Robbie Gregorowski is a Senior Consultant at ITAD and experienced Socio-Economist with considerable expertise in fragile state, pro-poor growth, and poverty reduction monitoring and evaluation (M&E). Since joining ITAD he has developed their work on climate change adaptation and mitigation, particularly aspects of climate change evaluation.
Prior to joining ITAD he worked as a Senior Economist at a leading international economics consultancy based in London undertaking multiple policy research, evaluation, and project cycle management assignments.
Robbie has wide ranging consultancy experience in the fields of programme evaluation, M&E systems design, and knowledge and research management, working for donors including DFID and the World Bank.
He holds an MSc Distinction in International Development from SOAS and has recently completed an Individual Professional Course in Project Appraisal and Impact Analysis from CeFiMS, University of London.
In 2009 he was a guest lecturer on the FCO Chevening Senior Fellowship Programme, responsible for the Post-Conflict Economic Recovery component of the Conflict Resolution Course. In March 2010 he taught the Evaluation in Fragile States component of the MA in Post-war Recovery Studies Course at the University of York. He has worked with several leading academic research institutions including the Political Economy Team at SOAS and the Post-war Reconstruction and Development Unit (PRDU) at University of York.
- Programme-level M&E systems beneficiary targeting, monthly input/output monitoring, data reliability assessment & improving lesson learning
- Impact appraisal and evaluation design of both QUAL and QUANT research methodologies (mixed approaches)
- Programme and project design and management providing strategic oversight, quality assurance support, and ensuring the successful delivery of portfolio of short and long-term projects
- Pro-poor growth and poverty reduction - policy, planning and programming in fragile and conflict-affected environments particularly Afghanistan and Bangladesh
- Research management, communications and uptake promotion in fields of pro-poor growth, rural development and natural resource management (NRM)
- Social development particularly social protection in post-conflict settings
| Nationality |
British |
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| Languages |
Croatian, English, French
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| Country Experience |
Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, Denmark, France,
South Africa, Tanzania
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| Qualifications |
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| 2009 - 2009 |
Individual Professional Qualification - Project Appraisal and Impact Analysis
Centre for Financial & Management Studies (CeFiMS), University of London |
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| 2002 - 2003 |
MSc Development Studies Distinction
School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London |
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| 1998 - 2002 |
BA Joint Honours Economics and Geography 2.1
University of Exeter |
| Employment |
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| September
2009 -
Ongoing
2009 |
Senior Consultant
ITAD |
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ITAD is a UK-based independent management consultancy established in 1984 and one of few companies globally whose long-term core business has been the design and operation of monitoring and evaluation policies, strategies and systems. ITAD have particular strengths in the design of M&E systems and associated MIS, training in M&E, and evaluation of projects and programmes for a range of clients including World Bank, DFID, National Audit Office, EC, various European governments aid agencies, the World Food Programme, UNDP, UNICEF, and a wide range of developing country governments. ITAD's team of consultants have established a reputation for delivering complex evaluation studies on time and within budget. In particular, ITAD has unrivalled expertise and reputation in institutional and programme evaluations and impact assessments. |
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| January
2006 -
August
2009 |
Senior Economist/Consultant
Maxwell Stamp PLC |
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Maxwell Stamp is a multi-disciplinary management consultancy specialising in international development.
Helped establish and develop the Livelihoods and Rural Development Practice Area into MSPs highest billing and most successful business area in under 2 years. Won and managed several high profile impact evaluation, policy research, and M&E assignments for the WB and DFID including an impact and institutional evaluation of the Social Fund for Development in Yemen and a high profile piece of political economy policy research informing UK Government strategy and programming decisions for involvement in Afghanistan. Also made multiple short term consultancy inputs on large-scale multi-sectoral development programmes including DFIDs Chars Livelihoods Programme in Bangladesh and the WBs National Solidarity Programme in Afghanistan.
