after passing out of IIFM in 1991 (yes, it was a different era). My first job was with the Agricultural Finance Corporation, New Delhi. After that, I worked briefly with the Society for Promotion of Wastelands Development (SPWD) on Participatory Forest Management, before moving on to the UK Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO, erstwhile ODA and then DFID) in India, where I worked for eight long years, first as the Project Office in their Health and Population Office, and subsequently as their State Representative for West Bengal. I then worked with the International HIV/AIDS Alliance for a little over two years before proceeding on my first overseas posting as Country Director of Save the Children UK, in Bangladesh. The journey has been challenging, at the same time an exciting and deeply satisfying one; never with a dull moment.
Q) What were some of the key milestones/learning in this journey that you would like to share with us?
A) My first milestone or breakthrough was my job with DFID (now FCDO) when I shifted from Natural Resource Management to Public Health (HIV and AIDS to be specific). My second milestone was when I got promoted within DFID as their State Representative for West Bengal, which was an A3 senior management position (the highest position available to non-Europeans at that time) within DFID India. My biggest breakthrough however was when I got an overseas opportunity with Save the Children UK as their Country Director for Bangladesh. It took my career to the next level, and there has been no looking back since then.
In terms of my learnings along my journey so far, I would include the following, at the risk of sounding didactic :
Be prepared to move away from your comfort zone and take up new challenges (new jobs in new contexts). You are much more competent than what you know yourself to be and have way more potential than you think you do. So, push yourself, and don’t be afraid of risks – embrace them with a sense of awareness. For me, moving to Sierra Leone from Laos was beyond pushing my comfort zone. It was a leap of faith.
Your role is more important than your designation. After all, you are not in the military or in the bureaucracy.
The development sector is not a hierarchical space in a strict sense – so don’t hesitate to step back and take up a relatively junior position (compared to your current one), if you think it will widen and enrich your experience, as I did, moving from a senior leadership position (in DFID) to an operational management position in an INGO (the International HIV/AIDS Alliance). I wanted to roll up my sleeves, try out a new set of skills, and work with a new set of stakeholders. This expanded my horizon substantially and prepared me for even more senior leadership positions in the future.
Don’t stop learning. Try and diversify your skills set because that is what will be needed as you progress ahead in your career. Cultivate your intellect and try to sharpen your trans-disciplinary skills because that will give you a more holistic sense of the world around you, help you connect the dots, and see things in a new light. Though a student of none of these subjects, I have been reading about Aesthetics and Philosophy (a meta-discipline) and Physics (considered a mother science) for quite some time now, and it has helped me expand my mind significantly.
This western idea of a ‘work-life’ binary, and hence the notion of achieving so-called ‘work-life balance is a perverse/false one, for you cannot fragment your life. Your work imparts added meaning to your life, and your life lends vitality to your work. Your work is nothing but an integral aspect of your life. So, there is no such thing as ‘work’ versus ‘life’; it is only life and life.
I have learned that if I can live my life well, with awareness, my work will take care of itself as a natural consequence.
Take time out to be all by yourself, and invest in yourself. Cultivate periods of silence and solitude, pursue a hobby or an interest, try and stay physically fit, take care of your health, and eat intelligently.
The risk of burnout is real, particularly when you are operating in a high-risk, high-stress, fragile and uncertain context, as I do. Yoga, meditation, intermittent fasting, and periods of solitude have helped me with a greater sense of self-awareness, given me greater clarity regarding the external world, and enabled me to remain fit, in addition to helping me minimize stress.
Q) What is the most satisfying part of your current role?
A) Working in Africa is always exciting, particularly when you have to operate in a fragile, extremely difficult, high-risk, unpredictable context, as I currently do in South Sudan. I love the fact that I have to think on my feet and solve problems on the go, which essentially means that there is never a dull moment. Every day presents a new challenge, a new opportunity, and hence a new possibility. The fact that I am constantly pushing my boundaries and surprising myself, is deeply fulfilling. I am no hero, nor do I have it in me to be a martyr. But this sense of living on the edge and doing something meaningful in the process is probably the most satisfying part of my current role.
Moreover, I find working in diverse multi-multicultural, multi-ethnic teams deeply satisfying, because it is so much more fun, and enriching. Having 27 international staff (seven different nationalities) and over 400 national South Sudanese staff working with me truly makes me feel like a global citizen.
Q) Has your learning at IIFM helped in shaping how you approach your professional roles?
A) Absolutely! IIFM (in particular the case study method) taught me the basics of how to approach and tackle a problem. My two years at IIFM taught me how to think and learn, which has enabled me to work in and across various domains in the development sector – be it natural resource management, or public health, or livelihoods, or child protection, or complex emergency response. Above all, IIFM also taught me about the value of teamwork and collaboration.
At a conference on Economic Empowerment of Extreme Poor in Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Q) Who (or what) are the biggest influences or drivers in your careers? What would be your advice to freshers and IIFM graduates who are looking to choose similar sectors/roles?
A) Edward Said, Robert Chambers, Amartya Sen, Vandana Shiva, Fazle Hasan Abed, Germaine Greer, Martha Nussbaum, Rabindranath Tagore (his ideas on human and social development were truly incredible and relevant even today) and Jiddu Krishnamurti are some names that come to mind. They have taught me ways to view the world around me, and as a consequence, helped me become more self-aware. In terms of a ‘driver’, when I look into the eyes of my daughter, I feel I need to do something for the next generation and try to leave the world when it is a slightly better place than what it is today. I also feel that every child in the world deserves the same opportunities that my daughter has been privileged to have, and I need to do something, however modest it might be, towards that. Having already given quite a bit of ‘gyaan’ earlier, I guess additional advice would be to try and learn a foreign language, preferably French or Arabic if you want to work in Africa or the Middle East, or in the international development sector. And also focus on improving your verbal and written communication skills. Remain positive and optimistic, howsoever desperate, or bleak the situation might seem to be. There is always light at the end of the tunnel.
