Daniela Rojas Chaves, Principal Researcher and Founder
Daniela brings more than 15 years’ experience conducting research and evaluations for children’s and social economic development issues. She has held management positions with teams of global experts for large INGOs. Daniela is committed to improving people’s lives using evidence to influence policy, organisational strategies, and program and project designs. She loves working directly with communities, and centering research findings on their needs and perspectives.
Daniela has strong experience evaluating education programs. Over the last 9 years she has worked in areas of importance for children and youth well-being and rights, such as: gender, child protection, livelihoods, health, WASH, climate change, T4D, economic development, financial inclusion, resilience and poverty. As a global expert, she has field and desk experience spanning Latin-America, the Pacific, Asia, East Africa, Europe, Central Asia and the Middle East.
Daniela holds a Master of Interdisciplinary Studies in Social Science, focused on International Education, a Graduate Diploma of Social, Human and Environmental Development, and a Bachelor with Honours in Social Anthropology. She is bilingual (English and Spanish).
Alejandra Aros, Associate
Alejandra has more than 20 years experience crunching numbers. She is passionate about using data to reduce inequalities and poverty.
Alejandra designs appropriate quantitative methods, from descriptive and correlational to quasi-experimental and experimental designs. She is an experienced poll, questionnaire, and household survey developer for community and national level projects. Alejandra uses her strong analytical skills to turn numbers into insights.
Alejandra has led international teams of statisticians; she worked at the National Institute of Statistics of Chile and for the Chilean Central Bank for 13 years. She also teacher statistics to researchers in universities and private businesses. She has a BA in Mathematics and honors degree in Statistics and postgraduate studies on Applied Economics.
Louise Kilgour, Associate
Louise has seven years’ experience in the administration, implementation and evaluation of a wide variety of development projects across Africa and the Pacific. She is passionate about using monitoring and evaluation to maximise the impact of programs designed to improve people’s quality of life.
Louise has a wealth of experience in engaging with people from different countries and cultures, including working alongside and training non-native English speakers. Having travelled to over 45 countries; she loves engaging with local communities around the world to understand their unique perspectives.
Louise holds a Master of Evaluation from the University of Melbourne, as well as a Bachelor of International Development, and has led mid-terms and end-line evaluations with World Vision in the Pacific. Louise believes in making M&E reporting short and pointed, and enjoys translating data into outputs that everyday people can not only understand but also utilise.
Sumera Jabeen, Associate
Sumera has over sixteen years’ experience in the social development sector in Australia, Africa and Asia, working directly with disadvantaged communities in rural and urban areas, as well as providing technical support from a distance.
She has over twelve years of experience focusing on monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL). She is well versed both in quantitative and qualitative research and evaluation methods. She has rich experience setting up monitoring systems and conducting and commissioning evaluations of development programmes. Sumera also has specific experience in gender equality programming and related MEL training and implementation.
Sumera holds a Masters in Assessment and Evaluation and a PhD in Evaluation and International Development.
Paula Manriquez, Associate
Paula has extensive experience conducting trainings, project designs, and has managed the implementation of community-level initiatives. Her main focus has been in health and education and organisational development. She also has experience working on gender-related issues, with children and with victims of violence. In the education sector she has worked on the emotional well-being and recovery of school dropouts.
Paula has worked for the public system, the private sector and civil society organisations at the community level. She has strong experience in qualitative research, including conducting, transcribing, coding and analysing interviews and focus group discussions. She has strong experience working in interdisciplinary teams and she has a background in social anthropology.
Caroline Maurer, Associate
Caroline holds a Bachelor of Arts in Comparative Literature and Anthropology from Haverford College, and a Master’s degree in International Education Development from the University of Pennsylvania. She is Spanish and English bilingual. Caroline has focused on curriculum design, research methodologies and teacher education.
She has experience working in multilateral organisations (UNICEF Costa Rica), government (Ministry of Culture in Chile) and NGOs in South Africa, Spain and Mexico. Caroline is a writer, translator, and educator. She is also is interested in rural education, arts education, and the neuroscience behind the process of imagining and the art of formulating questions.