Contributed to all aspects of Practice Area strategy and technical operations including:
-Undertaking discrete policy research, project design, and evaluation consultancy assignments and technical project work - reviewing programme interventions, providing on-going M&E systems review, and supporting knowledge management and communications through the writing, editing and dissemination of products such as annual reports, policy briefs, and success stories;
-Leading bid writing teams in the preparation of expressions of interest and proposals with 70%+ conversion rate - researching and writing a wide variety of technical inputs, ensuring successful proposal preparation;
-Formulating and implementing the practice areas wider business development and sales strategy - defining new business growth areas (pro-poor growth, climate change adaptation) and developing the consultancys expertise and technical track record;
-Managing a portfolio of projects covering project design, programme evaluation, donor policy and programming - building lasting relationships with our key clients (DFID, WB, EC, and ADB). |
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| April
2004 -
January
2006 |
Assistant Programme Manager
HTSPE / UK Department for International Development |
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HTSPE (www.htspe.com) is a management and sustainable development consultancy specialising in poverty reduction in developing countries.
Worked as Assistant Programme Manager managing DFIDs US$36m natural resource systems research programme (DFID-NRSP). Planned and supervised innovative action-research projects that generated new knowledge to improve livelihoods through partnerships with 50 institutions worldwide. Key responsibilities included:
-Research management defining programme strategic direction, managing calls for proposals, and reviewing partner research proposals (logical frameworks, research methods) to ensure analytical rigor;
-Training and capacity building producing toolkits and facilitating seminars and conferences to build the research and project management capacity of partner institutions in developing countries;
-Project process management and monitoring overseeing all administrative, contractual, financial, and reporting requirements during project life-cycle, including conducting in-country Mid-Term Reviews;
-Communications and uptake promotion writing up and disseminating key research products (policy briefs, success stories, case studies), and developing an online project database / website. (http://www.nrsp.org)
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| Training |
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| 2009 |
Chevening Senior Fellowship Programme - Conflict Resolution Course Lecturer (Foreign and Commonwealth Office / Post-Conflict and Reconstruction Development Unit (PRDU), University of York ) |
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| 2009 |
Climate Change and Development (Practical Action) |
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| 2008 |
Hostile Environment Awareness Training (HEAT) (DFID / Stabilisation Unit) |
| Project Experience |
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| 2010 - 2010 |
Evaluation in Fragile and Conflict Affected States (FCAS) - MA Teaching (Post-War Reconstruction and Development Unit (PRDU), University of York, UK)
Guest Lecturer |
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ITAD were approached by the Post-War Reconstruction and Development Unit (PRDU) at the University of York to teach a series of three seminars to Masters students taking the MA in Post-war Recovery Studies. The seminar series entitled Evaluation in Fragile and Conflict-Affected States (FCAS) built on ITADs project experience to address some of the key logistical and technical challenges associated with conducting evaluations in FCAS. The seminars introduced key concepts such as the OECD-DAC Evaluation Criteria through group exercises, combined with case study examples to illustrate how tools and methods such as Contribution Analysis and Outcome Mapping have been used in the field to overcome issues such as attribution gaps, incoherent theories of change, and assessing intangibles such as behavioural change.
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Seminar research and preparation, course teaching, group exercise facilitation, student support follow-up
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| 2009 - 2010 |
Ministry of Justice International Programmes Evaluation (UK Ministry of Justice, UK and China)
Senior Evaluator |
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ITAD was engaged by the UK Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to evaluate 3 MoJ-funded international programmes designed for young professionals identified as future leaders in their respective countries: 1) The John Smith Memorial Trust Fellowship Programme focussing on the South Caucuses; 2) The Training Scheme for Young Chinese Judges delivered by the Great Britain China Centre; and, 3) The Lord Chancellor's Training Scheme for Young Chinese Lawyers delivered by the China Law Council. The aim of the evaluation was to assess outcomes and impact to date in order for MoJ to make decisions about the future of its involvement and funding of the programmes. ITAD designed the evaluation approach and methodology which involved both structured and semi-structured face-to-face and telephone interviews, seperate online questionnaires for the alumni of each programme, and field visits to London and Beijing to engage key programme stakeholders. Impact was assessed through Contribution Analysis, developing and agreeing an ex ante Theory of Change and testing its logic through accumulating evidence to support and question the assumptions on which the theory was based.
