Our Team

Project and financial management professional and social protection & labor specialist with 20+ years of experience across the public sector and international development. He spent 15 years at Romania's Ministry of National Education, leading financial management and delivery for EU-funded institutional reform and human capital projects, as well as education infrastructure programs financed by IFIs.

Since 2017, he has worked with the World Bank, supporting coordination of multi-country work programs, managing large teams of experts and consultants, strengthening delivery systems, and supporting clients through evidence-based analytics and operational implementation. Over the last five years, he has supported Pacific Island Country teams by delivering labor market and gender assessments, supporting employment operations and adaptive social protection systems, and working on the ground through regular field missions.

Countries Worked

Romania; Federated States of Micronesia (FSM); Kiribati; Fiji; Tonga; plus broader Europe & Central Asia and Pacific regional support.

Core Areas of Expertise

Economist with a strong background in corporate and public finances and policies thanks to 20+ years of professional experience at multinational and supranational organizations, large exchange-listed and state-owned enterprises and central government.

In his current role at the World Bank as an international consultant, he has been involved in various labor market and social protection related projects, with recent working experience from Pacific Island Countries and Niger. His main tasks include assessment of labor markets (with a special focus on women and youth), financial inclusion and digital payments through quantitative and qualitative analysis. He has designed and implemented several complementing qualitative researches and provided technical assistance and training in developing and implementing various government-owned IT systems including social registries and public employment portals.

Countries Worked

Tonga, Kiribati, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Marshall Islands, Niger, Saudi Arabia, Hungary (with broader engagement across the Pacific).

Core Areas of Expertise

Senior international consultant specializing in results-based management, monitoring and evaluation, and institutional performance improvement, with more than three decades of experience and over 70 projects delivered across roughly 40 countries in the Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Africa.

He currently serves as a senior staff consultant with the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, leading and supporting complex operations in sectors such as education, skills development and TVET, employment services, social protection, justice and legal reform, and public sector reform and performance improvement.

His work focuses on designing and implementing projects and programs, results-based frameworks and methodologies, monitoring and evaluation systems, and business processes that strengthen government and institutional performance, often integrating automation, data science, and AI-driven tools for data management, analysis, and visualization.

Walid holds a Master of Laws (LL.M.), Postgraduate Diploma, and Postgraduate Certificate in Laws from the University of London, complemented by graduate-level studies in public administration at Carleton University and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Western Ontario. He is fluent in English, French, and Arabic, and has received multiple distinctions including World Bank performance awards in 2022 and 2024.

Countries Worked

Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Botswana, Bulgaria, Canada, Egypt, India, Iraq, Jamaica & West Indies, Jordan, Kuwait, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Malawi, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Micronesia (FSM), Pakistan, Palestine, Philippines, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovakia, Tajikistan, Thailand, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, Viet Nam, West Africa (Francophone), Yemen.

Core Areas of Expertise

Social development professional and safeguards specialist with over 20 years' experience, including 15 years working in the Pacific region. His expertise includes supporting the design of social protection systems, managing social safeguards, and ensuring resilient, inclusive development for major infrastructure projects.

Since 2016, he has advised the World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB) on implementing social protection programs and operationalizing social risk frameworks, particularly in fragile or climate-vulnerable contexts. Over the past decade, he has led technical missions, established national social service divisions, developed disability inclusion policies, and managed ESHS compliance across the Pacific.

Countries Worked

Tonga, Solomon Islands, Samoa, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Cook Islands, Tuvalu, Fiji, Vanuatu, and the USA.

Core Areas of Expertise

Dr. Giannis (Ioannis) Tzimas is a senior digital transformation and information systems expert with over 20 years of international experience at the intersection of social protection, labor markets, education, and public-sector modernization. He is a University Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of the Peloponnese (Greece).

He has extensive experience advising governments and development partners on the design and implementation of large-scale digital ecosystems, including social registries, public employment service platforms, education information systems, and data-driven decision-support tools.

He currently works as an international consultant, supporting projects across Europe and Central Asia, Africa, the Pacific, and the Caribbean, with a focus on digital service delivery, interoperability and data governance, and the application of AI to social protection, labor market, disaster risk management, and education. His work emphasizes citizen-centered digital transformation, institutional strengthening, and resilient, inclusive systems design.

He has also led and contributed to numerous investment operations, technical assistance programs, and EU-funded research projects. He holds a PhD in Computer Engineering and Informatics from the University of Patras, Greece.

Countries Worked

Romania, Ukraine, Moldova, Albania, North Macedonia, Greece, Cyprus, Switzerland, Kenya, Mozambique, Niger, China, Philippines, Tonga, Samoa, Fiji, Vanuatu, Kiribati, Micronesia (Federated States), Marshall Islands (Republic of), Saint Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines (with broader engagement across Europe, Africa, East Asia, the Caribbean, and the Pacific).

Core Areas of Expertise

Dr Zlatan Šabić is a globally recognized human development public information systems expert. He has provided strategic guidance and technical expertise to over 30 countries across the globe. His expertise spans the full spectrum of digital transformation, from policy dialogue and strategic planning to system architecture design and capacity building.

Zlatan was one of the South-East Europe regional leaders in introducing the eGovernment concept for public administration reforms (co-author of SEE eAgenda and eAgenda+, regional information society strategic development protocols). Previously holding the position of Senior Public Information Systems Specialist at the World Bank from 2013 to 2025, he co-led the development of the World Bank's global digital health program, co-authored key reports including "Digital-In-Health: Unlocking the Value for Everyone," and led the development of the World Bank Digital Health Learning Framework.

He possesses substantive knowledge and experience in public sector development, including data management and deep insight analytics (including BI and AI applications) for policy making, strategic planning, and investment planning; business processes restructuring; public administration reform, open government/open data, public service improvement; capacity building and public information systems implementation. His work focuses on critical national information systems in health, social protection, and education sectors, as well as digital governance.

Dr. Šabić earned his Ph.D. in Technical Sciences (Information Systems Development Methodologies) from the University of Sarajevo in 2009. His academic background includes over 20 years of university teaching at the University of Sarajevo, where he served as Associate Professor. A Fulbright Alumnus and member of ACM and HIMSS, he has authored numerous publications and continues to contribute to global digital health initiatives through training programs, policy development, and technical assistance to governments worldwide.

Countries Worked

Albania, Armenia, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, China, Croatia, Egypt, Greece, India, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kirgizstan, Kosovo, Montenegro, Palestine, Peru, Philippines, Romania, Russia, Saint Vincent and Grenadines, Saint Lucia, Senegal, Serbia, Tajikistan, Türkiye, Ukraine, Uzbekistan.

Core Areas of Expertise