On Think Tanks Conference 2018: the participants

Christopher J. Rastrick

The University of Western Ontario

Christopher J. Rastrick received his PhD in political science from the University of Western Ontario, in London, Canada. He regularly writes on public policy issues in Canada and beyond, appearing in the nation’s top newspapers and journals. His academic research interests include think tanksCanada-EU relations, and regional integration initiatives. His first book, Think Tanks in the US and EU: The Role of Policy Institutes in Washington and Brussels, was published by Routledge in July 2017. @ChrisRastrick

Till Bruckner

Advocacy manager, Transparify and TranspariMED

Till Bruckner has over a decade of experience in the field of research-driven advocacy. His professional history spans research, advocacy, policy analysis, and journalism. He has worked in a wide variety of contexts, including the UK, Afghanistan, Georgia, North Africa and the Caribbean. Till currently works as the advocacy manager for Transparify, consults with a variety of organizations, writes for Foreign Policy and other publications, blogs with the Huffington Post, and is a regular contributor to the On Think Tanks blog. He is interested in the hidden power relationships that structure global politics and our everyday lives, and in learning new ways of using research and advocacy to produce positive outcomes. Till holds a PhD in Politics from the University of Bristol. His full professional history and list of publications can be found on his LinkedIn page. @TranspariMED

Nicole Valentinuzzi

Director of Communications, Institute for Government

Nicole is the Director of Communications and Marketing, managing all public engagement at the IfG, including events and media. She has advised on global communication campaigns with a range of partners, including international NGOs, technical groups, and grassroots-level civil society. She has worked in several government departments in press office and private secretary roles. Her background is in radio and print journalism, with a bachelor of journalism from Carleton University (Canada) and a post-graduate degree from Leeds University (UK). She is a member of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (UK). @nicolevifg

David Tripepi-Lewis

Head of Partnerships and Development, Institute for Government

David joined the Institute in September 2017 from Prospect magazine, where he was Head of Political Engagement. During his time there he led on devising, funding and delivering Prospect's partnership activities. These covered programmes of events and reports on infrastructure, regional devolution and trade, as well as growing the organisation’s political party conference presence. Before joining Prospect, David worked on the management team at Dods, with responsibility for running PoliticsHome's Central Lobby, and devising and delivering Dods' campaigns and party conference programmes working with clients across energy, infrastructure, manufacturing and financial services. David works closely with the Institute’s research teams to secure funding for projects by engaging with commercial, academic and foundation based partners in the UK and internationally. (Taken directly form the IfG)

Hans Gutbrod

Executive Director, Transparify

Hans Gutbrod is the ED of Transparify, and otherwise active in policy research and consulting, mostly based out of Tbilisi, Georgia. @HansGutbrod

John Schwartz

Managing Director, Soapbox

John Schwartz is the founder and managing director of Soapbox (www.soapbox.co.uk), a London-based creative communications agency working with many of the world's leading think tanks, NGOs and academic institutions. His clients include Chatham House, ODI, the Stockholm Environment Institute, the International Rescue Committee, UNICEF and the London School of Economics. John studied philosophy and politics at the University of Warwick and previously worked for the Institute for Public Policy Research in London and as a publisher of political books. He was a producer on the multi-award-winning documentary "They Will Have to Kill Us First" about the 2012 civil war in Mali. He has a passion for making public policy work accessible to wider audiences and for communicating it in innovative ways. @soapboxcoms

Luca Brunner

Co-Head of the foraus global

Luca Brunner works for the Swiss Forum on Foreign Policy foraus which pursues an inclusive, grassroots think tank approach and uses modern technology to collect the best policy suggestions and bring them to policymakers. Luca Brunner is currently the co-head of the organization's international branch "foraus global", an emerging international network of crowdsourcing think tanks who has already organized two big international conferences in Geneva in Berlin. He (co-)coordinates the network with currently 4 steady member organizations in Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Germany and France. Furthermore, the network is reaching out for new partnerships on all continents all over the world. The network "foraus global" perceives itself as a "start-up coach" for crowdsourcing think tanks. The biggest project of the network is the development of a new digital matchmaking platform in order to make crowdsourcing in politics more efficient. The basic idea is to bring people from different sectors, social classes, etc. together to address the most challenging issues. Luca Brunner holds a BA and a MA in political science and law from the University of Zurich (Switzerland) and he made some additional education programs, mostly in communications and think tank management such as the "Winter School for Think Tankers" in Geneva. Luca Brunner's main thematic areas of expertise are conflicts studies, direct democracy, migration and security policy. @LF_Brunner

Lukas Hupfer

Director of foraus

Being part of the Swiss grassroots think tank on foreign policy (foraus) since 2011, Lukas has been appointed as its new director. Lukas has a wide experience both as an academic and professional in foreign policy. Following his studies at SciencesPo Paris he served the Swiss Foreign Ministry in Bern and Hebron. Before starting his new function with foraus in March, Lukas will continue leading a regional campaign committee against a popular initiative asking to abandon the Swiss public broadcasting system.

Carlos Fitzgerald

Researcher, Centro de Investigación y Promoción Social y Urbana (CIPSU)

Panamanian archaeologist, specialist in Panamanian Archaeology and Heritage Studies. Currently I am a full time Research Professor at Universidad Católica Santa María La Antigua in Panama City. From 2004 to 2016 I was an independent researcher working as a consultant for Environmental Impact Studies. Between 1999-2004 I was the Director of the Heritage Office of Panama´s National Institute of Culture and thus had the opportunity of bringing together my own academic training as an archaeologist (undergraduate studies at the City University of New York - Hunter College (1980-1985) convalidated at the University of Panama to be a Professor, and Ph.D. studies at the University of Pittsburgh (1989-1993) where I remain a doctoral candidate). Between 2004 and 2016 I have produced some 130 Archaeological Reports for Environmental Impact Studies, ranging from urban and rural construction projects, roads, energy generation projects and mineral exploration projects. During the years after public service, I have advised a variety of organizations related to Heritage conservation and research and participated in congresses and academic meetings on museum studies and conservation. My interests, besides archaeological field research, include the study of social complexity in ancient Isthmo-Colombian (Intermediate Area) polities, the exploration of identity issues in Panamá, the construction of historical memory and its relationship to heritage, critical museum interpretation, the challenge of producing archaeological publications for the general public and awareness programs concerning both tangible and intangible Heritage.

