Niels Patrick Ceniza Riconalla has worked as a public servant for 24 years across three government offices. He served as Acting Division Chief of the Monetary and Price Division of the National Planning and Policy Staff, National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) from 1984 to 1992. He then acted as Director of the Public Affairs Office, Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC), an attached agency to the Department of Agriculture, from 1992 to 1997. He became Senior Vice President for Planning and Finance, Quedan and Rural Credit Guarantee Corporation, an attached government owned and controlled corporation to the Department of Agriculture, from 1998 to 2008. He wrote and published a study on “Informal Credit Sources of Agrarian Reform Farmers, Fishermen and Upland Farmers” in selected areas in the Philippines sponsored by ACPC and Land Bank of the Philippines.

During his stint in NEDA and ACPC, Niels attended various training, seminars and conferences in the USA, Japan, and India, mainly on Financial Liberalization and Economic Development in Asia and the Pacific. He also attended conferences and seminars on Leadership, Transformation, and Evangelism in Indonesia, Thailand, USA, Hong Kong, and Oxford, England.

In October 1989, Niels became the Founding Chairman of the Fellowship of Christians in Government (FOCIG),a non-stock, non-profit NGO. In 2015 he was appointed as its President and CEO. FOCIG builds values in public servants, with a focus on mentoring and empowering strategic public servants to advance righteousness, peace, and joy. FOCIG is an accredited Training and Development Institution of the Civil Service Commission (CSC) as well as with Philippine Council for NGO Certification (PCNC) and a certified tax donee of the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR). It has a network of 70+ Christian agency groups and government officials from various government agencies in Metro Manila.

Niels has also chaired the Christian Convergence for Good Governance, a coalition of faith-based NGOs (2003-2007), and was appointed as Ministry Head of the Government Movers Enlightening the Nation, a ministry dedicated to make Christ-committed followers among government officials and employees (2010-2015).

Niels attended La Salle Academy, Iligan City for his high school education, earned his Bachelor’s degree in Economics at the University of San Carlos, Cebu City, and a Master’s degree in Economics specializing in Monetary and Banking at the UP School of Economics in Diliman, Quezon City, in 2001. He is married to the former Alma F. Malinis, a freelance writer (a.k.a. Amyjay M. Riconalla) and a non-practicing Optometrist. He is also step-dad to three children.