Community Experts Roster

Alex Rutto
Subject area(s): Setting M&E Systems in development and humanitarian context; Undertaking evaluations; Conducting data quality assesment; Data visualization and analytics; Spatial analysis using ArcGIS
Compensation type: Paid Zoom Lectures
Timezone: EAT – East Africa Time
Location: Kenya

Alex Rutto is an accomplished and results-oriented Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability and Learning (MEAL) specialist with about 20 years of experience designing and implementing MEL systems for complex, multi-country development and humanitarian projects in Africa, Asia, and the Pacific. Alex’s experience cuts across multiple donors that include USAID, USDA, MCC, DFID/FCDO, Gates Foundation, and CIDA. Alex has designed and implemented MEL systems for food security, livelihoods, water and sanitation, education, nutrition, agriculture, climate change/natural resource management, peace building, governance, and market systems development projects. Alex is adept at establishing evidence-based and adaptive MEL ecosystems, leading data driven decision-making and adaptive management. Alex is experienced in generating data analytics to support strategic decision-making through evidence generation, adaptive learning, and data visualization. Skilled in mixed-method research methods, experience in designing and using digital data collection tools (i.e. KoboCollect, CommCare, Magpi, Survey 123 and Survey Gold), data visualization using Power BI and ArcGIS (AGOL), creating and publishing maps including spatial analysis using ArcGIS. Many years of conducting capacity building in person and online for local organizations/partners, staff, and government officials. Proficient data analyst using tools such as SPSS, Excel, EPI-Info for quantitative data analysis, and Atlas.ti for qualitative data analysis. Experienced in developing relational database, conducting comprehensive data quality assessments (DQAs) both internal and external for MEL systems strengthening. Alex holds a Master of Arts degree in Anthropology, a Post-graduate Diploma in Project Planning and Management. Alex is fluent in English and Kiswahili.

Alexious Butler
Subject area(s): Political destabilization in Haiti; Outbreak of civil war in South Sudan; Female political leadership in South Asia; From liberation leader to life-long president – Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni; Review of US democracy, governance and human rights assistance 2002-2025
Compensation type: Both Paid and Unpaid Zoom Lectures
Timezone: ET – Eastern Time (North America)
Location: USA

Alexious M. Butler is an international development strategist and former U.S. diplomat with 20+ years of experience leading global programs in democracy, governance, and human rights. She has overseen multi-million-dollar initiatives across Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean and served in senior roles at USAID, NED, and CENTCOM. Her work focuses on advancing inclusive institutions, local leadership, and accountable governance in complex political and post-conflict environments.

Amie Woeber
Subject area(s): Democracy, rights, and governance in the Pacific Islands; Advancing gender parity in government; Developing locally-led, winning business proposals; Implementing programming that begins and ends with an indigenous voice; Stakeholder and partner coordination manager.
Compensation type: Both Paid and Unpaid Zoom Lectures
Timezone: ET – Eastern Time (North America)
Location: USA

Pacific Islands Consulting | International Development Advocacy | Democracy Promotion, Programming, and Management | #DemocracyNeedsWomen

Andrew Solomon
Subject area(s): Innovations in people-centered justice and governance outcomes; Contemporary Rule of Law and Judicial Reform Threats Matrix; Reimagining Justice Sector Donor Development Cooperation; Justice sector financing and costing of accessible legal services; Balancing local and international approaches to justice and accountability
Compensation type: Both Paid and Unpaid Zoom Lectures
Timezone: ET – Eastern Time (North America)
Location: USA

Andrew Solomon is a legal and judicial reform expert specializing in people-centered justice, court excellence, and rule of law strengthening. Founder of the Rule of Law IDEAS CoLab, he has led evidence-driven program design, policy innovation, and learning for over 20 years. His work—spanning ABA, Brookings, OSCE, UNHCR, and USAID—integrates research, analysis, and locally-led strategies to close justice gaps and strengthen governance worldwide.