Claudia Leisinger

Photographer

Based in London since 2002, I spent my early childhood in India and Bhutan, before returning to my native Switzerland in 1980.

I completed an MA course in Photojournalism and Documentary Photography at the London College of Communication in 2007. My final project "The Changes Within: Bhutan Between Monarchy and Democracy" was a story documenting Bhutan's shift towards its first-ever democratic elections. It was later published in the NZZ (Neue Zuercher Zeitung).

I am especially drawn to subjects of migration, employment and environment; to stories and situations of imminent change. Looking at ordinary people, institutions and geographical areas on the cusp of events that, though sometimes appear subtle, can often have huge and wide-ranging effects on their lives or status.

“The Last of the Billingsgate Fish Porters” documented how 150 men lost their much-loved jobs when the City of London Corporation enforced the removal of a centuries-old tradition to ultimately increase profits. The bigger story is the loss of working-class manual labour and the attached communities all across Europe and the effects this has on our society.

My multimedia piece on the Billingsgate Porters was published in the Guardian UK, shown at Night Contact, London’s first Multimedia Festival as well as published on Foto8. It was exhibited in a solo exhibition at the Maz Galerie in Luzern, Switzerland and I won several awards for this body of work.

My current project “Of Flying Rivers & Flooded Lands: Damming the Amazon” examines the situation of two communities threatened by the Brazilian government’s plans to build a massive hydro-electricity dam in the middle of pristine Amazonian rain forest. This would completely submerge the self-sufficient fishing village of Pimental and Sawré Muybu, an indigenous village considered sacred by the Munduruku Indians, to whom the land legally belongs. I intend to use the resulting multimedia piece to campaign on behalf of the affected communities.

Alongside these projects I work as freelance photographer and filmmaker for magazines (The Telegraph Magazine, The Big Issue) charities (Red Cross, Lead International, Mentor, B.HUG, Tourettes Action, St Michael's Fellowship) institutions (Chatham House, BMW Foundation, Earth Security Group) Think tanks (OnThinkTank, The Hague Institute for Global Justice) . I also shoot portraits commissioned by individuals & am very interested in creating multimedia profiles. Photography offers me the means to still my insatiable curiosity about the world around me and helps me to make sense of it. @claudialeisinger

Jay Jesus Molino

Researcher, Fundación Universidad de las Américas (FUNDAMERICAS)

Find out more about Jay Jesus Molino: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayjesusmolino/ @DrJayMolino

Kathryn Oliver

Associate Professor in Sociology and Public Health, LSHTM

Kathryn studied Molecular Biology at UCL (2003). Via a MSc in History of Science, Technology and Medicine (2004), she soon became interested in broader questions about how scientific knowledge and expertise are constructed, owned and used. Her PhD (Manchester, 2012) was half sociology, half public health, exploring social networks of power, influence and evidence-use in public health policymaking. After postdoctoral positions in Manchester Sociology and Manchester Business School (GM CLAHRC), she held fellowships/lecturerships at UCL and Oxford before moving to LSHTM in 2017. She continues to develop her work into evidence, policy and networks. Current projects include looking at policy mechanisms through the lens of unintended consequences, understanding credibility and legitimacy of evidence in the policy space, and exploring the processes and outcomes of collaborative research. She is an Associate Editor of Evidence and Policy journal, an expert advisor for WHO, a member of SocSocMed and INSNA, and a regular contributor to Research Fortnight and other media. @oliver_kathryn

Denisse Rodriguez Olivari

Doctoral Researcher, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin

Denisse Rodriguez Olivari is a doctoral researcher at Humboldt-Universität - Berlin Graduate School of Social Sciences funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). She holds a master in International Development with a specialisation in Politics and Governance from the University of Manchester, and a Bsc in Political Science and Government from the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú with undergraduate studies at Sciences Po, Paris. She also completed a postgraduate certificate from the London School of Economics while participating in the Hansard Research Scholar Programme. @denisseolivari

Rosa Balfour

Senior Transatlantic Fellow, Germany Marshall Fund of the US

Dr. Rosa Balfour is a Senior Transatlantic Fellow at the Germany Marshall Fund of the US and a member of the Steering Committee of WIIS-Brussels (Women In International Security). Her fields of expertise include European politics, institutions, foreign and security policy, and international relations. She has researched and published widely on issues relating to European politics and international relations, especially on relations with the Mediterranean region, Eastern Europe and the Balkans, EU enlargement, and on the role of human rights and democracy in international relations. Prior to joining GMF, Rosa was a Director at the European Policy Centre (EPC), an independent think tank based in Brussels, where she headed the Europe in the World programme. She holds an MA in history from Cambridge University, an MSc in European Studies and PhD in International Relations both from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Having worked in think tanks and research institutes for most of her career, she recently put on paper some thoughts in What are think tanks for? Policy research in the age of anti-expertise, published by LSE Ideas in December 2017, http://www.lse.ac.uk/ideas/research/updates/think-tanks @RosaBalfour

Enrique Planells-Artigot

International Relations Coordinator, ESIC Business & Marketing School

Enrique Planells-Artigot holds a PhD in Communication from Universidad de Valencia (Spain), studying the impact of Spanish think tanks on the online press. He lectures Communication at ESIC and has been a visiting lecturer of Spanish Language, Translation and Spanish Cinema at University of Roehampton and Queen Mary University of London. His research interests include political party think tanks, the policy process, and education policies.

