Ambassador Isaiah Z. Chabala

                                               Member of the Board of Directors

Education

Columbia University, School of International Affairs, New York City, United States  1991: Master's degree in International Affairs

Bath University, United Kingdom 1983: Post-Graduate diploma in Fiscal Studies

International Monetary Fund (IMF) Institute, Washington DC, USA 1981:  Certificate in Public Finance

Oxford University, St. Peter's College, United Kingdom 1971: Post-Graduate Foreign Service Studies

University of Zambia, Lusaka 1969: Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and French

Professional Experience

2000 - to the present

International Consultant, President and Chief Executive Officer, Visionary Consulting  Associates, Inc., New York, U.S.A.

Our organization and Associates have expertise and experience in programs such as:  sustainable development; grass-roots development; poverty alleviation; gender equality; education and empowerment of women and girls; participatory interventions; community-based and self-help programs; sustainable microfinance services for poor and vulnerable groups; HIV/AIDS prevention; health and wellness promotion: regional cooperation and integration strategies; economic and bilateral cooperation, including cooperation between transit, coastal and landlocked countries; Least Development Countries; financial and budgetary issues; democratic governance; peace and security;  promoting international cooperation for meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs); the United Nations and other international organizations.

Business Development Consultant, Pickering & Associates, LLC, Elgin, Illinois

Consultant and Strategic Partner, InternetSpeech, San Jose, California

Senior Advisor, DaMina Advisors, LLP, New York, New York

International Consultant, Starkey Hearing Foundation, Eden Prairie, Minnesota

President & CEO, Visionary Empowerment, Inc., New York, New York.  The corporation breaks the cycle of poverty, gender inequality and vulnerability to HIV in Zambia and other countries by providing residents with access to: education and knowledge; health services; life-skills; computer, business and entrepreneurship skills; and microfinance services. 

Founder and Project Promoter, Visionary Skills Training Centre for women and girls, particularly AIDs orphans and widows, in Mansa, Zambia. More than 500 trained in sustainable business skills.

Representative and Special Advisor of Play Soccer Corporation  to the United Nations, a non-profit corporation, based in New Jersey, U.S.A., providing life skills training to boys and girls from vulnerable communities in six  African countries (Cameroon, Ghana, Malawi, Senegal, South Africa and Zambia), for health, physical and social development, as well as non-formal education.

 2001-2003:  Executive Director, International Trust for the Education of Zambian Orphans, Lusaka, Zambia

 1995-2000:

Ambassador to Belgium and, concurrently, to France, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal and Spain, based in Brussels, Belgium.   Served as one of the ACP negotiators of the Cotonou Partnership Agreement between the African, Caribbean and Pacific States (ACP) and the European Union (EU), Brussels, Belgium

Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the European Union, Brussels, Belgium

Member of the Joint ACP/ European Union Bureau of Ambassadors and ACP/ European Union Bureau of the Parliamentary Assembly, Brussels, Belgium

Chairman of the African Group of States, Brussels, Belgium

Chairman of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), Brussels, Belgium

Dean and Regional Coordinator of Southern African Ambassadors, Brussels, Belgium

Permanent Representative to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and to the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Rome, Italy

Permanent Delegate to UNESCO, Paris, France

1993-1995:  Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva, Switzerland and Vienna, Austria

1988-1993: Ambassador and Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, New York

• Minister/Counselor and Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations
• Alternative Representative to the United Nations Security Council
• Representative to the United Nations Economic and Social Council
• Representative to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights
• Representative to the Second, Third and Fifth Committees of the General Assembly
• Vice Chairman, United Nations Educational and Training Program for Southern Africa (UNETPSA)
• Vice-Chairman, Committee on Program and Coordination

1980-1987:  Under-Secretary, Budget Office and Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Lusaka, Zambia. Duties included preparation of annual budgets and ministerial statements.

Director of Economic and Technical Cooperation, National Commission for Development Planning, Lusaka, Zambia. Duties included coordination and negotiation of agreements with development cooperation partners, ensuring transparency and accountability through regular monitoring and evaluation with a view to efficient and effective utilization of donor/ partner funds.

Deputy Permanent Secretary (Economics and Finance), and Speech Writer to the Prime Minister, Office of the Prime Minister, Cabinet Office, Lusaka, Zambia

Economic Adviser, Office of the Secretary-General of the governing Party (on secondment from the Civil Service), Lusaka, Zambia

 1973-1979:

Counselor (Economic and Social Affairs), Zambia Mission to the United Nations, New York
First Secretary (Economics and Financial Affairs), Zambia Mission to the United Nations, New York

Liaison Officer, United Nations-Zambia Assistance Program, United Nations Secretariat, New York. Duties included drafting and negotiating resolutions aimed at mobilizing international assistance to alleviate the adverse impact of the closure of Zambia's border with Southern Rhodesia in compliance with United Nations sanctions imposed against the illegal regime of Southern Rhodesia.

Representative to the Economic and Financial Committee of the United Nations General Assembly

Representative to the United Nations Economic and Social Council

Delegate to the Executive Board, United Nations Children's Fund

Delegate to the Governing Council, United Nations Development Program

First Secretary (Economic and Contingency Affairs), Zambia High Commission, Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania

1969-1973: Principal and Executive Officer, Economic and Technical Cooperation, Department of International Organizations, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Lusaka, Zambia

Professional activities and memberships

Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs Alumni Association, New York

• Microfinance Working Group, SIPA, Columbia University

Visionary Empowerment Trust (VET), Founder, Lusaka, Zambia. The primary project goal of VET is to empower women and girls, in particular orphans and widows, to sustain themselves through education, health, business and life-skills training and access to microfinance, in order to combat poverty, gender inequality and vulnerability to HIV/AIDS and other diseases.

Hidden Voice Centre for Handicapped Children, Board of Trustees Member, Lusaka, Zambia

Member of the Advisory Board, Global Alliance for Women's Health (GAWH), in consultative status with the United Nations, New York

Voices of African Mothers, Inc. (VAM), Member of the International Advisory Board, in consultative status with the United Nations, New York

International Youth Council, Member of the Advisory Board, New York 

Love's Harvest, Member, St. Bartholomew's Mpawa Village Project in Malawi. A new Global

Outreach Initiative of St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church, New York

Innovation: Africa, Member of the Advisory Board, New York. Our mission: Bringing Sustainable Israeli Technologies to African Villages

United States Foundation for Peace in the Middle East, Member of the Honorary Board of United Nations Ambassadors

The National Arts Club: Educational Initiative of Archeology Committee, Member of the Advisory Board, New York

Cubraiti: a multi-cultural organization in special consultative status with the United Nations, President of the Advisory Board, New York

Manhattan Together, Member, a congregation-based project composed of 30 inter-faith and non-profit organizations in New York that focuses on critical themes of improving affordable housing, improving the quality of public education, and increasing opportunities for immigrants

Conferences and Meetings

Participated in many international and regional conferences and meetings during a 40-year professional career in international relations, public service and, currently, international consulting.