Annette Brown
Subject area(s): The evolution and importance of open science and replication; Addressing the challenges of evidence use for programs and policy; Localization and locally led development past and future; Ex-post evaluation and sustainable program impacts; Introduction to systematic reviews
Compensation type: Both Paid and Unpaid Zoom Lectures
Timezone: ET – Eastern Time (North America)
Location: USA

Annette Brown, Ph.D. is an economist and organizational leader in international development. She has worked in corporate, nonprofit, and multilateral organizations, most recently as Chief Strategy and Evidence Officer. Her teaching experience includes University of Chicago and Western Michigan University. Her research and program experience spans economic growth, governance, and global health. Brown has worked in more than thirty countries and advised policy makers in all regions of the world.

Bishop Victor Bassey
Subject area(s): Smart agriculture and food security; Sexual and gender based violence SGBV; Youths development advocacy; Environmental Development and erosion control; Financial inclusion
Compensation type: Paid Zoom Lectures
Timezone: EAT – East Africa Time
Location: Nigeria

Bishop Victor Bassey is of a UN consultative status, a member of several global alliance and colleges including UN global youths movement: Civicus, and Amnesty International. He is the founder of Environmental Development Initiative Based in global South Nigeria, a clergy, a community leader youths development expert and women and gender based violence SGBV advocate. He is married with kids.

Blair Glencorse
Subject area(s): The impact of aid cuts on governance and accountability; Consolidation and transformation among civil society organizations; Creative approaches to governance and anti-corruption
Compensation type: Both Paid and Unpaid Zoom Lectures
Timezone: BST – British Summer Time / GMT – Greenwich Mean Time
Location: UK

Blair is Co-CEO of Accountability Lab and a global expert on issues of governance and accountability. He is also the co-founder of Civic Strength Partners (CSP), a new shared facility to support the civil society eco-system in the face of aid cuts. Blair is the outgoing Co-Chair of the Open Government Partnership (OGP).

Brendan Halloran
Subject area(s): Government transparency, citizen participation and accountability; Public sector problem solving, reform and systems change strategies; Connections among government and civil society for public accountability; Strategy, monitoring, evaluation and learning for organizations and networks; Governance and reform strategies for climate change initiatives.
Compensation type: Both Paid and Unpaid Zoom Lectures
Timezone: ET – Eastern Time (North America)
Location: USA

Brendan Halloran, Ph.D has been working on complex democracy and governance challenges for over 15 years, leading and facilitating analysis, strategy, programming, research and learning with diverse organizations and networks, from grassroots to global. Brendan has held strategic and leadership positions at the United States Agency for International Development, the International Budget Partnership, the Transparency and Accountability Initiative, among others.

Bret Barrowman
Subject area(s): Evidence-based program design; Applied research design – fitting research methods to organizational goals; Democratic backsliding; Political polarization, bridge-building, and social cohesion; Civic engagement, organizing, and advocacy.
Compensation type: Both Paid and Unpaid Zoom Lectures
Timezone: ET – Eastern Time (North America)
Location: USA

Bret is a political scientist with over eight years of experience researching and evaluating democracy programs. Most recently, for international democracy assistance programs, he managed research projects related to political party development, civil society and social movements, anti-corruption, political communication, behavioral science, and social scientific research methods. He has also managed randomized controlled trials (RCTs) for US civic organizations to support political and civic engagement programs.

Carlos Scartascini
Subject area(s): Political Economy of Reform; Governance in Latin America and the Caribbean; Using Behavioral Economics to Improve Decision-Making; Corruption, Accountability, and Political Cycles; What is the right Path and Depth of Fiscal Reforms?
Compensation type: Unpaid Zoom Lectures
Timezone: ET – Eastern Time (North America)
Location: USA

Carlos Scartascini is Deputy Chief Economist (a.i.) at the Research Department and Leader of the Behavioral Economics Group of the Inter-American Development Bank. He has published eight books and more than 80 articles in academic journals and edited volumes. He is a member of the Executive Committee of IDB’s GDLab, member of the Scientific Committee of Elcano Royal Institute, member of the Board of Advisors of the Master of Behavioral and Decision Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania, Associate Editor of the academic journal Economía, and Founding Member of LACEA’s BRAIN (Behavioral Insights Network).

