For Those Whose Work Has Paused But Whose Purpose Has Not
Registration for May 5 cohort is now closed.
Please complete the Expression of Interest below to join the waiting list and to learn about future cohorts.
And yet—your sense of purpose has not gone anywhere.
Mission in Transition is a five-week, structured, cohort-based transition program designed to help experienced international development professionals pivot, rebuild momentum, and re-enter the market with clarity and traction. It is built for those whose work has paused but whose sense of purpose has not.
We do not start with résumés or LinkedIn profiles.
We start with what sits beneath them:
Because without those, the rest doesn’t hold.
Most career programs assume you’re emotionally ready to move. They skip straight to tactics: résumés, LinkedIn, networking scripts.
This one doesn’t.
Before we get to any of that, we make room for what you’re actually feeling: the anger, the fear, the “am I even good enough anymore.” Not because we’re a therapy group, but because we know from experience: until that gets acknowledged, nothing else sticks.
Once you’re on steadier ground, we’ll help you get clear on what you actually want next, find the language to explain what you offer to potential employers who don’t yet know what it’s worth, and activate a network: including the 29 other people navigating this alongside you.
We can’t promise the landscape gets easier. We can promise you won’t be navigating it alone, and that you’ll leave with more clarity about what you want, better language for what you offer, and a stronger network than when you started.
You won’t necessarily leave with a job offer. But you’ll leave with something that makes one more possible.
This is a cohort-based experience (max of 30 participants) combining facilitated dialogue, clinical insight, and practical career strategy.
Grounded conversation about what is actually happening in your life
Emotional and identity-focused work (grief, uncertainty, meaning)
Practical career strategy and networking support
A clear, manageable next step
We focus on:
We do not focus on:
You will be pointed to resources for those.
This program is about what makes those efforts actually work.
Each module builds on the last:
Followed by Integration Circles focused on:
Most career programs assume:
“If you just optimize your materials, things will move.”
But in this moment, many people are carrying:
Grief
Loss of identity
Moral tension
Exhaustion
This program acknowledges that reality—and works with it, not around it.
It also recognizes something else:
Many opportunities don’t come from applications.
They come from conversations.
So we start there.
This program is designed for:
We offer three participation levels so you can choose the one that best reflects your current financial situation.
This is a community-based model. Those who are able to contribute at a higher level help make the program accessible to others.
All participants have the same experience, regardless of pricing level.
Your fee covers your participation and helps bring in someone who can’t afford the full cost. Thank you!
A note on access
If even $200 feels out of reach, submit an Expression of Interest anyway. Funds may be available to support you.
This experience is held by three practitioners working in close integration:
Melissa Pitotti has spent over 20 years inside the international development and humanitarian system as a U.S. State Department refugee officer, as a policy director at an NGO coalition called ICVA, and as an organizational culture lead at CHS Alliance. She knows this world from the inside, and she knows what it costs to leave it. She facilitates the sessions and holds the arc of the program.
Bob Kleinschmidt is an executive coach who has spent 16 years helping leaders navigate complex institutional transitions, including moments where identity, authority, and direction all shift at once. His conviction: every job comes through a relationship, not an application. He brings the career strategy and the network activation work.
Camilla Tibbetts, is a licensed clinical social worker who spent years providing mental health support to USAID specifically, including during the Afghanistan evacuation, COVID, and the foreign aid freeze. She has sat with this community in some of its hardest moments. She holds the emotional and clinical dimension of every session.
You are not expected to navigate this alone.
This is a pilot cohort, intentionally designed to learn and evolve.
Participants will:
Registration for the May 5 cohort is currently closed.
Please complete the Expression of Interest form to join the waiting list and learn of future cohorts.
👉 Complete the Expression of Interest Form
If cost is a barrier, submit anyway.
You’ll hear back with next steps once we’ve reviewed submissions.
There is a particular kind of disorientation that comes when the work you believed in disappears.
This program does not rush past that.
But it also does not leave you there.
we invite you to step into this next phase with others.
If you have questions, please email MissionInTransition@konterragroup.net. This program is offered through the auspices of Aid Transition Alliance and is open to all members of the international development and humanitarian community.
What is the Aid Transition Alliance? In February 2025 four senior women leaders came together to establish an emergency initiative to support the USAID community — Aid Transition Alliance (AidTA). the project focuses on promoting mental health and wellness and providing career transition support for international development professionals, preserving critical development knowledge and strengthening communication and coordination across the sector. With the backing and fiscal sponsorship of Forward Global, Aid Transition Alliance officially launched in April 2025.