Malcolm Odell, a Peace Corps volunteer in the first group to go to Nepal in 1962, has lived and worked in Nepal for 13 years. There he helped build and teach in one of Sir Edmund Hillary’s Sherpa School project that was significantly funded by Rotary Clubs around the world. Malcolm’s career includes working for over 35 years in international community mobilization, women’s empowerment, strategic planning, evaluation/monitoring, conflict resolution, eco-tourism, climate change, training, and project management for poverty alleviation.

He is known globally for the creation of an innovative organization development and mobilization strategy, "Appreciative Planning and Action” (APA), known in Nepal as APPA, and used successfully in peace-building following the Maoist Rebellion. Malcolm has used APA with numerous US and international firms and organizations, including a dozen Habitat for Humanity affiliates, 250 local NGOs, and almost 400,000 poor men and women in Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Kenya, Tanzania, Sierra Leone, and several other countries.

During the 19 years he has lived and worked abroad, he has spent 9 years in villages of Asia and Africa, including 5 years working for the Government of Botswana in Southern Africa. Malcolm has worked with the World Bank, USAID, NORAD, IFAD, CARE, NIH, IRC, Pact, Japan International Cooperation Agency, The Heifer Project, Winrock International, Salvation Army, and other organizations. He has a BA from Princeton and MS and a Ph.D. degree in applied development sociology from Cornell University.  

Malcolm has presented during the weekly GFA meetings. Below is his work:

Appreciative Planning and Action

The Great Himalaya Trail