Speakers and moderators: Day 1 of the Global Impact Evaluation Forum
See our list of speakers and moderators for 2 December 2024
Opening plenary
Speakers Day 1
World Food Programme (WFP) Executive Director, Cindy Hensley McCain, took office on 5 April 2023, and brings to the role extensive expertise and a deep commitment to ending hunger and malnutrition. Prior to joining WFP, she served as Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the United States Mission to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Agencies in Rome. A distinguished humanitarian, business leader and diplomat with a career spanning four decades, Executive Director McCain has championed a wide range of causes focused on alleviating poverty and promoting sustainable development and peace.
Kitty van der Heijden's career in international development spans over 35 years working for government, non-governmental organizations and United Nations entities. Prior to her current role, she was the director general for international cooperation in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, overseeing strategy development and global operations.
As vice president and director for Europe & Africa for the World Resources Institute, she was responsible for fundraising and strategic engagement with local actors on challenges such as climate, water and food, building on her previous experience as the Netherlands’ ambassador for sustainable development and director for climate, energy, environment and water.
Van der Heijden has field experience in Mexico, India and Ethiopia as well as Viet Nam, where she worked for the United Nations as head of the Office of the Resident Coordinator and senior advisor on United Nations reform.
A national of the Netherlands, van der Heijden has a master's degree in economics from Erasmus University, Rotterdam.
David Miliband is the president and CEO of the IRC, a non-governmental organization founded by Albert Einstein whose mission is to help people whose lives have been shattered by conflict and disaster, including the climate crisis, to survive, recover and regain control of their future. He oversees the agency’s operations in over 40 crisis-affected countries and its refugee resettlement and assistance programmes in the Americas and in Europe.
Mr. Miliband previously served as the 74th secretary of state for foreign and commonwealth affairs of the United Kingdom. He is also the author of the book Rescue: Refugees and the Political Crisis of Our Time.
As the son of refugees, Mr. Miliband brings a personal commitment to the IRC’s work and to the premise of his book – that we can rescue the dignity and hopes of refugees and displaced people, and if we help them, in the process, we will rescue our own values.
Plenary session 1
Speakers Day 1
Robert McCouch took up his position as the UNICEF Director of Evaluation in August 2021.
Mr. McCouch has served in a variety of evaluation roles in the UN system, including UNICEF, over the past 15 years. He was recently the Chief Evaluation Officer at the World Health Organization, prior to which he was the Chief of Section in the evaluation division of the United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS). From 2009-2013, as Senior Evaluation Specialist in the UNICEF Evaluation Office, he was responsible for the Organization’s large portfolio of evaluations focused on humanitarian action.
His career prior to joining the UN system was in the field of data analytics and policy and opinion research in the private sector. He was the Director of Research and Evaluation at the Harvard Medical School, covering a range of innovative programmes aimed at improving psychosocial, academic and health outcomes in highly vulnerable children.
Mr. McCouch received a PhD in social policy from Brandeis University, with a specialization in child, youth and family policy, and a post-doctorate in child-centered evaluation methods from Harvard Medical School and the Harvard University Graduate School of Education. He holds a Cand. scient. pol. degree in political science and political psychology from the University of Copenhagen, an M.A. in foreign languages from Middlebury College in Vermont, and a B.A. in international affairs from the George Washington University in Washington, DC.
He is a US national and speaks English, Danish, German, French and Italian.
Anne-Claire Luzot is Director of Evaluation at the World Food Programme, a position she has held since 2023. She first joined WFP’s Office of Evaluation in 2006. During her career with WFP, she has spearheaded the use of evaluation evidence across the organization’s programmes and operations and led the launch of the decentralized evaluation function. She was also instrumental in developing the 2016 and 2022 evaluation policies.
Prior to joining WFP, Anne-Claire was an evaluator in both the humanitarian and development sectors. She served as regional evaluation advisor in UNICEF and as chief evaluation officer at the World Health Organization. She was vice-chair of the United Nations Evaluation Group from 2019 to 2023. Anne-Claire is a Belgian national and holds a master’s degree in rural development from Sussex University in the UK, as well as a master’s in economics and social science from Namur University in Belgium.
Lori Bell leads the evaluation function in UNHCR as the Head of Evaluation Office. Previously a senior evaluator in UNICEF (2014-2020) and FAO (2007-2014), she also has decades of management experience in development and humanitarian action in Asia and Africa. She is currently a Vice-Chair in the UN Evaluation Group. Lori holds a MSc. in epidemiology and biostatistics from McGill University and a BComm from University of Guelph in Canada.
