• News
    • Latest news
    • News search
    • Health
    • Finance
    • Food
    • Career news
    • Content series
    • Try Devex Pro
  • Jobs
    • Job search
    • Post a job
    • Employer search
    • CV Writing
    • Upcoming career events
    • Try Career Account
  • Funding
    • Funding search
    • Funding news
  • Talent
    • Candidate search
    • Devex Talent Solutions
  • Events
    • Upcoming and past events
    • Partner on an event
  • Post a job
  • About
      • About us
      • Membership
      • Newsletters
      • Advertising partnerships
      • Devex Talent Solutions
      • Contact us
Join DevexSign in
Join DevexSign in

News

  • Latest news
  • News search
  • Health
  • Finance
  • Food
  • Career news
  • Content series
  • Try Devex Pro

Jobs

  • Job search
  • Post a job
  • Employer search
  • CV Writing
  • Upcoming career events
  • Try Career Account

Funding

  • Funding search
  • Funding news

Talent

  • Candidate search
  • Devex Talent Solutions

Events

  • Upcoming and past events
  • Partner on an event
Post a job

About

  • About us
  • Membership
  • Newsletters
  • Advertising partnerships
  • Devex Talent Solutions
  • Contact us
  • My Devex
  • Update my profile % complete
  • Account & privacy settings
  • My saved jobs
  • Manage newsletters
  • Support
  • Sign out
Latest newsNews searchHealthFinanceFoodCareer newsContent seriesTry Devex Pro
    • News
    • Career

    Does the consultancy model need an overhaul? These agencies think so

    Several women-led organizations are trying to reshape the development consultancy world to address issues such as unpaid assignments, inequitable payment, and consultant burnout.

    By Amy Fallon // 22 November 2024

    As a consultant with an extensive period of work spanning 25 years in the development space, communications specialist Deborah Walter is used to looking for the next contract while working on the current one. But in the past few years, she has noticed one big trend related to the job search.

    “There seems to be a lack of understanding and under-valuing of consultants’ time, energy, and creative intellectual property,” South Africa-based Walter, who co-runs social change agency Community Media for Development Productions on the side, told Devex.

    In the past, she’s been asked to develop a hypothetical communications strategy framework along with press releases, social media posts, and talking points for interviews plus proposed campaign brand ideas and initial mock-ups and videos for potential work with several organizations, which, as a busy wife and mother, Walter brands “unreasonable.”

    This article is free to read - just register or sign in

    Access news, newsletters, events and more.

    Join usSign in

    Read more:

    ► 4 steps to designing the development career you want (Career)

    ► 5 tips for negotiating rates as a development professional (Career)

    ► Burnout is hitting humanitarians — but not for the reasons you'd think (Pro)

    • Careers & Education
    • Social/Inclusive Development
    • Innovation & ICT
    Printing articles to share with others is a breach of our terms and conditions and copyright policy. Please use the sharing options on the left side of the article. Devex Pro members may share up to 10 articles per month using the Pro share tool ( ).

    About the author

    • Amy Fallon

      Amy Fallon@amyfallon

      Amy Fallon is an Australian freelance journalist currently based in Uganda. She has also reported from Australia, the U.K. and Asia, writing for a wide range of outlets on a variety of issues including breaking news, and international development, and human rights topics. Amy has also worked for News Deeply, NPR, The Guardian, AFP news agency, IPS, Citiscope, and others.

    Search for articles

    Related Stories

    Job Board InsightsWho’s still hiring for short-term consultancy roles?

    Who’s still hiring for short-term consultancy roles?

    CareerHow the talent landscape may shift post-USAID

    How the talent landscape may shift post-USAID

    Devex Career HubDevex Career Hub: What the data says about available consulting roles

    Devex Career Hub: What the data says about available consulting roles

    Job Board InsightsWho is still hiring in the US?

    Who is still hiring in the US?

    Most Read

    • 1
      Exclusive: A first look at the Trump administration's UNGA priorities
    • 2
      Opinion: How climate philanthropy can solve its innovation challenge
    • 3
      Devex Invested: The climate insurance lottery low-income countries can’t afford
    • 4
      Opinion: Uniting forces to advance sustainable development financing
    • 5
      Opinion: AI-powered technologies can transform access to health care
    • News
    • Jobs
    • Funding
    • Talent
    • Events

    Devex is the media platform for the global development community.

    A social enterprise, we connect and inform over 1.3 million development, health, humanitarian, and sustainability professionals through news, business intelligence, and funding & career opportunities so you can do more good for more people. We invite you to join us.

    • About us
    • Membership
    • Newsletters
    • Advertising partnerships
    • Devex Talent Solutions
    • Post a job
    • Careers at Devex
    • Contact us
    © Copyright 2000 - 2025 Devex|User Agreement|Privacy Statement