Fred Carden, Director

Fred joined IDRC's Evaluation Unit in 1993 and became the Director in March 2004. He has written in the areas of evaluation, international cooperation, and environmental management.  His current work includes assessment of the influence of research on public policy, and the development of use-oriented evaluation tools and methods in the areas of organizational assessment, participatory monitoring and evaluation, program evaluation and outcome mapping. Recent co-publications include “Outcome Mapping,” “Organizational Assessment,” and “Evaluating Capacity Development.” He has taught and carried out research at York University, the Cooperative College of Tanzania, the Bandung Institute of Technology (Indonesia) and the University of Indonesia. He holds a PhD from the Université de Montréal and a Master’s degree in environmental studies from York University.

Colleen Duggan, Senior Program Specialist

Colleen joined the Evaluation Unit in September 2006 as a Senior Program Specialist for one year. She has a masters degree in International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law from Essex University and holds a post-graduate degree in International Development and Economic Cooperation from the Université d’Ottawa. Prior to joining the EU she worked for IDRC`s Peace, Conflict and Development program. She spent 10 years with the United Nations, most recently with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Colombia. She has also worked as a policy analyst with the UNDP’s Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery in New York and in the field with the UNDP in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Haiti. She is a trainer for the UN Staff College/UN Department of Political Affairs training program for conflict prevention. Her research interests include human rights, transitional justice and reconciliation processes, conflict analysis and preventive action, reintegration of displaced populations, and security sector reform.

Sarah Earl, Senior Program Specialist

Seeing past the complexities of her field, Sarah Earl creates innovative ways to measure how development assistance affects the communities involved. Sarah is a co-creator of outcome mapping, a method that evaluates the results of development projects on people and organizations – the real facilitators of change. This approach is now taught in universities and used globally by NGOs and development practitioners. She supports these knowledge activists to use outcome mapping to research the social dimensions of development assistance and improve their effectiveness. While at IDRC, Sarah has also managed important projects such as assessing whether information technologies are really changing women’s lives and building an evaluation network in the Middle East and North Africa. Her research and work has taken her to Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, as well as Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Sarah holds master's degrees in European and Russian area studies from Carleton University in Ottawa, and in Russian history from the University of Toronto. Her research focus was the role of the intelligentsia in Russian democratization efforts. Sarah is a founding board member of the Sharp New Start Foundation in her home province of New Brunswick.

Katherine Hay, Senior Regional Program Officer

Katherine joined the Evaluation Unit in August 2005. She is based in IDRC’s Regional Office in New Delhi, India. She has been working and carrying out research in South Asia for more than a decade and joined IDRC in May 2000. Prior to joining IDRC, she worked as a consultant with the International Institute for Sustainable Development, and with Canadian and South Asian non-governmental development organizations. Her past research includes analysis of the impact of modernization on gender norms and household power structures in Ladakh, India. Katherine is experienced in social and gender analysis, participatory monitoring and evaluation, and project management. She is also a skilled trainer and facilitator. While at IDRC she coordinated a five-year women’s health and empowerment project (co-funded by the Canadian International Development Agency) that explored using women’s micro-credit groups as platforms for broader social change in rural India. In her regional partnership role, Katherine facilitates strategic partnering and dialogue with international agencies, foundations, governments, and the private sector to promote development research and improve donor coordination. Some of her current interests include: the strategic role of organizational partnerships, organizational development and capacity building for applied research institutions, and intersecting issues around gender, empowerment, and citizenship in development research and evaluation. Katherine holds a degree in Environment and Resource Studies from the University of Waterloo, and an MA in International Affairs from Carleton University, Ottawa.

Tricia Wind, Senior Program Officer

Tricia joined the Evaluation Unit as a Senior Program Officer in September 2007. Previously, she was intern with the Unit (1995-1996), and a consultant on three strategic evaluations: the impacts of development research, sustainability issues for IDRC-supported networks, and competitive grants processes. In addition, Tricia has worked with Canadian NGOs that support community development both overseas and domestically. She spent four years in East Africa, supporting partners and colleagues to integrate justice, peace and gender priorities into community development work. She also has research and development experience in Central America. Tricia has a Master’s in International Affairs from Carleton University.

Amy Etherington, Evaluation Officer

Amy has worked with the Evaluation Unit since August, 2003. She is currently enrolled in the Public Policy and Administration Master’s program at Carleton University and holds a BA in Sociology from the University of Western Ontario. Prior to working at IDRC, Amy volunteered with community development projects in Northern India and Sri Lanka. Her work includes supporting evaluation processes and evaluation capacity building and she is currently managing an evaluation of IDRC’s participation in large conferences. Some of her current areas of interest include: organizational learning and development, group facilitation, and evaluation methods.

Simon-Philippe Léger, Evaluation Unit Coordinator

Simon joined the Evaluation Unit in November 2008 as Coordinator.  He holds a pre-university diploma in arts history and a college diploma in advertising design from College Saint-Laurent in Montreal. Prior to joining IDRC, Simon worked for four years in administration with senior officials in the federal public service of Canada, specifically with Treasury Board Secretariat, Canadian International Development Agency and the Privy Council Office. He has expertise in managing human and financial resources and in public administration on many different levels. 

Emily Taylor, Evaluation Research Intern

Emily joined the Evaluation Unit in December 2008. She holds an undergraduate degree in Biology and Psychology from Union College, and a master’s degree in International Development Studies from Saint Mary’s University. Prior to her work with the Evaluation Unit she was an intern and a summer student with the Innovation Technology and Society (ITS) program initiative at IDRC. Emily has been involved in research and community development activities in Peru, Kenya and Tanzania.

Matthew Walton Evaluation Research Intern

Matthew Walton joined the Evaluation Unit April 2009. He recently graduated with a Master's degree from the University of Manchester where he studied information communication technologies for development (ICT4D). His passion for the topic began during a 6 month VSO Netcorps volunteer placement at an NGO in Kenya. While in Nairobi, he supported this organization through improvements to their ICT capacities. With an undergraduate degree in Computing and Business from Brock University, Matt has a long background in ICTs, working in technical support, software development and most recently as a systems analyst. While with the Evaluation Unit, Matt will use web analytics software for tracking the diffusion of ideas around the world, looking at Outcome Mapping as a case study. Additionally, he will focus on developing tools and methods for storing and analyzing evaluation data.