Dr Louise Clark is the Monitoring Evaluation and Learning Manager at IDS and has over 15 years experience developing monitoring frameworks, leading and managing programme evaluations and facilitating learning processes.
She is an experienced facilitator and has developed Theories of Change on a broad range of subjects including Climate and Environment, Health Systems, Civic Education, Global Migration and Country Capacity Strengthening. Her recent work focusses on delivering Learning Journeys that support development agencies to reflect on organizational experiences and innovations through accompanied learning processes that emphasise building ownership and embedding lessons learnt within decision making structures; examples include IDRC’s response to Covid, work with Plan International to explore how organizational performance supports impact and the EU funded Smart Data for Inclusive Cities.
She has broad methodological experience with particular emphasis on Outcome Harvesting, Social Network Analysis and Systems Mapping. She has contributed new insights into research to policy processes through her work as the Learning Manager of research programmes including, exploring Pathways to Impact for the CORE programme (IDRC), developing the Diamond of Influence framework for the APRA programme (Agricultural Policy Research for Africa, FCDO) and exploring knowledge brokerage for the Impact Initiative (ESRC-FCDO). Her work mapping outcomes across research portfolios has contributed to broader sector debates on research impact. She shares her knowledge and experience through the Shaping Policy with Evidence short course and through bespoke training on research to impact pathways for development agencies and Universities.
Prior to IDS, Louise worked for 10 years in the NGO sector with Oxfam and Action Aid. Her PhD from Imperial College London developed an innovative approach to visualize information flows to strengthen knowledge exchange in agricultural value chains in rural Bolivia. She has lived and worked in Bolivia, Peru and Australia and has evaluated projects in Ecuador, Uruguay, Argentina, Nicaragua, Mexico, Tanzania, Nigeria, Rwanda and Cambodia on subjects as diverse as agricultural innovation, women’s rights, indigenous rights, extractive industries, microfinance and tax justice.