Norma Correa

Professor, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú

Norma is an anthropologist specialising in public policy and development with 15 years of professional experience in rural and urban research, management and senior management, technical consultancy and university teaching. She is Professor and Researcher of the Academic Department of Social Sciences and the School of Government and Public Policy at the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú (PUCP). She has won a number of academic research scholarships and awards at national and international level. Her research interests include: social innovation, economic inclusion, inequalities and gender. @nb_correa

Ruth Levine

Programme Director, Global Development and Population, Hewlett Foundation

Ruth is the Program Director of Global Development and Population at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. Ruth is an internationally recognized development economist and expert in global health, education and evaluation. Since 2011, she has led the foundation’s team responsible for grantmaking to improve living conditions in low- and middle-income countries, and to advance reproductive health and rights in developing countries and in the United States. Previously, Ruth was a deputy assistant administrator in the Bureau of Policy, Planning and Learning at the U.S. Agency for International Development. In that role, she led the development of the agency’s evaluation policy. Ruth spent nearly a decade at the Center for Global Development, as a senior fellow and vice president for programs and operations. She helped shape the center’s approach to reduce global poverty and inequality, conducted independent research and devised new policy solutions. She also designed and evaluated health and education projects at the Inter-American Development Bank and the World Bank. Ruth is the author of scores of books and publications on global health policy, including “Millions Saved: Proven Successes in Global Health,” and co-wrote the report, “When Will We Ever Learn? Improving Lives through Impact Evaluation.” She holds an undergraduate degree in biochemistry from Cornell University and a doctorate degree in economic demography from Johns Hopkins University. @RuthLevine5

Stephen Yeo

Independent Consultant and On Think Tanks Adviser at Large

Stephen has had extensive involvement in building capacity for policy research and analysis in Sub-Saharan Africa, along with experience in monitoring and evaluation, in particular of policy research networks and policy influencing projects. He is currently involved in the evaluation of the International Growth Centre (IGC).

Xufeng Zhu

Professor, Tsinghua University

Xufeng ZHU is currently Professor and Associate Dean at the School of Public Policy and Management, Tsinghua University. His research interests involve the policy process, think tank and expert involvement, Science & Technology policy, environment and climate policy, and public governance in transitional China. He is the author of The Rise of Think Tanks in China, Expert Involvement in Policy Changes, and China's Think Tanks: Their Influences in the Policy Process, and has published over twenty English articles in Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, Public Administration, The China Quarterly, Policy Sciences, Public Management Review, Administration & Society, Asian Survey and other international journals. He serves as Regional Editor of Asian Journal of Political Sciences and editorial board memberships for other six international journals.

Nick Pearce

Director, Institute for Policy Research at the University of Bath

Nick leads the Institute for Policy Research (IPR) across the range of its research, teaching, policy programmes and public engagement activity. Nick was formerly Director of the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), where he led a team of 45 staff producing public policy research in the key areas of public services, economic reform, the welfare state, migration, energy & environment & politics & power. He co-edited the journal of ideas Juncture. Nick was also Head of the No10 Downing St. Policy Unit between 2008 & 2010, with responsibility for the formulation of policy advice to the Prime Minister. He led and managed the work of the Prime Minister’s 13 policy advisers, coordinating policy development & liaising with external stakeholders. @IPR_NickP

Sonja Stojanovic Gajic

Director, Belgrade Centrefor Security Policy

Sonja Stojanovic Gajic is the BCSP Director. She holds an MA in Politics, Security and Integration with distinction from the School of Slavonic and Eastern European Studies, University College London. @StojanovicSonja

Simonida Kacarska

Director at the European Policy Institute

Simonida Kacarska is a co-founder, former research coordinator and the current director of the European Policy Institute, a think tank in Skopje, Macedonia and a policy leaders fellow at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy. Her previous professional experience also includes research fellow at the University of Edinburgh, lecturer at her alma mater the American University in Bulgaria, and a civil servant in the Macedonian European integration office. Her policy research interests are related to the political transformation and European integration of the Balkans with a focus on national minority policies. In 2017 she was a Marshall Memorial Fellow of the German Marshall Fund of the US. She regularly consults international organisations such as the OSCE and the Council of Europe on achieving sustainable democratic change through Europeanisation processes. She completed her PhD in Politics and International Studies at the University of Leeds in 2013. @skacarska

Joseph Barnsley

Communications Officer at LSE IDEAS

Joseph Barnsley is Communications Officer at LSE IDEAS, the LSE's foreign policy think tank, responsible for managing the think tank's website, social media, events, and publications. A political science graduate of Leeds and Warwick universities, his previous employment includes Web and Communications Officer at the National Centre for Universities and Business (NCUB) and Parliamentary Assistant to Toby Perkins MP. @joe_barnsley

Donald Abelson

Donald E. Abelson is a professor of political science at The University of Western Ontario, where he has served as director of the Center for American Studies, as chair of the political science department, and as the founding director of the Canada-US Institute. Abelson has published a number of books and articles dealing with the influence of think tanks on public policy and foreign policy in the United States and Canada. He has been called a "foremost authority on think tanks" in Canada and the United States, and is a regular commentator on the subject for various media outlets.

Jesus Robles

Executive Director at Planta de Generación de Energía Social (PGES)

Jesus Robles is Executive Director at Planta de Generación de Energía Social (PGES) in Panamá.

Dina Zaman

Founding Member at IMAN

Dina has a Masters degree in Creative Writing from the University of Lancaster, UK and Honours degree in Communications from Western Michigan University, US and works in the media. She has written a book on Muslim Malaysians titled I Am Muslim and covered Muslim life in her columns for Malaysiakini.com, The Malaysian Insider and The Malay Mail Online. She was a recipient of the Nippon Foundation’s Asian Public Intellectual Fellowship in 2012, and her research was a comparative study on saints in Indonesia and Malaysia. She is currently compiling her published essays for a new book. She has been in the media for over 20 years, serving as editor at Malaysiakini.com and The Malaysian Insider. She also has a background in corporate communications, and believes that research, advocacy and journalism can be utilised in a multimedia platform that will serve policy makers, governments and media owners.

