Embracing Complexity – Effectively Evaluating Both Models and Adaptive Initiatives
Speakers
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Executive Director, Innovations for Poverty Action
Annie Duflo is responsible for leading the strategic directions of Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA), the implementation of its strategic plan and day-to-day operations. Previously, she served as IPA's Research Director where she managed the research network, staff capacity building, and new project development. She also played a key role in the scaling up of successful programs with a particular focus on education. Annie has a wealth of experience implementing and managing randomized experiments in the field. Prior to joining IPA, she was the Executive Director of the Centre for Microfinance at the Institute for Financial Management and Research in Chennai, India, which she joined at its creation. She holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration and International Development from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and a Master’s degree in Social Sciences from EHESS (Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales)/ ENS (Ecole Normale Supérieure) in Paris.
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Director, Analysis & Insight, Skoll Foundation
As Director of Analysis & Insight for the Skoll Foundation, Ehren Reed is responsible for assessing the impact and effectiveness of the foundation’s efforts in order to support ongoing learning and evidence-based decision making.
He was previously a Director of Innovation Network, a Washington, DC-based evaluation consulting firm. He brings over ten years of experience managing research and evaluation projects for grantmakers and grantees in the fields of human services, human rights, and advocacy. He is a diehard promoter of evaluation use and a firm believer in the power of evaluation and learning as a support for effective strategy. He speaks frequently on emerging trends in evaluation and has presented at many sector conferences including Grantmakers for Effective Organizations, the Council on Foundations, Grantmakers in Health, the American Evaluation Association, and the Communications Network.
Ehren earned both a B.A. and M.S. in Education from the University of Connecticut. He is an avid fan of craft beers and Nationals baseball, especially when combined.
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Frank Beadle de Palomo joined mothers2mothers (m2m) as Chief Executive Officer in October 2012, bringing with him more than 30 years of experience in the global health community including significant achievements in HIV prevention, care, and treatment, as well as U.S. and global infectious and communicable disease prevention, treatment, research, and advocacy. m2m, based in Cape Town, is an African-based, global non-governmental organisation that unlocks the potential of mothers and their families through scalable, high-impact interventions. In 2020, m2m employed more than 1,500 Mentor Mothers—women living with HIV serving as Community Health Workers, who work in understaffed health centres and in communities providing reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health services (RMNCH). Since 2001, m2m has reached more than 11.5 million women and children under the age of two across 12 countries employed more than 11,000 women living with HIV. In 2019, m2m reached 1,246,396 new and returning clients with services; and achieved virtual elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV among enrolled clients, with transmission of just 1.9%. In 2020, we launched a Virtual Mentor Mother Platform and eServices—new tools for our frontline teams to reach clients with critical services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to joining m2m, Frank served as Senior Vice President and Director of the Global Health, Population, and Nutrition Group at AED/FHI 360, where he was in charge of a program portfolio spanning HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and treatment; malaria; infectious diseases; avian influenza; nutrition and food security; water, sanitation, and hygiene; and RMNCH—operating in 31 countries around the world. Earlier, he worked at the Academy for Educational Development (AED) for 17 years (acquired by FHI in 2011), where he led its Center on AIDS & Community Health and the Social Change Group as Senior Vice President and Director.
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Director, Center for Evaluation Innovation
Julia Coffman is founder and director of the Center for Evaluation Innovation, a nonprofit based in Washington D.C. dedicated to pushing evaluation practice in new direction and into new arenas. The Center specializes in areas that are challenging to assess and promotes cutting-edge approaches and methods. For more than 20 years Julia has worked with numerous foundations and nonprofits on their approaches to evaluation, and she has led multiple long-term complex initiative evaluations. Julia has particular expertise in evaluating advocacy and policy efforts, emphasizing real-time learning that helps organizations to adapt their strategies and continuously improve. For the 15 years prior to founding the Center, she led evaluation efforts at the Harvard Family Research Project, a research and evaluation organization at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
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Vice President of Targeted Challenges, Grand Challenges Canada
Karlee Silver is the Vice President of Targeted Challenges at Grand Challenges Canada. Dr. Silver leads the Saving Lives at Birth, Saving Brains and Global Mental Health programs. She is a member of the Knowledge Exchange Working Group for the Canadian Network for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health.
Dr. Silver received her doctorate from the University of Oxford, where she attended as a Rhodes Scholar and trained in genetics and immunology under the supervision of Professor Richard Cornall and Professor Sir John Bell. An accumulation of inspirations, including travelling through southern Africa after Oxford, led to a refocus towards global health. Witnessing both the strength of women to sustain their families and communities, and the vulnerability of these same women to the consequences of poverty inspired Karlee to apply herself to health issues of women in developing countries.
