Our ‘60 Seconds with…’ blogs are designed to provide a quick run down of what our staff do here at Itad. Here is what Giada had to say…
What’s your job here at Itad?
I am a consultant working mainly for the health theme.
What does that involve?
Together with other internal and external consultants, I conduct evaluations of health-related initiatives or work on the M&E side of long-term projects. For instance, I am currently involved in the assessment of the Advocacy Portfolio financed by Gates to insure the replenishment of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. I typically work on 2 or 3 different projects at any given time, and I end up doing many different things from performing desk review, to conducting and analysing Key Informant Interviews, analysing survey data, travelling to different countries to collect data or co-facilitate workshops, working on bids to win work, managing certain processes within a project, writing case study reports, contributing to the drafting of final evaluation reports etc.
How did you get into the field?
I started my career in development cooperation by pursuing a Master’s in Development Management at the London School of Economics. I then moved to Brussels for a traineeship at EuropeAid (European Commission) and then got a job there for a consultancy company working for the European Commission. In 2013 I became in charge of the M&E portfolio of projects and then decided to join Itad in April 2015 to further my career and knowledge in this field.
What do you enjoy most about your job?
Loads of things. I enjoy doing something very meaningful (trying to find out what works and what doesn’t to improve people’s lives around the world), the fact that it’s intellectually engaging and that it takes me to places that I have never been to, sometimes on quite a short notice.
What new innovations/methods have you noticed in your sector?
The push for Real-Time data in evaluation and a growing focus on users and uses, in order to increase timeliness and uptake of findings from our evaluation work.
Recent highlight?
Having participated in a workshop aimed at facilitating the co-creation of recommendations between the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Clinton Health Access Initiative.
Most interesting question you have been asked recently?
What do you do? It’s always difficult to explain friends and family back home what my job entails. Now they can maybe read this interview!
Favourite place you have visited as part of your job?
Arusha (Tanzania)
Giada Tu Thanh, October 2015