Peter da Costa

Technical Advisor to the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation

Peter da Costa has worked as a development expert in and on Africa as well as on global issues and initiatives for more than two decades. His areas of expertise include Evidence-informed Policy-making; Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning; Capacity Strengthening; and Social and Behavioural Change Communication. He has consulted extensively with development agencies as well as philanthropic foundations and independent monitoring organisations. He is a Technical Advisor to the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation’s Global Development and Population Program. In this capacity, he advises the Foundation on supporting think tanking, harnessing data for development, and building African evaluation capacity, among other issues. He also conducts evaluations. Prior to that he was Senior Communication Adviser at the UN Economic Commission for Africa in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He holds a Ph.D. in Development Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, and is based in Nairobi, Kenya. @PeterdaCosta2

Charlotte Wieder

PlayFutures Manager for the LEGO Foundation

Charlotte Wieder is an engagement specialist, expert of social network and innovation community management. She is currently working as PlayFutures managers for the LEGO Foundation in the Communication department. She is based in Billund, Denmark. PlayFutures is an international community advocating in favor of Learning through Play and targets researchers, practitioners, policy makers and family representative. Charlotte has a background in innovation, industrial engineering and information system management. She holds a doctorate in Industrial Engineering, where she developed a diagnosis tool to assess the innovation capability of manufacturers through agility. She has 12 years experience, working 6 years as business consultant on transformation projects (Accenture), then 5 years as Innovation Community Manager (Groupe SEB) and more recently as PlayFutures Manager for the LEGO Foundation.

Dustin Gilbreath

Communications Manager at Transparify and thinktanker at CRRC-Georgia

A thinktanker at CRRC-Georgia and the Communications Manager at Transparify, working on quasi and fully experimental data collection and analysis, other econometrics, think tanks, the South Caucasus, and politics. @GilbreathDustin

Dr. Thomas Munthali

Director of Knowledge and Learning at ACBF

Dr. Thomas Chataghalala Munthali is the Director of Knowledge and Learning. He holds a Masters and PhD in Economics from University of Leeds, England. Prior to joining ACBF, Dr. Munthali was the Malawi Country Director for Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA). As a seasoned Economist with extensive international experience, he has worked with Malawi’s Ministry of Economic Planning where he was part of the team that coordinated the development of the Malawi Economic Growth Strategy; the World Bank where he coordinated research around exchange rates and transport systems as part of the 2009 country economic memorandum; and UNFPA where he provided leadership in strategies for harnessing population and its dividend for development. He has written a number of journal and workshop/conference papers on corporate governance, exchange rates, economic development, financial development, insurance and economic growth, population and development, climate change, inter alia. He is the past President of the Economics Association of Malawi (and remains its Executive member). He was also a member of the Advisory Council for Strategic Planning that advised the then African Union Chairman, Prof. Bingu Wa Mutharika. @thomas.chataghalala.munthali

Helen Tilley

Senior Research Fellow

Helen specialises in researching and increasing the capacity of organisations to absorb evidence into policy; the political economy of knowledge and research uptake. She is also interested in the interface between service delivery, aid effectiveness and public financial management; and accountability, power and networks. For more information: https://www.odi.org/experts/972-helen-tilley @hel4t

Katryn Oliver

Associate Professor in Sociology and Public Health

I'm working on policy networks, including longitudinal employment networks in public health. My current project focuses on the relationship between being a source of evidence for public health policy, and being powerful and influential in policy networks. I'm interested in the debates about evidence-based policy and practice, and in how individuals and organisations work to develop and implement policies - particularly on how networks change and are manipulated by actors. (Taken directly from LSHTM website) @oliver_kathryn

Renata Skardziute-Kereselidze

Programmes Manager at the Georgian Institute of Politics

Renata moved from Lithuania to Georgia seven years ago, and now she pursues her career as a Programmes Manager at the Georgian Institute of Politics. Renata has  a background in political science (BA from Vilnius University,  Institute of International Relations and Political Science) and nationalism studies (MA from Central European University), with a special interest in Europeanisation. Before  joining GIP Renata worked with different NGOs in Lithuania and Georgia in the fields of human rights, youth activism and development cooperation. @RSkardziute

Iulian Groza

Executive Director, Institute for European Policies and Reform

Iulian Groza is a career diplomat and an expert in foreign policy, European affairs and good governance. He is a former Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of the Republic of Moldova (June 2013 to March 2015). Before that he served in different capacities at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, including as Director General at the Directorate for European integration. He was posted as well to Brussels at the Moldovan Mission to the EU. Currently he leads the Institute for European Policies and Reforms (IPRE) - www.ipre.md and is a Board member of the Institute for Strategic Initiatives (IPIS) – www.ipis.md. Mr. Groza is a PhD candidate at the Moldovan State University and holds a BA degree in international law. He also did postgraduate European Studies at Birmingham University and Security Studies at SNSPA in Bucharest. Iulian is an FCO Chevening Scholar. Mr. Groza holds diplomatic rank of Minister-Counsellor. @grozaiulian

Salvador Sanchez

Vice-Minister at the Ministry of the Presidency of Panamá

Vice-Minister at the Ministry of the Presidency of Panamá in charge of the national policy on science, technology and innovation.

