Praemeenah Poobalan

I had the pleasure of working closely with Praemeenah, and I can’t speak highly enough of her professionalism and character. She’s a true team player—always approachable, generous with her time, and ready to support others without hesitation. Her coordination skills are top-notch, especially when it comes to rolling out digital solutions and managing cross-functional initiatives. Praemeenah brings a calm and positive energy to every situation, even under pressure, and consistently goes the extra mile to ensure things get done right. Her strong business acumen, flexibility, and ability to adapt quickly make her an invaluable asset to any team. I genuinely enjoyed working with her and would recommend her without reservation.

Praem joined our team last year and helped us immensely coordinate and implement our ongoing global rollout of Partner Connect by quickly becoming a technical expert, and through continual engagement and support to COs. She is a dedicated professional and fast learner, able to jump into ongoing work and contribute as well as a considerate and collaborative team member.

While working at WFP, Praem was both my colleague and my supervisor. We worked together in the areas of cash assistance, digital transformation, and beneficiary management. She demonstrated excellent management skills, the ability to operate effectively at different levels, and a strong capacity to deliver results. She successfully transitioned from more technical roles to advisory positions and integrated seamlessly into different teams. She brings extensive humanitarian experience, complemented by experience in the private sector and entrepreneurship. I would highly recommend Praem for any assignment in project management.

I have worked with Praem on a few projects at the World Food Programme. She is conscientious, organized, and very focused in organization’s mission to change and save lives. Praem and I set up a community of practice for Identity Management experts, who were based in the field. She was always the note-taker, and made sure to keep the team on task. Although we worked in different parts of the world, I always felt like I could reach out to Praem whenever I needed her support on a project. She is a great team player, while also making sure that each individual’s work is highlighted. It is for these reasons and more that I would recommend Praem for any role, wholeheartedly and without reservation.

I know Praem for the past seven years, initially as my supervisor in her capacity as the cash and systems team lead in WFP Ethiopia Country Office, and later as my informal career mentor and friend whom I consulted for my personal growth and development endeavors. Specifically on the career front, I knew Praem for having an amazing combination of both the programmatic (specifically cash based interventions) and system related knowledge and skill sets, and for her superb understanding of the overall programmatic as well as technical workstreams WFP implements across the globe, (which I believe has helped her to easily navigate through both programme and TEC career paths until recently). While she managed both the CBT and Systems workstreams in the Ethiopia country office, she also effectively guided and capacitated her teams. I know Praem for her great team building and team management ability, and especially her warm and approachable personality, making it easy to learn from, and collaborate with. Her interpersonal skills both at work and beyond, has definitely contributed to her building strong, motivated teams that pursue goals with genuine interest and positive energy.

I had the pleasure of working with Praem during her time as Programme Officer in Algeria Country Office. She consistently demonstrated strong skills in navigating multilingual and multicultural environments with professionalism and cultural sensitivity. Her coordination with colleagues and partners was always smooth, efficient, and highly productive. She communicates clearly, collaborates openly, and ensures that everyone is aligned and engaged. In stressful periods, Praem remained calm and focused, providing encouragement and stability to the team. Her positive attitude and leadership under pressure were truly valuable.