Program Design
3S: Leveraging Remittances and Diaspora Investment for Climate Resilient Development Impact
IFAD
2023, Remote/Italy
As a member of the Youth (ECG) team, I supported the design of the 3S initiative aiming to leverage remittances and diaspora investments to enhance climate resilience and improve youth employment opportunities in the Sahel region. My efforts included conducting research to identify collaborative opportunities, compiling case studies, and providing digital development advisory. Moreover, I served as an essential liaison between IFAD’s Youth Employment (ECG) and Financing Facility for Remittances (FFR) teams, ensuring the initiative’s strategic alignment and effective communication for maximum impact.
Climate Resilience Enhancement for Building Adaptive Capacity in Agri-Value Chains in Cambodia (CREA)
IFAD
2022-2023, Cambodia
In my role as an ICT4D and MERL consultant, I created an ICT4D strategy, Theory of Change, and M&E plan for the Global Environment Facility (GEF-8) Project Identification Form (PIF) and the CEO Endorsement. The project is aimed at promoting the adoption of climate-resilient technologies by smallholder farmers in rural Cambodia on a nationwide scale.
AvanzaLee: Youth Education Behavior Change Project
Worldreader/Promotora Social Mexico
2018, Mexico
I led the program design and proposal development of a youth-focused project titled AvanzaLee. Avanzalee’s goal was to promote a reading culture among the youth in Mexico. AvanzaLee project developed an online learning platform that trained reading promoters on how to use mobile phone apps to promote long-form reading in Mexico. AvanzaLee project was financed by Promotora Social México.
Anasoma: EdTech Gender Empowerment Project
Worldreader/Gates Family Foundation
2016, Kenya
As a program director, I led the program design and implementation of the gender-focused project called Anasoma. Anasoma aimed to identify barriers to female use of technology for education and promote mobile phones as a learning tool among young women in Kenya. The action research project design included quantitative and qualitative analysis combining data from telephone and in-app surveys, data usage analysis with in-depth interviews, and focus groups with stakeholders in urban and rural Kenya. Anasoma was awarded a grant by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Impact Evaluation & Research
Final Evaluation: Millions Learning Grant
Center for Universal Education at Brookings Institution
2023
I led an impact evaluation of Brookings Institution‘s five-year Millions Learning grant action-research project, advancing the understanding of scaling educational innovations. My role included developing the evaluation framework and methodology, encompassing survey questionnaires, interviewing protocols, and workshop facilitation plans. I also orchestrated a comprehensive survey with diverse stakeholders, conducted Key Informant Interviews, and facilitated data validation workshops, culminating in a final report that offered vital recommendations and insights for future educational strategies and interventions.
UNESCO: Reading in the Mobile Era
Worldreader/UNESCO
2012-2014, Spain
As a Research Coordinator, I managed the collection and the primary data analysis for the UNESCO-funded research project – Reading in the Mobile Era. The project aimed to explore the use of mobile phones as tools for long-form reading in low-resource environments.
In this project, I conducted desk research on ICT for Education (EdTech), interviewed key informants on mobile usage and reading habits, and analyzed and reported findings from online surveys, app analytics, and interview transcripts.
The project summarized the research findings from seven countries in a report published by UNESCO in 2014.
Partnership Development
EdTech Product Scaling
Worldreader
2012-2016, Spain
As a Partnership Development Manager, I have designed digital growth strategies and developed sustainability plans for Worldreader’s edtech solutions. I initiated and maintained strategic relationships with a range of bilateral and multilateral organizations including UNESCO, GIZ, and GSMA; mobile network operators such as Bharti Airtel Africa, Cellcom Liberia, Safaricom Kenya, and Orange Cameroon; and technology companies like Nokia, Microsoft, Mozilla, Opera, Facebook, and Samsung.
These partnerships resulted in the scaling of the Worldreader app allowing free access to books and learning materials for millions of youth across Africa. This led to a rapid uptake in digital learning across Sub-Saharan Africa with over 10 million people benefiting from Worldreader’s edtech solution.
ICT4D Advisory
Tuta Tuta: Education in Emergency
Worldreader/Stavros Niarchos Foundation
2017, Jordan
As an ICT4D specialist, I participated in the design of the emergency education program called Tuta Tuta. The project aimed to provide emotional and educational support to children impacted by the Syrian refugee crisis. The project leveraged mobile technology and digital content to provide Syrian and Jordanian families with educational resources. Stavros Niarchos Foundation financially supported Tuta Tuta project.
Read to Kids: Technology-supported Early Childhood Development (ECD) project
Worldreader/Pearson
2015, India
As an ICT4D specialist, I partook in the program design of the Read to Kids India project, which aimed to promote emergent literacy and school readiness of pre-primary children. The project’s focus was to raise awareness of the value of reading to young children and to support the culture of reading at the household level. The project used a mobile phone app to help parents and caregivers engage their children with books and storytelling. Read to Kids India was funded through Pearson’s Project Literacy Initiative.