Barassou Diawara

Knowledge Management Expert at ACBF

Barassou Diawara is a Knowledge Management Expert and Coordinator of the Africa Think Tank Network at the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF). He is a member of the Africa Capacity Indicators Report Team, which produces the ACBF Flagship Report measuring and assessing capacities in relation to the development agenda of African countries. Dr. Diawara is the focal point of the ACBF’s supported knowledge networks, namely the Policy Institutes Committee and the Strategic Studies Group initiatives. Dr. Diawara holds a Master’s degree in Economics from Cheikh Anta Diop University in Senegal, and a Master’s and PhD in Economics from the Kyushu University Graduate School of Economics in Japan, where he was also a research fellow before joining ACBF. (Taken directly from IBFD)

Julie LaFrance

Senior Program Specialist - Capacity Development and Training at Think Tank Initiative

Julie holds a Master's degree in International Business Economics from Aalborg University in Denmark and an undergraduate degree in Business from Catawba College, North Carolina. Prior to joining the Think Tank Initiative, Julie was a consultant for 8 years with the International Finance Corporation in Washington, DC. Her role included building capacity of financial institutions and other financial sector stakeholders in emerging markets to integrate environmental and social considerations into their lending practices and develop new business in sustainable energy finance. She was responsible for managing grantees and raising donor funds for the Sustainable Financial Markets Facility from 2003 – 2007. She has worked for the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Thailand where she focused on resource mobilization and partnership development. Julie has worked for various institutions in Canada including McGill University and Oxfam Quebec. (Taken directly from the Think Tank Initiative) JulieLafrance3

Andrea Baertl

Research Officer at On Think Tanks

Andrea is a social psychologist with an MSc in Wellbeing and Human Development from the University of Bath. She has experience in research, research communications, capacity building for NGOs and think tanks, and corporate social responsibility. Her research work focused on education, wellbeing and development in GRADE (Group for the Analisys of Development- Peru), Pontifical Catholic University of Peru and the University of Bath. Before joining On Think Tanks, Andrea worked at the Ella (Evidence and Lessons from Latin America ) Programme, where she oversaw the impact of the work of partner African and Latin American research centres. @andreabaertl

Eva Cardoso

Programme manager at On Think Tanks

Eva has solid experience in managing various international research projects. She is very familiar with the think tank sector: she was the programme administrator for the RAPID Programme at ODI and has, since leaving, supported On Think Tanks on several projects including the On Think Tanks School, the Data Visualisation Competition and the On Think Tanks Exchange. Her key responsibilities for OTT Consulting Ltd are financial and contractual management, controlling, supporting governance and planning and managing event and workshop logistics.

Leandro Echt

Research associate at On Think Tanks

Leandro works in the policy and research field. He engages with think tanks, researchers, NGOs and public agencies interested in linking evidence with public decisions, particularly in developing countries, through capacity building, mentoring and consultancy activities including evaluation of programs and organisational assessments. His work is complemented by research initiatives. He is also the general coordinator of Politics & Ideas. Previously, he was the coordinator of the Influence, Monitoring and Evaluation Program at the Argentinean think tank Center for the Implementation of Public Policies promoting Equity and Growth (CIPPEC). He is Argentinean and is currently based in Florida, United States. @LeandroEcht

Carolina Kern

Trainer at the On Think Tanks School

Carolina has over 10 years of experience working for development and humanitarian organisations, helping them to design, manage and raise the profile of projects and programmes. She has excellent skills in management, monitoring, research and communications, and has worked for bilateral donors, the United Nations and think tanks across health, governance, humanitarian and food security portfolios. Carolina spent seven years at the Overseas Development Institute where she worked as the communications officer for the Humanitarian Policy Group. She is now an independent consultant based in Kenya after working as a communications advisor to the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary General in South Sudan, and managing projects for Australia's aid programmes in Kenya, Sudan, and South Sudan. She is currently working on a number of projects with a range of clients including the Africa Population and Health Research Center, Médecins Sans Frontières and UNICEF, among others. @carolinakern

Jeff Knezovich

Editor at large (communications) and research associate at On Think Tanks

Jeff is a digital communications and data visualisation specialist based in Switzerland. He has spent the last decade working in a range of UK-based think tanks in various communication capacities. He managed the digital communication activities of the Nuffield Trust, a think tank focused on the UK’s health system. Before that he managed the Policy Influence and Research Uptake activities for the Future Health Systems research consortium at the Institute of Development Studies. He also worked in the Research and Policy in Development (RAPID) Programme at ODI where he oversaw programme communication activities and those of several large projects. In addition to delivering a wide range of communication strategies and outputs, he also has a strong track record of working with others to help them to develop their communication skills. @knezovjb

Dena Lomofsky

Trainer and research associate at On Think Tanks and Managing director at Southern Hemisphre

Dena is a development sociologist with over 20 years’ experience in the field. She has an honours degree in Industrial Sociology from the University of Cape Town, and a MA in social development from the University of the Western Cape. She has a special interest in participatory processes and building learning organisations. Dena has been working in the area of policy influence since 2010 and compliments her work with think tanks and research organisations, by working with community development organisations and governments. Dena lives and works in South Africa, and is a managing member of Southern Hemisphere which she co-founded in 2000. Dena is a skilled researcher, evaluator, trainer and facilitator. She specialises in applied research and evaluations; capacity building; programme design and planning, organisational strategy; and the design of monitoring, evaluation and learning systems. She has been designing and conducting training in Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning since 2000. @denalomo

Enrique Mendizabal

Founder and director at On Think Tanks

Enrique is an independent policy entrepreneur. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA). Until December 2010 he worked for the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) where he headed the Research and Policy in Development (RAPID) programme. At ODI he co-founded the Outcome Mapping Learning Community. Enrique is the co-founder of Politics & Ideas, the Peruvian Alliance for the Use of Evidence, and the Premio PODER al Think Tank Peruano del Año. Since 2016, he organises an annual Evidence Week in Latin America. He lives in Lima (Peru) but spends quite some time in London and traveling to visit think tanks across the world. He combines this with travel writing. @onthinktanks

Andrea Ordoñez

Research associate at On Think Tanks and Director at Southern Voice

Andrea is Director of Southern Voice, a network of think tanks devoted to bringing research from the Global South to international debates on the development agenda. She co-edited the book "Southern Perspectives on the Post-2015 International Development Agenda" with Debapriya Bhattacharya that compiles the research on a diversity of development issues by researchers in Africa, Latin America, and Asia. Her work focuses on better linking researchers from the Global South with their counterparts in other countries, strengthening their presence in international debates and fostering better knowledge systems to support sustainable development. She was previously the research director at Grupo FARO, a think tank in Ecuador. Andrea has developed research projects for the public sector and has carried out institutional and sectoral assessments for numerous international organizations. She is an economist by training and has a strong interest in how to carry out research and policy analysis that can inform policy. @AOrdonez