Catalina Valenzuela
Subject area(s): Capacity-Building Strategy – Adaptive, impact-focused learning design; Gender Mainstreaming – Applying intersectional gender in programs; Participatory Facilitation – Inclusive, co-created learning approaches; MEL Frameworks – Using HEART and Kirkpatrick for outcome tracking; EEquity-Centered Change – Embedding DEI into organizational practices
Compensation type: Both Paid and Unpaid Zoom Lectures
Timezone: ET – Eastern Time (North America)
Location: USA

Catalina Valenzuela is a strategist, facilitator, and founder of Innovus Consulting, specializing in capacity-building strategies that integrate equity, innovation, and evidence. She has led gender inclusion, learning design, and M&E initiatives with CAF, WWF Colombia, GEF Orinoquía, and Conservation International. Her work across Latin America applies participatory methods and frameworks like ADDIE, Google’s HEART, and intersectional feminist approaches to help mission-driven organizations mobilize people and data for systemic change.

Chris Odell
Subject area(s): Population health data; Data Analytics; Artificial Intelligence / GenAI / ML; Data strategy; Evidence synthesis
Compensation type: Paid Zoom Lectures
Timezone: ET – Eastern Time (North America)
Location: USA

Chris Odell is a global leader in health analytics, data strategy, and team leadership. With over 15 years of experience at the intersection of data, policy, and research he has supported health systems and international organizations to pursue evidence-based, impactful strategies. Chris was a senior research manager of the team responsible for covid19.healthdata.org at IHME; he has worked with health system leaders and strategy offices around the world to lead research, data use in decision-making, and digital infrastructure.

Christopher Daniel Grady
Subject area(s): Impact evaluations of development/policy programs; Measuring policy-relevant outcomes; Farmer-pastoralist conflict in the Sahel; Social cohesion and countering violence; Designing entertainment-education interventions
Compensation type: Both Paid and Unpaid Zoom Lectures
Timezone: ET – Eastern Time (North America)
Location: USA

Christopher Grady is a political scientist interested in interventions to improve human well-being, causal inference. Grady was Senior Metrics Advisor at USAID’s Bureau for Democracy, Rights, and Governance (DRG), where he led Bureau efforts to integrate research into USAID programs, managed impact evaluations of DRG programs, and served as a top-level research and evaluation expert for USAID.

Daniel Sabet
Subject area(s): The impacts of terminating US support for independent media abroad; The impacts of terminating US support for democracy abroad; Bridging the academic and practitioner worlds; Lessons learned from 30 randomized controlled trials; Overcoming common pitfalls in qualitative research
Compensation type: Both Paid and Unpaid Zoom Lectures
Timezone: ET – Eastern Time (North America)
Location: USA

Daniel Sabet was most recently a Senior Learning Advisor at the USAID with over 20 years of experience researching, evaluating, and supporting democracy, human rights, and governance interventions. Daniel specializes in public sector reform, and much of his work focuses on the role of citizens, civil society, and the media in creating government accountability. Daniel has a PhD in Political Science from Indiana University and is a former Fulbright Fellow.

Dea Tsartsidze
Subject area(s): Monitoring and evaluation system design in governance contexts; Evidence standards in policy planning systems; Quality assessment frameworks for evidence-based policy making; Inclusive and participatory multi-stakeholder monitoring systems for policy; Teaching critical evaluation skills in public policy and administration
Compensation type: Both Paid and Unpaid Zoom Lectures
Timezone: AMT – Armenia Time GMT+4
Location: Georgia

Dea Tsartsidze is faculty at the University of Georgia and an international MEL practitioner with 15+ years of experience across 100+ countries. She developed Georgia’s first policy monitoring methodology, recognized by EU and OECD, and was a Molly Hageboeck Award finalist for MEL Innovation. Her work spans governance, media, and development, advancing evidence-based decision-making and building evaluation capacity through innovative methods and strategic learning systems. She specializes in mixed-method research, policy evaluation, and is passionate about transforming complex data into actionable insights for evidence-based decision-making and organizational learning.

