Gender & Development Work
In my 10+ years working in international development and global health, I’ve been fortunate enough to work on USAID projects related to gender-based violence and positive youth development (Making Cents and Dexis Consulting Group respectively); carry out research for the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) and Global Women’s Institute on GBV in humanitarian contexts, gender in peacebuilding & statebuilding, school-related GBV, and technology-facilitated GBV; and conduct assessments related to health and psychosocial needs for GBV survivors in cross-cultural settings.
Collective Action to Reduce Gender-Based Violence (CARE-GBV) Consultant (2021-2022): USAID’s Collective Action to Reduce Gender-Based Violence (CARE-GBV) Task Order was awarded under the Analytical Services IV IDIQ to Making Cents International, in a joint venture with our partner Development Professionals, Inc., and with FHI 360 as a major subcontractor. CARE-GBV is centered on strengthening USAID’s collective prevention and response, or “collective action” in GBV development programming across USAID. The activity will achieve this strengthening by supporting USAID’s Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (GenDev) hub in the development of guidelines, strategic plans, training, and professional networking support.
Gender-Based Violence (GBV) & COVID-19
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, gender-based violence (GBV), specifically domestic violence, was declared a “shadow pandemic” by United Nations Women. In collaboration with MOSAIC Training, Service and Healing Centre, I collected data on the international trends and data on the relationship between COVID-19 and domestic violence, including emerging best practices, adaptations and approaches to maintain a continuum of care for survivors.
School-Related Gender-Based Violence (SRGBV)
Through research with the Global Women’s Institute, and presented at the Futures Without Violence Annual Symposium (2015), conducted research for an evidence brief on the prevalence of school-related gender-based violence (SRGBV), promising practices to reduce SRGBV, and promote equity and safety in learning spaces.
Gender-Related Cyberviolence
I conducted a systematic review of all white, grey and peer-reviewed literature on the phenomenon of gender-related cyberviolence, sometimes referred to as technology-facilitated gender-based violence, for the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW). Research from this systematic review was published with Pamela Lilleston and Jennifer McCleary-Sills at Violence Against Women and was used to inform field research conducted by ICRW in the US, India and Uganda.
Gender & Intersectionality Research on COVID-19
Through CONVERGE (University of Colorado Boulder) and funded by the National Science Foundation, co-led a working group of senior researchers and academics to gather data on impacts of COVID-19 on gender, taking an intersectional lens to vulnerability, protection and response. The Research Agenda Setting Paper highlights concerns around sexual and reproductive health (SRH); gender-based violence (GBV); socioeconomic disparities; and vulnerabilities of children, older people, and persons with disability.
Child Marriage & “Harmful Traditional Practices”
As part of the Violence, Rights and Inclusion Portfolio at the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW), I worked closely with Dr. Natacha Stevanovic-Fenn to sensitively research, analyze the synthesize the cultural beliefs, customary laws, socioeconomic conditions and legal frameworks that inform the phenomena of child marriage in the MENA region for UNICEF.
Gender & Youth Development
As a consultant through Dexis in partnership with the USAID Bureau for Policy, Planning and Learning (PPL) under the LEARN Mechanism, I helped to conduct an assessment of USAID’s Youth in Development Policy as it aligned with the Positive Youth Development (PYD) model. This assessment included analysis of Country Development Cooperation Strategies (CDCs) and Project Appraisal Documents (PADs); key informant interviews with USAID staff, program participants, international stakeholders and donors; and Mission Case studies in El Salvador, Guatemala, Kenya and Uganda.
Gender-Based Violence (GBV), Conflict & Trauma
Served as a consultant with Common Threads and UNHCR Nepal to assess preliminary phase of arts-based psychotherapy intervention for Afghani and Pakistani refugee women in Kathmandu, Nepal suffering from conflict and gender-related violence. Developed trauma-informed interview protocols to evaluate the effectiveness of Common Threads’ use of arts-based pyschotherapy models like story cloths to address mental health issues among refugee women participants.
Peace Corps Fiji: Community Health Empowerment
From 2013-2014, I served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Fiji’s community health sector, as part of an MOU with Fiji’s Ministry of Health. Based in Korovou, Tailevu’s sub-divisional hospital and health center, I conducted a needs assessment on the biggest unaddressed health needs in the area. Fiji suffers from high rates of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including cervical cancer, diabetes, and hypertension, but there is also distrust between local Fijians and the governmental health care system. The needs assessment also revealed high rates of unplanned teenage pregnancies, rising rates of STDs (including HIV), and gaps in addressing maternal and child health (MCH) and family planning needs. I assisted community health partners to conduct outreach workshops in local communities to raise awareness around HIV and AIDS, improve maternal and child nutrition, promote WASH, and provide sexual and reproductive health information in primary and secondary schools. I also worked to improve and facilitate more sensitive intake protocols for survivors of intimate partner violence, improving primary screening capacity among local health staff. During the dengue outbreak of 2014, I also assisted local health inspectors to raise awareness around mosquito breeding grounds, the epidemiology of dengue, and promote better relationships between local communities and government health staff.