Erika Perez-Leon

Digital content editor

Erika has over ten years of experience managing creative teams and delivering complex communication and marketing campaigns for NGO, charity and for-profit clients in Africa, Latin America and the US. Her work includes brand development and implementation for editorial and consumer goods clients, along with information, education and communication materials, behaviour change campaigns and branding for urban and rural community programs on education, health, gender, and market development. In 2015, she worked on the Ebola crisis response in Sierra Leone as part of the IRC's communications team. @onthinktanks

Annapoorna Ravichander

Editor at large (South Asia)

Dr. Annapoorna Ravichander is an independent consultant based in India. She holds a PhD in history and is a corporate communications expert with over 25 years of experience in developing action-oriented communications strategies for global organisations. Drawing on her own experience, she now provides training and advice on media and communications to think tanks and other organisations. She has published articles in journals, newspapers and newsletters. She has also coordinated publishing books in the capacity of associate editor and coordinator. Her core skills include editing, communication and training. Until 2016 she was the head of the Communication and Policy Engagement Team (CPE) at the Center for Study, Technology and Policy (CSTEP) in India. Annapoorna has been a recipient of the Rotary Award for Exemplary Services in 1999, Vadodara, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Portugal from 1985-86 and UGC Fellowship from 1984-1988. @annaravi

Jordan Tchilingirian

Research director at On Think Tanks

Jordan is a sociologist and lecturer in the Department of Social and Policy Sciences at the University of Bath. His research focuses on think-tanks and policy research institutes and explores issues related to evidence, expertise, the role of social science in public life, and professions. Jordan also has an interest in social network analysis (SNA).   His current research activities include a longitudinal SNA of the British think-tank community and how this changes in times of crisis, a continuing investigation into the intellectual life of think-tank researchers, mapping policy expertise within the MENA region, and a SNA of pharmaceutical companies in Europe. @JordanTchil

Ava Danlog

Atlas Corps Fellow at Transparency and Accountability Initiative

Ava is a development worker with ten years’ experience managing global projects and campaigns, providing capacity development to communities and nonprofit organizations, conducting research, and designing and executing communications strategies for international NGOs. Ava has worked on various issues such as corporate accountability, climate change, human right to water, sexual and reproductive health and rights, and aid / development effectiveness. Currently, she is an Atlas Corps Fellow at Transparency and Accountability Initiative, a donor collaborative based in Washington, DC.

Ajoy Datta

Research associate, ODI

Ajoy has worked for 15 years in international development with a focus on improving policy influencing and decision making practices. His research work has most recently been in Nepal, Indonesia, India, South Africa and Vietnam. (Picture and bio taken directly from ODI.) @ajoydatta555

David Tripepi-Lewis

Head of Partnerships and Development, Institute for Government

David joined the Institute in September 2017 from Prospect magazine, where he was Head of Political Engagement. During his time there he led on devising, funding and delivering Prospect's partnership activities. These covered programmes of events and reports on infrastructure, regional devolution and trade, as well as growing the organisation’s political party conference presence. Before joining Prospect, David worked on the management team at Dods, with responsibility for running PoliticsHome's Central Lobby, and devising and delivering Dods' campaigns and party conference programmes working with clients across energy, infrastructure, manufacturing and financial services. David works closely with the Institute’s research teams to secure funding for projects by engaging with commercial, academic and foundation based partners in the UK and internationally. @David_Tpep

Robert McLean

Senior Program Specialist, Policy and Evaluation Division, IDRC

Robert McLean works as Senior Program Specialist in the Policy and Evaluation office of Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC), and is cross-appointed as a Lead Evaluator at the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). He has published research in multiple health sciences and evaluation books and journals. He has conducted evaluations for organizations ranging from large international institutions to Indigenous groups in isolated regions of Canada. Rob’s current interests lie in the fields of research translation and research evaluation. He has completed degrees through the University of Manchester, UK; the University of KwaZulu-Natal, SA; and, Carleton University, Canada.

Marcos Gonzalez Hernando

Affiliated Researcher at the University of Cambridge and Visiting Lecturer, City University of London

Marcos is Affiliated Researcher at the University of Cambridge and Visiting Lecturer at City, University of London.

Edward Heinemann

Senior Policy Advisor, IFAD

Development professional with over 20 years experience in agricultural and rural development and rural poverty reduction. I have extensive experience in managing programmes and designing projects in Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Zambia and Zimbabwe; in developing rural development strategies, at national, regional and corporate levels; in developing operational policies; and in analysing and writing on rural development issues. (Photo taken directly from IFAD)

Giancarlo Roach Rivas

Economist, SENACYT

Giancarlo Roach Rivas (Panama) is an economist at the National Secretariat of Science, Technology and Innovation, where he works on the intersection of science and public policy

Luis Herrera

Researcher, Universidad Santa María La Antigua

Marcela Morales

Co-Founder and Partnerships Coordinator, Ecuadorian Network for Women in the Sciences (REMCI)

Marcela Morales is a Co-founder and Partnerships Coordinator in REMCI, a network that promotes the visibility and participation of women in the sciences in Ecuador. After spending five years working in various development projects in the non-governmental sector in Ecuador, Marcela is conducting research to understand and highlight institutional barriers for gender equality in the education system and in the STEM fields in particular. Marcela has collaborated with organizations such as Grupo FARO (Ecuador) and Southern Voice and participated in regional knowledge sharing initiatives such as ELLA (Evidence and Lessons from Latin America). Marcela holds a MA in Intercultural Conflict Management and is currently pursuing an MPhil in Development Studies from the University of Cambridge.