Denis Prieur
Subject area(s): Analyzing authoritarian politics; Applying academic theories and methods to intelligence & policy analysis; Forecasting and warning for foreign policy; The role of intelligence in promoting democracy; Coups, uprisings, and/or rebellions
Compensation type: Both Paid and Unpaid Zoom Lectures
Timezone: ET – Eastern Time (North America)
Location: USA

Denis Prieur examines people’s relationship with power – how they compete for it, how they achieve it, how they use and abuse it – around the world. Denis looks at how political competition shapes policy making and vice versa, and how contested authority can disrupt societies and nations. He has developed this lens over 26 years working on national security and foreign policy issues through diplomatic, intelligence, and military channels, providing analysis of political instability and conflict to to senior policymakers making decisions on Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and elsewhere.

Elizabeth James
Subject area(s): Gender-Responsive Education and Girls’ Empowerment; Legal Advocacy for Women’s Rights; Community Mobilization for Gender-Based Violence (GBV) Prevention; Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) in Development Programs; Women’s Economic Empowerment
Compensation type: Both Paid and Unpaid Zoom Lectures
Timezone: WAT – West Africa Time
Location: Nigeria

Elizabeth George-Rike James is a passionate gender equality advocate, legal professional, and social inclusion champion with over sixteen years of experience advancing women’s rights and community empowerment. She currently serves as the Executive Director of Child is Gold Foundation, where she leads impactful initiatives such as advocacy for the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Law and the pioneering “Untax My Menstrual Pad” campaign. A certified Gender Action Learning System (GALS) Specialist, Elizabeth has extensive expertise in program design, capacity building, and gender-responsive education, having trained educators, community leaders, and adolescent girls through projects like the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE). She has also worked with organizations including MEDA Nigeria, Women for Women International, Malaria Consortium, and the Ikra Foundation, delivering large-scale empowerment, health, and advocacy programs. Her leadership and advocacy have earned her opportunities to represent Nigerian women’s rights organizations on global platforms, including the United Nations Women Peace and Security Week in New York. Elizabeth is a committed community mobilizer, skilled trainer, and strategic partner who integrates legal advocacy with grassroots action to promote gender equity and empower marginalized groups.

Eshban Kwesiga
Subject area(s): Where is the local mobilized money for development work?; How can international aid help to grow local money for development work?; A new development system is being born – what does it look like?
Compensation type: Both Paid and Unpaid Zoom Lectures
Timezone: EAT – East Africa Time
Location: Uganda

Based in Uganda, Eshban works with the Global Fund for Community Foundations (GFCF). The GFCF work has been to build the field of community philanthropy and the practice of Global South communities showing up as co-funders of their dreams and aspirations alongside the international development system. Given the retreat of various international development funders, community philanthropy offers an alternative resource mobilization path to fund global development work.

Md. Faridul Julfiker
Subject area(s): Local Governance; Community Engagement; Community Mobilization; Social Justice; Localization
Compensation type: Both Paid and Unpaid Zoom Lectures
Timezone: BT – Bangladesh Time
Location: Bangladesh

Faridul Julfiker is a development professional with over 17 years of experience leading programs for local development through partnerships with government departments, local government institutions, and NGOs. Skilled in program and operations management, grants, finance, procurement, and reporting. Proven expertise in strengthening LGIs, civil society engagement, and delivering sustainable service improvements. Successfully worked with Democracy International, Save the Children, Plan International Bangladesh, and Brac University Bangladesh, driving impactful, community-centered development initiatives.

Golnoosh Hakimdavar
Subject area(s): Rule of Law; Conflict Assessment; Human Rights; Sanctions; Law and Economic Development
Compensation type: Paid Zoom Lectures
Timezone: ET – Eastern Time (North America)
Location: USA

Golnoosh Hakimdavar is an internationally recognized expert in rule of law, governance, and post-conflict reconstruction. At USAID, Golnoosh led Congressionally mandated programs in the Bureau for Conflict Prevention and Stabilization, where she oversaw the strategic implementation of programs in democratic governance and human rights in fragile and conflict-affected states. Golnoosh has two decades of experience working on rule of law and international human rights program evaluation and implementation. She has also been an academic as an associate professor of evaluation and methodology in law.

