What drew you to your role? 

I’ve always been passionate about informed decision making, having a good overview of a programme’s progress and seeing the impact a programme is having on people’s lives.  

Managing monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems allows me and my team to do this.  

Can you share an example of some of the bigger achievements you’ve had this past year? 

Leading and facilitating the annual review workshop with the majority of the consortium members in May 2020. I was able to bring people together from different workstreams and disciplines to jointly analyze the progress of the programme while keeping everyone engaged during a virtual session in the early days of working from home. 

Do you work in a team, country, role of field that is predominantly male? If so, how have you overcome any challenges relating to this?  

My team is predominantly male, but I have the fortune to work with men who see and treat female colleagues as equals. In such a team my structure and organisational skills are a plus to make M&E process happen. 

What challenge are you working to overcome through your role and work with Ascend and how?  

The transition from being a young female professional to an expert. As a woman I feel I need to prove myself more in order to have credibility in my role. Ascend’s management team has supported this transition by giving me the space and spotlight in high level meetings with external stakeholders (such as donors, multilateral agencies, other consortia) 

What do you love/enjoy about being a professional/working woman?

The ability to fulfil my ambitions and contribute to international development, regardless of my personal decisions on motherhood. Being able to show girls everywhere that we are able to do it all!