Vladyslav Galushko

Program manager, Open Society Initiative for Europe

Vlad Galushko is a program manager at the Open Society Initiative for Europe, where he oversees the portfolio of organizational development grants within the Think Tank Fund for Wider Europe team. Galushko started at the Open Society Foundations when he joined the Think Tank Fund in 2011, working on institutional and core support for think tanks in Moldova, Ukraine, and the South Caucasus. Prior to joining Open Society, Galushko was an analyst with the International Crisis Group, where he conducted policy research on Islamic radicalism, labor migration, ethnic strife, and socioeconomic issues in Central Asia. Galushko has previously worked with a number of international organizations in Ukraine on election monitoring, education reform, and scholarships. His areas of interest include civil society development, state and institution building processes, and security challenges in transitioning democracies. (Taken directly from OSF)

Josephine Tsui

Research Fellow, ODI

Josephine Tsui, with over ten years of experience is an expert on measuring policy influence. She specialises on monitoring in complex settings, and works on broader issues around research uptake. Her technical expertise lies in women’s economic empowerment, agricultural policy systems, gender centric design.(Photo taken from IDS and text from ODI) @josephinetsui

Ben Rogers

Director, Centre for London

Ben Rogers is a writer and policy thinker, with a particular focus on cities, citizenship, social capital, public service reform, and the built environment. Prior to founding Centre for London in 2011, Ben was an Associate Director of IPPR from 2003 – 2007 and has subsequently led strategy teams in Haringey Council, DCLG and The Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit. Ben has written several acclaimed books on philosophy and history, published in the UK and the US, and is an experienced journalist and broadcaster. He has been involved in many London focused initiatives and sat on both the first and second London Finance Commission. Ben is also a trustee of The Yard Theatre. (Taken directly from the Centre for London) @Ben_rog

Joanna Corfield

Communications manager, Centre for London

Jo manages all aspects of Centre for London’s communications, including our media and influencing strategy, digital marketing, brand and publications. After graduating with a BA in Geography, Jo’s career in communications began working for a number of leading ethical and fair-trade brands. She’s worked on crisis communications for the British Red Cross during London 2012, and more recently worked for the walking and cycling charity Sustrans, developing national and London focused campaigns to influence transport policy. Jo interested policy which improves people’s experience of ageing in the city, and how London can foster and develop its creative talents. (Taken from Centre for London) @JoannaFound

Pamela Nakamba-Kabaso

Executive Director, ZIPAR

Dr. Pamela Nakamba-Kabaso is Executive Director of the Zambia Institute for Policy Analysis and Research (ZIPAR)

Jay Locke

Program Specialist at Open Society Foundations

Program Specialist with Open Society Foundations' Fiscal Governance Program and M.A. graduate from Yale University's Jackson Institute for Global Affairs with focused studies in governance, economic development, and statistics. Practiced in quantitative analysis using R and Stata software and communication in French and Swahili. CPA and returned Peace Corps volunteer with a Bachelor's degree in accounting and experience in financial and operational audit at a Fortune 500 manufacturing company. Interested in bold humanitarian action, international development, and governance innovation. (Taken from LinkedIn)

Reinhardt Pinzón

Researcher, Centro de Investigaciones Hidráulicas e Hidrotécnicas

Dr Reinhardt Pinzón is a researcher focuses on climate change, natural resources and water.

Saqeb Mueen

Director of Communications, RUSI

Saqeb Mueen is Director of Communications and Marketing at RUSI. He leads all aspects of RUSI’s communications, public relations and media strategy. Responsible for maintaining and advancing RUSI's growing international reputation as a ‘thought-leader institute’ for defence, security and international affairs. Prior to this, Saqeb fulfilled a variety of responsibilities at RUSI, most recently as Editor of RUSI.org, responsible for maintaining a network of contributors to provide up-to-date analysis of defence and international security. Saqeb also served as Deputy Editor of the RUSI Journal and was responsible for its authoritative Reviews section. Saqeb maintains a policy interest in the Middle East, South Asia, the Muslim world and Muslim communities in Europe and has written for a variety of publications, most recently Prospect magazine, the Huffington Post and RUSI outlets including the RUSI Journal and Newsbrief. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University of London, and a Master of Arts degree in War Studies at King's College, London.(Taken directly from RUSI) @smueen_RUSI

Gjergji Vurmo

Programme Director, Institute for Democracy and Mediation

Gjergji Vurmo is a Programme Director at the Institute for Democracy and Mediation (IDM), an Albanian non-governmental think tank based in Tirana. He holds a BA Law degree from St. Cyril and Methodius University in Macedonia and a Master’s degree in European Integration from the University of Bologna in Italy. Mr. Vurmo has over ten years of experience working with think tanks, civil society and international donor organizations in Albania and Macedonia. He also has extensive experience as an independent expert and policy analyst on issues related to EU Enlargement policy, civil society development, regional cooperation, good governance and integrity building. Mr. Vurmo is author of numerous research papers, studies, policy documents and books related to these fields and an associate & contributing author in a number of Balkan and European reviews.

Jonathan Gray

Lecturer in Critical Infrastructure Studies at the Department of Digital Humanities, King's College London

Jonathan Gray is Lecturer in Critical Infrastructure Studies at the Department of Digital Humanities, King's College London. He is writing a book on Data Worlds and his current research focuses on the politics and social life of public data. He is also Co-Founder of the Public Data Lab; Research Associate at the Digital Methods Initiative (University of Amsterdam) and Research Associate at the médialab (Sciences Po, Paris). (Taken directly from King's College London) @jwyg.