Isabella Mancini
Subject area(s): State surveillance on migrant and diaspora communities in the US; Community-based advocacy of Arab/Muslim communities in the US; Migration policy and border externalization; Neocolonialism perpetuated through EU policies
Compensation type: Both Paid and Unpaid Zoom Lectures
Timezone: PT – Pacific Time (North America)
Location: USA

Isabella Mancini is a migration and human rights researcher focused on the intersections of policy, identity, and state power. With academic training from the London School of Economics and the University of San Francisco, she has contributed to a forthcoming UN OHCHR report, supported Mansfield Certification efforts, and conducted field research across North Africa, Europe, and the U.S.-Mexico border. Her work blends qualitative methods—interviews, legal analysis, and policy coding—with a decolonial lens and lived insight, shaped by experience in academic, NGO, and government settings. Fluent in English, with proficiency in French and formal studies in Arabic, she brings both intellectual rigor and deep conviction to pursuing structural reform.

Jon Temin
Subject area(s): US engagement with Africa; US subnational diplomacy / how subnational leaders engage abroad; Rethinking US global democracy support; Democracy and governance trends in Africa; Value of US global engagement
Compensation type: Both Paid and Unpaid Zoom Lectures
Timezone: ET – Eastern Time (North America)
Location: USA

Jon Temin is a seasoned foreign policy strategist and national security expert with over two decades of leadership experience across government, think tanks, and non-profit organizations. His work focuses on strengthening democratic institutions, supporting human rights defenders, and preventing and resolving conflicts, and his regional expertise is in Sub-Saharan Africa. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, Washington Post, Financial Times, Foreign Affairs, and Foreign Policy.

Jonathan Stöterau
Subject area(s): Labor market; Youth employment; Impact evaluation; Digital platforms; Active labor market policies
Compensation type: Both Paid and Unpaid Zoom Lectures
Timezone: ET – Eastern Time (North America)
Location: USA

Jonathan Stöterau is an Economist in the World Bank’s Social Protection & Jobs Global Practice (SPJ) and a member of the Jobs Group. As an impact evaluation specialist, his research focuses on the effectiveness of Active Labor Market Programs such as skills training, employment services, and entrepreneurship support. He published in various peer-reviewed journals, including World Development and Resource and Energy Economics. Before joining the World Bank in 2020, Jonathan worked as a Labor Economist at the OECD in Paris and as a researcher at the RWI research institute in Berlin. He holds a Ph.D. and M.Sc. in Economics from Humboldt University Berlin (Germany), with guest visits at New York University (USA) and Seoul National University (Korea).

Joseph Paulinus Ekong
Subject area(s): Insecurity and Citizens’ Participation in African Elections; Corruption and Development in Africa; Leadership Recruitment and Democratic Consolidation in Africa; The Status of Civic Space in Nigeria; Early Warning-Early Response Architecture in Addressing Conflicts in Africa
Compensation type: Both Paid and Unpaid Zoom Lectures
Timezone: WAT – West Africa Time
Location: Nigeria

Dr. Joseph Paulinus Ekong is a renowned researcher, development and political scientist with over decades of professional experiences that crisscross the development (civil society), banking, oil & gas sectors. He currently sits on the boards of two credible civil society/non-governmental organizations in Nigeria. He holds a Ph.D in Political & Administrative Studies (Development Studies); has authored and published academic articles in reputable international & local journals, as well as presented papers at academic conferences. His research interests are; security, conflicts, electoral process & jurisprudence, and human rights.

