Knowmad.
Consulting

Governing the unknown: Institutional architecture for missions in times of polycrises

UrbanKnowmad creates space to step back. Knowmad.Consulting turns that pause into institutional capability: we work with embassies and the ministries that enable them to strengthen governance, coordination, and decision-making in times of polycrisis.

Based between Berlin, Paris, and Marrakech, we support missions in transition. Geopolitical pressure, shifting citizen needs abroad, and digital transformation. Our work connects what is often fragmented: governance architecture, cultural practice, and data-informed sensemaking. The result is clarity about roles, decisions, and information flows and a practical path to test what works.

Focus Areas

🔹 Institutional Architecture (Governance & Operating Model)

Designing decision rights, roles, routines, and escalation paths—so missions and HQ can act with speed and coherence.

Example: Refining governance so digital transformation and citizens abroad become sources of orientation—not operational noise.

🔹 Coordination during polycrisis (Culture & Collaboration)

Building trust, dialogue, and cross-cultural coordination routines that hold in complex political environments.

Example: Establishing dialogue structures that improve collaboration with partners and local communities abroad.

🔹 Data & AI Readiness (as capability, not hype)

Supporting the strategic and ethical use of data and AI across consular services, public diplomacy, and reporting.

Example: Creating a shared orientation framework that links narrative and data—so leaders respond to crises and trends with clarity.

Knowmad.Consulting is not a toolbox. It is a disciplined space for practice, where clarity emerges about what lies ahead, and missions strengthen the capacity to respond with intention.

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© Cayce Pollard. All rights reserved.

Work

"When you put one color next to another, you change both" Henri Matisse

This is what happens when embassies allow space for genuine transformation.At Knowmad.Consulting, transformation is not a linear process – it is a co-created practice. I work with embassies facing uncertainty, geopolitical pressure or strategic crossroads, and help them realign through cultural insight, participatory design and narrative clarity.I design processes where embassy teams learn to listen differently, where leadership becomes adaptive, and where internal governance gains a new form of orientation – not for control, but for coherence and legitimacy in the eyes of citizens abroad and at home.

Why work with me?

1. Culture meets disruption

With seventeen years of experience across public sector, diplomacy and international cooperation, I help embassies navigate disruptive forces – AI, digitisation, online scrutiny, shifting expectations from citizens abroad – not by defending established routines, but by strengthening culture from within.

For example: Supporting an embassy to reframe digital disruption and social media pressure not as threats to institutional continuity, but as signals to renew how it listens, communicates and responds in moments of crisis.

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2. Facilitation over instruction

My work is participatory, dialogic and co-creative. I do not arrive with pre-packaged solutions. I build processes, pilots and learning structures so your teams can arrive at answers that endure – and that fit your political, cultural and institutional context.

For example: Guiding an embassy through a co-creation process in which staff from different sections designed a new engagement structure with citizens abroad – turning ownership into sustained commitment.

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3. Governance as orientation

Particularly in complex environments such as the GCC and wider MENA region, I support embassies in redesigning internal governance frameworks so they become ethical, culturally resonant and future-capable – and aligned with the ministries that mandate them.

For example: Advising an embassy to align its internal decision-making and reporting practices with local values of trust and responsibility – so that structures become sources of stability, not friction, in moments of pressure.

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4. Growth with integrity

I bring a systemic, human-centred lens to every engagement – embedding trust, transparency and long-term value into how embassies organise their work, evaluate their impact and relate to communities abroad.

For example: Working with a mission to design reflection and evaluation processes that balance accountability to headquarters with institutional learning, avoiding performative reporting and short-term thinking.

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If you are ready to stop merely managing the future – and start shaping it – let us begin. Work with me, and we will build a path for your embassy that is resilient, considered and distinctly yours.

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Example Format: Prototype Room – Diplomatic Futures:

A curated three-hour co-creation format where diplomats, analysts and cultural practitioners step into a guided exploration:🔹 What does a data-informed embassy look and feel like in everyday practice?
🔹 What narratives shape how your embassy relates to citizens abroad and local communities?
🔹 How does governance feel when built from trust, reversibility and learning rather than apprehension?This is where institutional imagination becomes practice – designed as a threshold, not simply a workshop.

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Testimonials

What others say about working with me..

These voices reflect what UrbanKnowmad stands for: strategic facilitation, cultural fluency and governance clarity – across borders, systems and institutions. The same qualities now shape my work with embassies and diplomatic missions.

01 | Transformative Governance & Cultural Strategy

We didn't just need a liaison – we needed a partner in transformation. Youssef provided exactly that: deep cultural insight, strategic clarity and exceptional facilitation. Thanks to his ability to navigate complexity, align stakeholders and lead through change, we exceeded our goals. He was pivotal to our success.

Markus G.: Director Global Brand Management & Strategy, Frankfurt Book Fair

02 | Facilitating Trust Across Borders

“Youssef was more than a facilitator – he was a strategic adviser, translator of cultures and trusted guide. His bilingual fluency, cultural sensitivity and leadership helped us navigate high-stakes projects with integrity and success. A rare talent.

Gregory A. M.: CEO, Hubwoo

03 | Seeing the mission with new eyes

"We did not need another consultant with a slide deck. We needed someone who understood the political, cultural and human nuances of running an embassy under pressure. Youssef helped us see our mission with new eyes – our citizens abroad, our internal culture, our data – and guided us through a series of conversations and small pilots that were both ambitious and realistic. It was one of the few external processes that genuinely strengthened trust inside the mission."

Ambassador, MENA mission (anonymised)

04 | Cultural Integration for Operational Excellence

"Youssef brought the insight and rigour we needed to integrate complex cultural dynamics into our operational framework. His ability to read context, build trust and guide strategic decisions made him an invaluable partner in our work."

Ahmed Al N.: Chief Executive Officer, Emirates Development Bank

*These voices come from work in culture, business and cross-border collaboration. The same foundations – clarity, resonance and transformation that endures – are what I bring to every embassy and mission I work with.

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About me

True transformation doesn’t start with a method. It starts with a perspective.

I was born in 1980 in Bonn, Germany's former capital, to Algerian parents. I grew up between languages, rituals and political realities – moving between Germany and the wider MENA region.Diplomacy and international cooperation were part of my early surroundings; embassies were never just buildings to me, but architectures of relation.This diasporic experience still shapes how I work today. I understand what it means to live between worlds, to feel connected to a country from afar, and to observe how institutions either nurture that connection – or allow it to fade. It is from this vantage point that I now work with embassies and the systems around them.Over the past seventeen years, I have worked across four continents as a consultant, facilitator and cultural interpreter – specialising in organisational design, governance innovation and future-oriented cultural development. My focus today: helping embassies and public institutions navigate disruptive change with clarity, coherence and shared meaning.I work at the intersection of people, culture and systems – drawing on facilitation practices (inspired by Kommunikationslotsen), governance thinking and deep narrative work. My approach is co-creative, participatory and context-sensitive: lasting change cannot be imposed from outside; it must be invited, understood and owned from within.

My role: listening deeply, translating complexity and helping embassies shape what comes next – with clarity, intention and resilience in a world that will not wait.

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