Q) What are your favorite memories during your IIFM days?
A) Some of the fondest memories from IIFM were the spontaneous picnics we used to have, and hikes we used to take to surrounding areas, in addition to discovering nooks and corners, including hidden caves and seasonal streams in the sprawling campus. We were also the pioneering batch that (along with the first batch) set up the cultural / event calendar of the Institute in addition to launching the newsletter ‘Kalpataru’.
I also remember Sandeep, Ramesh, Shivnath, Varalakshmi, Sudip, and I drop into the dining hall kitchen occasionally – giving tips to the kitchen staff and sometimes even picking up the ladle to try and make the food a bit more palatable. This eventually led to the formation of the ‘Gluttons Club’ – a club that started and ended (mercifully) with us. Another fond memory was exchanging stories and notes after returning from field placements and organization training. After all, this was before the age of mobile phones’ real-time reporting, and there was so much to share and catch up on every time we returned to the campus after being away.
Of course, the pranks we used to play on each other (particularly on April Fools’ Day), and suffering the enthusiastic albeit terrible ‘singers’ of our class, still remain etched in my memory.
Q) In hindsight, what was the biggest contribution (courses, faculty, library, friends, alumni… Anything else!!) or take away from IIFM that you think played a critical role in shaping you as an individual or professional?
A) As I mentioned earlier, IIFM helped me expand my vision and my mind, and this was the result of the batchmates I had, and the lifelong friends I made, our faculties, the course curriculum, and the pedagogy.
Q) The best buddies/seniors/faculty at IIFM? Some memorable tidbits that you like to share?
A) I remember all of us got along remarkably well with each other, and we never had any groups or cliques in that sense. Some of my batch-mates have however gone on to become lifelong family friends, while I remember all my other batch-mates equally fondly, and, given an opportunity, would love to rekindle my friendships with them. I remember being close to all my seniors, particularly with Vijay Kaul and Anjali Kaul, Manoj Dabas and Shubhra Dabas, and Lakshmi and Peter.
Q) As an alumnus, what’s your advice to freshers or those who are joining IIFM to get the best out of the 2 years there?
A) You will most probably love some subjects and be indifferent to some. Be that as it may, try and develop a healthy interest in all disciplines, and become as well-rounded as you can. And engage with your faculty, batchmates, as well as juniors and seniors as much as you can – not just in the realm of academics, but in general as well. About organization training (now called SI and Project) – try and get into something you feel passionate about, something you feel genuinely excited about, rather than thinking of the job market right away. And try to have a lot of fun while you are there. Believe me, it helps.
Q) What is your typical day at the office? (We want to know what your day job looks like?
A) As a Country Director, my typical day at the office (which is generally early) starts with taking stock and making a list of things I need to complete that day. It is followed by checking and responding to my emails. I make it a point to acknowledge receipt of each email (that requires my response), even if I plan to give the response later. I have a set of fixed weekly and monthly meetings (some of which I need to chair) that takes up a substantial part of my day, in addition to other unplanned meetings. In between, I read reports/documents, in addition to working on my own reports that I need to write.
And then quite a bit of my time is devoted to strategic representation and advocacy, budget monitoring, and general administrative tasks like authorizing payments, signing off documents, financial due diligence, and ensuring internal controls and risk management. In addition, I generally try to travel to the field for 3-7 days every month, which helps me keep in touch with the ground reality.
With colleagues at a health outreach site in Sierra Leone
Q) And how about weekends, Hobbies, Family, and anything else you want to add.
A) I read voraciously, love music (mainly Indian and Western Classical, Rabindra Sangeet, Jazz, Blues, Country, and Celtic), and am an avid traveler, ever up for an adventure. My wife – Ananya is a homemaker and our daughter Madhura, who has just passed out from Rishi Valley School is pursuing her undergraduate studies in Economics and Global Sustainable Development at the University of Warwick, UK. As a family, we are deeply into books, fine and performing arts, people and culture, gastronomy, and travel. In my spare time, I write a blog on travel http://www.world-citizen-trail.net/.
Q) Favorite Books, movies, authors
A) Too many to list, I am afraid…I am sure to leave out more than what I could include. I recently finished ‘Forever England: The Life of Rupert Brooke’ by Mike Reed and found it riveting. Right now, I am reading Kate Harris’ ‘Land of Lost Borders’. And Anthony Doerr’s ‘All the Light We Cannot See’. And I read a bit of Ruskin Bond (his deeply sensitive and lyrical description of an India that is now long gone) and Rabindranath Tagore every day. R.K. Narayan is another long-term favorite of mine, as is P. G. Wodehouse.
Q) IIFM is driven by alumni’s passion and commitments towards its goal. How would you like to contribute to IIFM or IIFM alumni students?
A) Much to my regret, I just would not have the time to engage for now. I will be happy to make financial contributions for specific causes and do my bit.
Q) What do you think is different at IIFM now vs when you studied there? What do you think is a positive change and what is not?
A) I am not fully aware of how IIFM has evolved over the years. It would be great if a course in Critical Thinking could be added. I suppose and hope that it would have gotten stronger in IT, Data Sciences, Policy, and Research. And I love the fact that Design Thinking and Emotional Intelligence are included in the curriculum.
Q) Any suggestions on who you want to get profiled/interviewed here?
A) Vemuru Varalakshmi / Anand Sinha / Kallol Mukherjee – in case they haven’t been interviewed already.