I work with a small number of funders and the teams they fund each year, mostly on research, knowledge, and technology programs in Africa. Usually, I am brought in at a decision point: a new program or network is being designed, a phase is ending and the next one needs shaping, or a research lead wants someone experienced to think with. I help people make those decisions well and set up the work so their own team can carry it.
Ways to work together
Designing a program or network
Before a program launches, some decisions are hard to undo later: who takes part, who decides what, what local partners own, and how the teams doing the work will be supported. I work alongside your program lead over a few months to research and settle those choices, drawing on what I have learned building research functions and networks in East Africa and globally. The engagement has a clear end, and your team takes it from there.
Reviewing a program before its next phase
When a phase is ending or a portfolio has drifted from what it set out to do, it helps to step back before committing more money and time. I talk with the people doing the work, look at what the evidence and their experience say, and facilitate the conversation about what to keep, what to change, and what to stop. You leave with decisions you can act on, not a document that sits in a folder.
Ongoing advice for a research or program lead
Some teams have a capable lead who would benefit from senior support without a full-time hire. I meet with them regularly to think through methods, work plans, tools, and draft reports, and I can help with the larger moments, like a strategy review or a training for the wider team. They run the work day to day, and I help them do it with more confidence.
Research Collaboration and Speaking
I also partner on research that benefits the communities that make it possible, and speak on knowledge production, research ecosystems, organizational design, and the practical infrastructure of collaboration.
How to start
Not sure yet whether you need help? Start with the seven questions I ask before a program launches or moves into its next phase.
Write to me with a few lines about the program, the decision in front of you, and your timeline. If it looks like a fit, we will set up a call to talk it through, and I will follow up with a short proposal that sets out what I would do, by when, and what your team would hold. I work best when there is someone on your side who owns the work between our conversations.