Clemencia Cosentino is the Director of the Office of Evaluation at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Her 30 years of professional experience have been focused on generating (and building capacity to generate) robust evidence to support decisions (programmatic and policy) and strategic planning. She has been invited by international organizations, foundations, professional societies and universities to give lectures and offer workshops related to evaluation, including for UNICEF, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and Harvard University. She holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in Sociology from Princeton University, and a B.A. in History, International Studies and Economics from Washington University in St. Louis.
Coming soon
Plenary session 2
Speakers Day 1
Kevin Brown is an accomplished foreign service, development and humanitarian expert with more than 17 years of experience. He currently directs the Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance’s Office of Technical and Program Quality, managing 218 staff and overseeing US$400 million in disaster assistance and food aid. A recognized leader, he has participated in prestigious programs such as the Next Generation of Black Diplomatic Leaders and the International Career Advancement Program. His previous roles include significant positions in USAID across Africa and the Middle East, where he developed strategic initiatives and coordinated humanitarian efforts. Mr. Brown holds multiple advanced degrees in international business and community development.
Sarah Hanck leads the Rockefeller Foundation’s Strategic Learning and Impact team, which works closely with programme teams, grantees, and learning partners to measure, evaluate and continuously improve collective impact. Ms. Hanck has more than 20 years of experience designing, implementing, and evaluating social impact initiatives in Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, Latin America and the United States. Working across the private, non-profit and academic sectors, Ms. Hanck has helped organizations address some of global health’s most pressing challenges in maternal and child health, HIV, nutrition, non-communicable diseases, human rights, digital health and health/food systems strengthening.
Håvard Mokleiv Nygård is a Deputy Director-General and Director of the Department of Knowledge and Innovation of the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad). Dr. Nygård came to Norad from the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), where he seved as Research Director. His research focused on the causes and consequences of violence and development. He was frequently used as an expert by UN agencies and the World Bank and has comprehensive leadership experience.
A lawyer by training, in April 2024 Helge Elisabeth Zeitler was appointed Director for United Nations and European Union affairs, also covering G7/20 and trade, at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). Previously, she held different positions in the international directorate of the European Commission’s Environment Department, with topics ranging from deforestation-free supply chains and international water policy to environmental cooperation at the United Nations and under various multilateral agreements. She has also served at the European Union Delegation to the United Nations in New York, at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in Tanzania and at the German Foreign Ministry.
Dean Karlan is agency chief economist at USAID, leading its Office of the Chief Economist.
He is the Frederic Esser Nemmers Distinguished Professor of Economics and Finance and co-director of the Global Poverty Research Lab at Northwestern University. Karlan founded Innovations for Poverty Action and previously served on the Executive Committee of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Jameel Poverty Action Lab. In 2015, he co-founded the non-profit ImpactMatters to evaluate the impact of non-profit organizations, helping donors choose effective organizations and promoting sector transparency.
His research employs experimental methodologies and behavioral economics to tackle poverty Issues, focusing on income generation, credit markets and charitable giving across over 20 countries.
Karlan has co-authored several influential books on global poverty and has received numerous awards, including a Presidential Early Career Award. He holds a PhD in economics from MIT and degrees from the University of Chicago and University of Virginia.
Plenary session 3
Speakers Day 1
Wesley Matheus holds a PhD in Political Science and is a specialist in data science. He is currently the Deputy Secretary of the National Secretariat for Public Policy Evaluation and Economic Affairs (SMA/MPO), President of the Brazilian Network for Monitoring and Evaluation (RBMA), and a Researcher at the Brazilian Center for Analysis and Planning (Afro-CEBRAP).Wesley has spent the last decade coordinating sectors and organizations in Latin America and Africa to create solutions and monitor and evaluate impacts in areas such as poverty alleviation, economic development, fiscal security, climate resilience and democratic stability.
Ahmed Jamil Al-Masa'afeh is an expert in education with more than 24 years of experience. He holds a PhD in Mathematics Curricula and Teaching. He currently serves as the Director of Education Administration at the Ministry of Education in Jordan. Dr. Al-Masa'afeh has earned the rank of educational expert and has contributed significantly to educational supervision and leadership. As a certified trainer, he specializes in teaching strategies, evaluation, and educational leadership. He also served as the media spokesperson for the Ministry of Education for three years, effectively communicating educational policies. An accomplished author, Dr. Al-Masa'afeh has published research in mathematics education.