Kristina Kempkey
Subject area(s): Moldova’s integration into the EU; Malign actors and disinformation; Developing/emerging markets and AI governance/digital policy; Working with private sector for CSR around natural resources; Programming in conflict settings
Compensation type: Both Paid and Unpaid Zoom Lectures
Timezone: ET – Eastern Time (North America)
Location: USA

Kristina Kempkey is a strategic leader with 20+ years advancing democratic development, technology policy, and stabilization in 40+ countries. Over her career, she has managed a combined $660M portfolio across diverse programs and led AI and digital governance initiatives to advance secure, rights-based systems and public-sector innovation. She delivers high-stakes programs with governments, UN agencies, and civil society, building institutional capacity, fostering cross-border cooperation, and producing research to guide competitiveness and inclusive development.

Michael Cooper
Subject area(s): The future of decentralized social impact; Optimizing evidence for decision making and decision making for evidence
Compensation type: Both Paid and Unpaid Zoom Lectures
Timezone: ET – Eastern Time (North America)
Location: USA

Michael Cooper is a development effectiveness leader with a record of designing, managing, and evaluating complex, multi-partner programs for MDBs, bilateral donors, and UN agencies. This includes innovative evidence synthesis and knowledge translation work (ie. evidence gap maps and decision support) that integrated AI and now work with Web3 ecosystems on decentralized governance research.

Morgan O. Holmes
Subject area(s): Incorporating rigorous research in USAID Operations; The World Bank’s Independent Evaluation Group: mainstreaming learning?; Productive research/practitioner partnerships; The role of foreign assistance in international relations; What can philanthropies, academia, citizens do in the absence of Federal FA
Compensation type: Both Paid and Unpaid Zoom Lectures
Timezone: ET – Eastern Time (North America)
Location: USA

Morgan Holmes served as USAID’s Agency Learning and Evidence Team Lead where she championed, encouraged, and pioneered news ways for the Agency to generate, use, and share high quality evidence. She previously worked in USAID’s Development Innovation Ventures (DIV), an Innovation Fund within USAID whose grants test and scale rigorously-evidenced development solutions. Before DIV, Morgan led USAID’s Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance research and learning portfolio, working with academia to incorporate rigorous evidence into USAID programming and partnering academics and USAID Missions to design and implement nearly three dozen RCT Impact Evaluations, in addition to spearheading other learning products. Morgan also works with the World Bank’s Independent Evaluation Group on select studies and is a co-founder and frequent collaborator with the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie). Morgan is a member of Evidence in Governance and Politics (EGAP), an academic network that promotes rigorous knowledge accumulation, innovation, and evidence-based policy in various governance and accountability domains.

Before specializing in research and evaluation, Morgan worked for NDI and IRI implementing political party, civil society, and media strengthening programs. She has managed programs in Afghanistan, the Czech Republic, the DRC, Indonesia, Iraq, Kenya, Pakistan, Peru, the Philippines, Slovakia, and Venezuela. She holds a BSc from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, and an MSc in Development Studies from the London School of Economics.

Natalia Voutova
Subject area(s): Rekindling Trust: Behavioural Insights for Modern Governance; Change Starts Where Awareness Ends; Policies People Love: Powered with Behavioural Science; Applied theatre to alleviate discrimination; When Sexism Holds the Door — and Bars the Way
Compensation type: Both Paid and Unpaid Zoom Lectures
Timezone: AMT – Armenia Time
Location: Republic of Georgia

Natalia Voutova is a lawyer and behavioural scientist with 30 years professional experience in democratic governance and human rights supporting democratic reforms in the Western Balkans and South Caucasus, as well as promoting international humanitarian law. In the last years Natalia has been mainstreaming behavioural science and social innovation in the fields of democratic governance. Her strong interest also relates to the fight against gender based violence.

Nurul Huda Sakib
Subject area(s): Corruption and Anti-Corruption in South Asia; Migration and Rohingya Crisis; China and BRI; Local Government; Water Governance
Compensation type: Both Paid and Unpaid Zoom Lectures
Timezone: GMT – Greenwich Mean Time
Location: Bangladesh

Dr. Nurul Huda Sakib earned his PhD from the University of Sydney in 2018 and boasts 17+ years of teaching, research, and consultancy experience. He lectured at the University of Sydney, served as adjunct faculty at Bangladesh University of Professionals and North South University, and supervised research at the Bangladesh Public Administration Training Centre. With over 45 publications in esteemed journals and presentations worldwide. Dr Sakib has been awarded the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) on Transparency and Accountability in Government Exchange Program by US Government in 2021.

