Ann Thomson is a poverty reduction specialist who has focused her work on capacity development for governments and civil society in Africa and Asia.
Ann obtained her first degree and teaching certificate from the University of British Columbia before she began her career as a CUSO teacher in Thailand. After working for CUSO and WUSC (World University Service of Canada), she obtained a Master's degree in International Public Policy from the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. Earlier, while living and working in Ghana, she received a Master's degree in Linguistics from the University of Ghana in Legon. She held senior positions with CARE Canada, including the Country Director post in Indonesia. She was Executive Director of USC Canada for five years before returning to Ghana as Field Manager of a project that strengthened communities and local governments through food security initiatives.
In Zimbabwe, Bangladesh, Indonesia, the Philippines, India and Ghana, she designed and implemented large-scale programs and projects in rural and community development, governance, civil society development, education and training.
Now resident in Vancouver, Ann brings her wealth of international development experience to GeoSpatial/SALASAN and is serving the gender advisor on ADMAC and CLASP, and as Deputy Project Director on the Southeast Asia Human Rights Project (SEARCH). She has also managed the Canada-China Procuracy Reform Project and a Language Revitalization Initiative under the China Policy Options Project for GeoSpatial/SALASAN.