Mohamed Shire holds the position of Director General at the Ministry of Planning, Federal Government of Somalia. He previously worked at the Office of National Security at the Office of the Presidency. Mr Shire joined the political office of the African Union Mission in Somalia, where he offered strategic policy guidance on matters of political and security significance for key stakeholders.
He obtained his Bachelor of Arts from the University of East London and a Master of Science in Security, Conflict, and International Development at the University of Leicester. Mr. Shire engaged in a range of consultancy roles with both international and local non-governmental organizations, focusing on political and security assignments. His extensive experience and collaborative nature make him a trusted figure in various communities.
Arianna Legovini is the founding Director of the Development Impact Evaluation (DIME) department at the World Bank. DIME is a leader in generating rigorous, evidence-based insights to improve global development outcomes. By conducting high-quality impact evaluations using advanced methods including randomized controlled trials, DIME helps policymakers assess the effectiveness of development programmes across sectors such as health, education, agriculture and infrastructure. Committed to reproducible research, credibility and transparency, DIME ensures that its findings are reliable and accessible to guide decision-making. The group has also been at the forefront of innovation, recently driving the integration of AI and development impact through its participation in the Google.org GenAI Accelerator programme. Through these efforts, DIME continues to advance the use of evidence in shaping effective and impactful development policies.
Knowledge fair
Speakers Day 1
Bruce Ravesloot is a Managing Partner and Principal Consultant with TANGO International. He oversees and implements a dynamic portfolio of technical assistance projects for WFP, UNHCR, UNICEF, ICRC and numerous INGOs. In this role he also provides strategic guidance to the USAID/BHA-funded Humanitarian Assistance Evidence Cycle (HAEC). Bruce previously held senior technical and management positions with the United Nations System, CARE International and KPMG.
Maryada Vallet is a senior research associate with TANGO International. She is the Director of the United States Agency for International Development’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance-funded Humanitarian Assistance Evidence Cycle. Her research background is in food security/resilience measurement and implementation science. With TANGO, she has also focused on evaluations with World Food Programme and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
Ayscha Hamdani is the Deputy Director of the Uplift Afghanistan Fund. Ayscha brings over twenty years of rich experience in international development, with her career spanning roles at NATO, the EU, the UN, and key Afghan institutions. She specializes in conflict resolution, negotiation, and policy advising in fragile contexts. In her current role, Ayscha leads the refinement of strategic directions and oversees the development of Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning frameworks, contributing to impactful strategic initiatives amid volatile environments. Ayscha is also deeply committed to advocating for human equality and enhancing the quality of life for women and children through comprehensive research and strategic partnerships.
Pierre Hodel is a Policy Manager at J-PAL Europe, where he leads J-PAL’s humanitarian portfolio. He oversees two pioneering research initiatives that fund new randomized evaluations of humanitarian interventions and leads outreach to humanitarian organisztions, build awareness in the humanitarian sector, and work with diverse stakeholders to identify priority research and evaluation questions regarding humanitarian effectiveness. Pierre previously worked with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in conflict contexts such as Iraq, South Sudan and Ukraine as a programme manager for livelihood interventions. He also worked at Instiglio, providing strategic and technical support to government reforms and brings a background in audit and financial advisory services from his experience at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Pierre holds a master’s in corporate finance from HEC at the University of Lausanne and is a Certified Public Accountant.
Aprille Knox is a Senior Policy Manager at J-PAL Global, where she manages the Crime, Violence, and Conflict sector. As a member of the Policy group, she works with governments, NGOs, academics, and others to build research partnerships and promote evidence-informed policymaking. Prior to joining J-PAL in 2017, Aprille worked as a Graduate Research Assistant for Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) in Monrovia, Liberia, developing evaluation materials and training enumerators for a variety of randomized evaluations. She also worked as a member of the governance team at Results for Development (R4D) and served as a Public Health Educator with the United States Peace Corps in Guinea. Aprille holds a master's degree in global affairs from Yale University's Jackson Institute for Global Affairs and a BA in International Studies from Boston College.
Bradley Sagara has almost 20 years of experience in quantitative research on resilience, food security and livelihoods across more than 15 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and South-East Asia. As Director for Research and Learning at Mercy Corps, he leads an initiative that leverages earth observation data to advance impact evaluations for climate-smart agriculture. His portfolio also includes cost-effectiveness and value for money research to evaluate investments in fragile contexts, with a strong focus on translating findings into actionable policy and practice for more efficient and impactful strategies for advancing humanitarian, development and peacebuilding goals.
