Julie Deque — Volunteer Consultant

Julie Deque scanned the horizon as her canoe sliced through the complex maze of waterways that comprise Central America's famed Mosquito Coast. She was on a quest to identify lost strains of precious cocoa trees that might hold the key to reducing poverty for the region's struggling small-holder farmers. This was her fourth day travelling by boat from village to village listening, questioning and learning.

TechnoServe had identified the potential to develop a fine cocoa industry which could mean a better life for 20,000 smallholder farmers. Analysis had suggested that potential might exist to double farmer incomes, but this hypothesis needed to be investigated in the field. Deque's job was to check the theory against reality and recommend how to proceed.

Deque was a world away from her prior life as a business analyst at McKinsey & Company in Paris. But she was still leveraging and developing her management consultant skills, leading a team of 20 agronomists and two cocoa experts to collaborate with smallholder farmers to identify precious fine cocoa trees for future reproduction. She was also charged with determining if there was a business case for this opportunity, working with gourmet chocolate manufacturers in Europe and the United States.

"With TechnoServe, I didn't stay in the office waiting for the results," Deque says. "I went to the field; I worked with the farmers. I learned about their culture, their challenges and their aspirations. In return I taught them about identifying and capitalizing on business opportunities. The farmers I met were struggling, and I saw directly how my work could help improve their lives. This was the richest and most exciting consulting project I have ever worked on."

After finishing her assignment, Deque began her MBA studies at INSEAD. "I have long been searching for a true hope to reduce global poverty," she says. "After working with TechnoServe . . . I now know it's possible."