Kate Williams

ESRC Future Research Leaders Fellow

My research focuses on knowledge production, use and evaluation in policy contexts. My current work examines the institutional effects of new technologies of research impact measurement, namely alternative metrics of research impact ('altmetrics'). Utilising a combination of network analysis and ethnography, the project will be a novel sociological study on the use and effects of altmetrics in multilateral institutions. This research is supported by an Economic and Social Research Council Future Research Leader Grant, the Isaac Newton Trust and Lucy Cavendish College. (Taken directly from LinkedIn)

Melanie Rayment

Strategy Director at FutureGov

I have 15 years’ experience in both the private and public sector. My commercial experience includes working with global brands and agencies such as Microsoft, Sony, VW, Jack Morton and George P Johnson. During my time with the Big Four management consultants, across Sydney, Tokyo, and London, I have applied design to large-scale organisational, customer and industry challenges. Conversely, my experience working with the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) allowed me to work in a multidisciplinary approach with citizens, governments, and NGOs on a range of complex social issues. At FutureGov, I will be collaborating with Governments and citizens on projects to reimagine public services, joined-up approaches to social issues, and through our Futures Academy equip partners with the tools to act on the future needs and ambitions of their citizens. (Taken directly from LinkedIn) @MelRayment

Ana Patricia Muñoz

Executive Director, Grupo FARO

Ana Patricia Muñoz is Executive Director at Grupo FARO, one of Ecuador's leading think tanks. Until late 2017, she was projects coordinator for Grupo FARO.

Stella Utica

Project manager, Institutul de Politici Publice

Stella was born in Ukraine and raised in the Republic of Moldova. She holds both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree from the School of Political Science and Public Administration in Bucharest. Stella is currently a project coordinator for the Institute for Public Policy in the Republic of Moldova, where she helps develop and promote democratic initiatives meant to increase civic oversight over policy development and policy implementation. In the near future, Stella plans to develop a digital tool that will actively engage young people with the 2018 Moldovan parliamentary elections.

Adanna Shallowe

RSA Global Manager

Adanna is responsible for strengthening and supporting the RSA Global Fellowship. Previously, she was the project lead for the skills development programme for the UK participation in the international skills competition. She also represented the UK in two international membership organisations; WorldSkills International and WorldSkills Europe. Adanna also held research positions on development initiatives for the Government of Trinidad and Tobago and for the UNDP Caribbean Sub Regional Research Facility on their key practice areas. (Taken directly from the RSA) @AShallowe

Alex Farrow

Lead Consultat, National Council for Voluntary Organisations

Alex leads on supporting voluntary organisations to strengthen their strategy and evaluate their impact. Alex takes an organisational development approach to working on social change and has worked with a range of organisations at different points in their development: with the DfID-CSO Youth Working Group to better lobby DfID, with UNICEF Armenia to determine their theory of change, and with UNICEF Kazakhstan in developing a national youth strategy. Alex is particularly interested in charity governance and strategy, having supported The Diana Award to set their new five-year plan, and is currently a trustee of GirlGuiding UK. Alex is passionate about civil society, human rights and international development. He is an expert in youth participation and is a member of the CIVICUS Youth Action Team. (Taken directly from NCVO) @alexjamesfarrow

Keith Burnet

Head of Communication, Chatham House

Keith Burnet is Director of Communications and Publishing at Chatham House.

Rhys Williams

Head of Communications, Institute for Government

Rhys is the Head of Communications at the Institute. He has nearly eight years of experience in communications with a specialisation in the areas of public policy, international relations and global development. Rhys has a Bachelor's degree in Economics and a Master’s degree in Global Politics. He has led communications at a number of organisations including the European Centre for Development Policy Management (ECDPM) in Brussels, the London Schoool of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Development Initiatives where he worked on projects for the G8, the OECD and the European Parliament. @Swilone

Dina Zaman

Co-founder and Fundraiser, IMAN Research Malaysia

Dina has a Masters degree in Creative Writing from the University of Lancaster, UK and Honours degree in Communications from Western Michigan University, US and works in the media. She has written a book on Muslim Malaysians titled I Am Muslim and covered Muslim life in her columns for Malaysiakini.com, The Malaysian Insider and The Malay Mail Online. She was a recipient of the Nippon Foundation’s Asian Public Intellectual Fellowship in 2012, and her research was a comparative study on saints in Indonesia and Malaysia. She is currently compiling her published essays for a new book.

Alex Farrow

Lead Consultant, National Council for Voluntary Organisations

Alex supports civil society in the UK and around the world, attempting to improve the lives of communities through knowledge, training and expression. Building on his global work with activists and youth movements internationally, Alex is currently working at the National Council of Voluntary Organisations in England, supporting voluntary organisations to strengthen their strategy and evaluate their impact. Alex is an expert is youth participation, policy and practice. At Youth Policy Labs, Alex he led on consultancy projects, supporting national governments and UN agencies to design, implement and evaluate national youth policies, through research, training and events. Alex is a campaigner - mostly on climate change, child rights and young people - and is active in UK politics. He is currently a trustee of Girlguiding UK and a member of the CIVICUS Youth Action Team. Alex received his MSc in Organizational Behaviour from Birkbeck College, Uni. Of London, with a research project that explores the career expectations of the millennial generation. Alex takes an organisational change and development perspective, seeing that as crucial to ensuring that services, policies and programmes best respond to their users. @alexjamesfarrow

Stephanie Mathisen

Campaigns and policy officer, Sense about Science

Steph joined the Sense about Science team as campaigns and policy officer in November 2015. She has a PhD in immunology, but during her short research career realised she really cared about evidence in public life more broadly. Steph works on transparency about evidence in policy and decision-making, including assessing the UK government’s performance on that front. She submits evidence to parliamentary inquiries and coordinates Sense about Science’s continuing role in the Libel Reform Campaign. In February 2017, Steph persuaded the House of Commons science and technology committee to launch an inquiry into the use of algorithms in decision-making. @stephmathisen

Luis Carlos Herrera Montenegro

Researcher, Universidad Católica Santa Maria la Antigua

Luis Carlos Herrera Montenegro currently works at Universidad Católica Santa Maria la Antigua (USMA) (Panama). Luis does research in Social Policy, Sociological Theory and Qualitative Social Research.