Pamela Huerta Uribe
Subject area(s): Program management; DMEL; Governance; Business development; Citizen security
Compensation type: Paid Zoom Lectures
Timezone: CT – Central Time (North America)
Location: Mexico

Pamela Huerta Uribe is an international development expert with over 12 years of experience in program management, design, monitoring and evaluation, and business development. Pamela’s main technical areas are governance, citizen security, and transparency, and she has held positions in the government, corporate and NGO’s sectors, and as independent consultant. Pamela has worked for regional projects in Latin America and the Caribbean, in Mexico and Honduras, and lived and studied in London, Sweden and South East Asia. She holds a Masters degree in Comparative Politics.

Steven Lichty
Subject area(s): Trends, signals, drivers, and wild cards within global affairs; Building foresight and futures thinking capacities; Changing landscape of humanitarian aid and development; Religious worldviews, nationalism, and authoritarianism; Civil society and informal institutions in Africa
Compensation type: Both Paid and Unpaid Zoom Lectures
Timezone: EAT – East Africa Time
Location: Kenya

Dr. Steven Lichty is the Managing Partner of REAL Consulting in Nairobi. He has 25 years’ experience across Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. He works with transformative foresight, organisational development, systems thinking, research, and evaluation. Steven has a PhD in African Studies and three master’s degrees, including an MPhil in Futures Studies. He is currently focused on the nexus of trauma-transformative foresight and global cognitive justice among subaltern populations.

Thanh-Huyen Do
Subject area(s): Governance Measurement; Public Policy; Local Governance; Ant-corruption; Civic Engagement
Compensation type: Both Paid and Unpaid Zoom Lectures
Timezone: ICT – Indochina Time
Location: Vietnam

Huyen Thanh Do (Đỗ Thanh Huyền) holds a Master’s degree (1st Class Honor) in Development Studies from University of Auckland (New Zealand), a non-degree certificate in international development policy from Duke University (USA), and a Bachelor’s in English from Viet Nam National University.

Since 2008, Huyen has been working as policy analyst in the areas of governance and participation with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Viet Nam. Huyen’s work at UNDP Viet Nam involves research and advocacy in a wide range of governance topics, particularly in local government performance, citizen participation, transparency and anti-corruption, and innovation for development. Huyen has been leading UNDP’s flagship research and advocacy project “The Viet Nam Provincial Governance and Public Administration Performance Index (PAPI)” (see www.papi.org.vn for further information) since 2016, and a co-author of the annual PAPI reports since 2009.

Wai Yan Phyo Naing
Subject area(s): Myanmar Studies; Myanmar – China Relations; Myanmar – Russia Relations; Myanmar Migrants in Thailand; Asia – Pacific
Compensation type: Both Paid and Unpaid Zoom Lectures
Timezone: THA – Thailand Standard Time
Location: Thailand

Wai Yan Phyo Naing is an accomplished professional with over ten years of experience in international relations, political analysis, and project management, specialising in Asian studies. His career spans the private, public, and multilateral sectors. Wai Yan Phyo Naing is dedicated to fostering employee engagement, implementing initiatives that align with organisational objectives, and creating impactful programmes that benefit both colleagues and communities. His extensive experience in demanding environments has equipped him with resilience, intercultural competence, and adept communication skills.
Education:
Doctor of Philosophy, Dissertation: Evolution of Myanmar’s Policy towards China (1988- 2020), National Research University-Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia, 2023.
Master of Arts, Socioeconomic and Political Development of Modern Asia, National Research University-Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia, 2017.
Publications & Contributions:
Wai Yan Phyo Naing has authored several peer-reviewed articles on Myanmar-China relations and participated in international conferences on socio-political issues in Asia. His work has been featured in various academic journals and platforms, including The Diplomat and BBC Burmese.