Kirsten Mulcahy is a development economist who has spent the last decade supporting evidence generation and utilization to progress social impact and market development objectives. She has worked across the Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, Education, Women’s Economic Empowerment and Financial Inclusion sectors as a Monitoring and Evaluation specialist. Following a stint at a pan-African consultancy advising funders, governments and implementors on impact evaluation, measurement and reporting, she led a UK Social Investment Data Lab. She is currently a Senior Manager in the Evidence Measurement and Evaluation team at the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, supporting investments in Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights and Girl Capital and working to help mainstream equity-investing practices across the organization.
Nora Röhner is the Senior Policy Officer for Evaluation at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Division G22 – Crisis Management, Transitional Development Assistance, Reconstruction, Infrastructure in Crisis Situations. She has worked as a lecturer in statistics and research methods and has contributed to strategic portfolio reviews for Afghanistan and interministerial evaluations on Afghanistan and Iraq.
Kerry Albright is a social and political scientist with over 25 years of experience in international development and evidence-informed decision-making. In September 2022, she took up a position as Deputy Director/Principal Adviser-Evaluation with UNICEF’s Evaluation Office based in New York.
Prior to this, she was Deputy Director ad interim and Chief of Research Facilitation and Knowledge Management of UNICEF’s Office of Research-Innocenti, based in Florence, Italy, where she was responsible for research oversight and capacity-building across UNICEF’s 190+ offices worldwide. A long-term advocate of evidence-informed decision-making, while at Innocenti she introduced structured evidence synthesis capacity and strengthened a global ethics in evidence generation. She also enhanced attention to evidence uptake and impact measurement and designed various global capacity-strengthening products and trainings to help build evidence literacy and critical thinking skills across UNICEF.
Before joining UNICEF in 2015, Kerry worked for the UK Government’s Department for International Development (DFID, now FCDO), where she co-founded the Global Open Data for Agriculture and Nutrition (GODAN) initiative alongside the US and Dutch Governments. Prior to this, she established and led a new Evidence Into Action Unit in FCDO’s Research & Evidence Division – a multidisciplinary team specializing in research uptake and impact, evidence-brokering and capacity-strengthening across the organization. She also oversaw a portfolio of programmes aiming to strengthen science-communication, evidence-brokering and capacity for evidence-informed policymaking with science journalists, parliamentarians, researchers, policymakers and other evidence-brokering intermediaries. She has lived and worked widely across sub-Saharan Africa and South/South-East Asia.
In other professional capacities, Kerry is currently UNICEF’s institutional representative and Co-Chair (with USAID) of the Multi-Donor Learning Partnership for Development Impact, the Co-Lead (with UNDP) of the Global SDG Synthesis Coalition, the founding member and Co-Chair of the Campbell Collaboration’s, Children and Young Persons Wellbeing Coordinating Group and a member of the Governance Council for the Alliance for Living Evidence (ALIVE). In 2021, she was invited to be a Commissioner on the Global Commission on Evidence to Address Societal Challenges and is now a member of their Implementation Council.
Special event
Speakers Day 1
Jörg Faust is Director of the German Institute for Development Evaluation (DEval) and Extraordinary Professor of Political Science at the University of Duisburg-Essen. He holds a doctoral degree in Political Science from the Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz and a Master's in Business Administration from Mannheim University. Before joining DEval, he was Head of Department at the German Development Institute (DIE). He is the Chair of the OECD/DAC Network on Development Evaluation (EvalNet) and a member of the scientific advisory board for the Bertelsmann Transformation Index (BTI).
Agnes Mary Chimbiri-Molande, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Malawi to the United Nations
Her Excellency Dr. Agnes Mary Chimbiri-Molande is the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Malawi to the United Nations in New York (USA). She was appointed to this position June 2021 by His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Malawi, Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera.
Agnes Chimbiri-Molande has about 15 years of experience in the United Nations. She served as Portfolio Manager for Governance for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in the Republic of Malawi from 2015 to 2021, after serving as Assistant Resident Representative for Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) Achievement for UNDP in the Republic of Malawi from 2008 to 2015.
Throughout her tenure with UNDP, Agnes Chimbiri-Molande engaged widely in policy development and implementation, advocacy and programme management across different governance spheres. She also extensively engaged in legal reforms to promote good governance in the Republic of Malawi. Under her leadership in UNDP Malawi’s Governance Portfolio, she created three data management platforms: an early warning system on conflict prevention; a monitoring system for sexual and gender-based violence; and a monitoring system for achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), thus helping the United Nations and Government of the Republic of Malawi to make informed policy decisions in addressing conflicts, violence against women and girls, and poverty.
Agnes Chimbiri-Molande has worked with a number of United Nations agencies on delivery of various development interventions, including reforming the United Nations System in the Republic of Malawi. While working with the Government, University of Malawi and UNDP, she also worked with the following United Nations agencies: UNFPA, UNICEF, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNCDF, FAO, UNEP, UNAIDS and UN Women.
Before joining the United Nations, between 2003 and 2007, Agnes Chimbiri-Molande served as Director of the Centre for Reproductive Health of the College of Medicine under the University of Malawi, where she provided oversight on social research, policy and programmatic analysis; preparation and presentation of policy papers to government and other higher learning institutions in the Republic of Malawi and globally. Her leadership contributed towards making the College of Medicine a global partner and champion of social medicine research and programming.
Previously, Agnes Chimbiri-Molande worked for the World Bank as Community and NGO Liaison Officer in Malawi in 1996. She began her career as a civil servant for the Government of Malawi in 1984, working as a teacher under the Ministry of Education until 1985; Personal Assistant to the Secretary to the President and Cabinet from 1986 to 1988, and Head of Research and Planning Unit under the Ministry of Information from 1989 to 1995.
She holds a Doctorate in Social Demography (PhD) from the University of Waikato, New Zealand (2000); a Master of Arts in International Affairs from the University of Ohio, USA (1987); and a Bachelor of Arts in Education from the University of Malawi (1984). She also holds a Diploma in Gender Studies from University of Waikato (1998).
His Excellency Mr. Lok Bahadur Thapa assumed the office of the Permanent Representative (Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary) of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal to the United Nations on 1 September 2023. He presented his Letters of Credence to His Excellency Mr. António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations on 1 September 2023.
Mr. Thapa has served in a number of positions during a long diplomatic career spanning more than three decades after he joined the Foreign Service of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal in 1990. He was the Ambassador of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal to the BENELUX (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxemburg) as well as the Head of Mission to the European Union from 2016 to 2020. During his stint in Brussels, he also served as the Permanent Representative of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal to the Organization for the Prohibition of the Chemical Weapons (OPCW), World Customs Organization (WCO), Common Fund for Commodities (CFC) and Center for the Promotion of Products from Developing Countries (CBI).
Before taking up his current position, Ambassador Thapa was Head of the North-East Asia Division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He served as the Director-General of the Department of Passport from September 2014 to October 2016. In 2014, he briefly headed the South Asia Division of the Ministry. Mr. Thapa was Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, Canberra, from September 2009 to January 2014.
He served as Protocol and Liaison Officer at the office of the first President of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal from July 2008 to September 2009. He was Desk Officer in the Multilateral Economic Affairs Division of the Ministry from April to July 2008. He served as First Secretary in the Embassy of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal in Riyadh from 2004 to 2008, also serving as Charge d’Affaires ad interim in 2004–2005. From 2002 to 2004, Mr. Thapa worked as Desk Officer in the North-East Asia and South-East Asia Division of the Ministry. Prior to that, he was at the Embassy of Beijing in 1998 as Second Secretary, where he served for four years. He served in different divisions and sections at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal after joining the Foreign Service of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal in 1990.
Throughout his diplomatic career, Mr. Thapa has been included in high-level Nepalese delegations to different countries as well as attended dozens of bilateral, regional and multilateral meetings, conferences and negotiations. Mr. Thapa holds a Masters degree in Diplomacy from Lancaster University, UK, and Masters in Public Administration from Tribhuvan University, the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal. He has also completed half a dozen professional training programmes at home and abroad. They include programmes from the University of Tasmania, Australia; the Institute of Foreign Affairs, the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal; the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security, South Korea; Thailand International Cooperation Agency (TICA); and the Asia-Pacific Centre for Security Studies, USA.
Andrea Cook was appointed as the first Executive Director of the UN SDG System-Wide Evaluation Office in September 2023. She brings to this position more than 30 years of experience in development, humanitarian assistance and evaluation, including roles in the United Nations and the United Kingdom Government.
Prior to taking up her position in the United Nations Secretariat, Ms. Cook served as Director of Evaluation for the United Nations World Food Programme in Rome from 2017 to 2023 and as Director, Evaluation Office at the United Nations Population Fund in New York from 2014 to 2017. Before joining the United Nations, Ms. Cook worked in Cambodia, the Caribbean, India, Kenya, Malawi and the United Kingdom in a variety of roles spanning policy, programmes and evaluation. She has also served on expert advisory groups and scientific panels for evaluation and research initiatives at global level.