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Key activities included:
- Overall approach and methodology design
- Semi-structured face to face and telephone interviews with key stakeholders including a number of senior UK politicians, political journalists, business leaders, and legal professionals
- Beijing field visit to engage high ranking government officials in the Supreme People's Court of the People's Republic of China
- Online survey / questionnaire design and implementation
- Data analysis and application of contribution analysis methodology
- Report write up and presentation to MoJ counterparts in London
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| 2008 - 2009 |
Impact & Institutional Evaluation DFID Yemen Social Fund for Development (DFID, UK and Yemen)
Overall Project Manager |
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SFD aims to contribute to poverty alleviation by improving access of low-income groups to basic social and economic services community-level infrastructure, small and micro-enterprise development, and grassroots training and capacity building.
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Managed and coordinated both impact and institutional evaluations of the SFD. Specific activities involved the design of QUAL and QUANT research methodologies to produce sample data on households, communities, and programme activities in order to evaluate efficiency, effectiveness, impact, and sustainability. Also responsible for providing guidance and quality assurance to local survey teams in the field and analysing the data produced on both SFD projects and beneficiary households. Ultimately responsible for successful submission and sign off of all project deliverables with the DFID.
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| 2007 - 2009 |
Social Development in Conflict-Affected Environments (DFID, Worldwide)
Framework Contract Manager |
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The UK Government is actively involved in peace-building, rehabilitation and development activities in many conflict and disaster prone states, notably Iraq and Afghanistan. These environments are fragile, rapidly changing and unpredictable. The key agencies DFID, MoD, FCO, and the Stabilisation Unit require responsive tailored services to meet rapidly changing objectives. The Reconstruction and Development Consortium (RDC) supports these agencies through the rapid provision of high quality social development skills and expertise in the context of stabilisation and peace building.
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Coordinated and delivered social development services (policy research, project appraisal, impact evaluation, M&E systems design) to support peace-building, rehabilitation and development activities in many conflict and disaster prone states, notably Afghanistan and Yemen through the DFID-funded Social Development in Conflict-Affected Environments framework contract. The consortium's technical focus covered basic service delivery, enhanced aid effectiveness, social protection programming, and, economic, social and development policy and planning. HEAT trained by DFID for deployment in conflict-affect countries for this role.
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| 2007 - 2009 |
Chars Livelihoods Programme (DFID, Bangladesh)
Consultant Monitoring and Evaluation & Project Management |
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The Chars Livelihoods Programme (CLP) is a $100m DFID-funded headline multi-sectoral development programme targeting extreme poor households in Bangladesh. CLP focuses on reducing extreme poverty and vulnerability and strengthening voice through a bottom-up planning process and grant dispersal scheme.
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Responsible for multiple in-country and desk-based technical inputs covering improved beneficiary targeting, review of programme-level M&E systems, revised programme design, and enhanced knowledge management and communications. Between November and December 2007 managed an M&E assignment evaluating the quality and usability of the beneficiary monthly monitoring dataset. Assisted CLP M&E team to devise research methodology to clean and analyse the initial dataset and provided recommendations aimed at improving quantitative and qualitative data reliability and usability in the future.
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| 2007 - 2008 |
Understanding Afghanistan (DFID / Stabilisation Unit, Afghanistan and UK)
Project Manager |
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Coordinated and managed a high profile piece of political economy policy research to serve as a baseline in determining UK Government strategy, priorities and programming decisions for involvement in Afghanistan over the next 5 years. The research combined a literature review, fieldwork, and desk-based studies.
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Assembled and managed a team of approximately 25 of the worlds leading experts on Afghanistan to conduct a Political Economy Analysis, a Strategic Conflict Assessment, a Growth Diagnostic, and a Poverty, Gender and Social Exclusion Analysis. Responsible for all aspects of project oversight from policy research coordination to liaison with UK Government Departments (DFID, MoD, FCO), and final editing and approval of deliverables.
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| 2007 - 2007 |
National Solidarity Programme Phase II (World Bank, Afghanistan)
Consultant Coordination and Quality Assurance |
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Engaged as part of the contract to provide Management Support Services assisting the Afghan Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development in implementing the headline World Bank-funded $750m rural rehabilitation and grassroots governance programme, the National Solidarity Programme (NSPII).
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Supported the handover between the departing team, the client, and incoming team of consultants and was responsible for reviewing existing datasets, co-ordination and quality assurance of various programme reports, and the drafting of terms of reference for short term technical assistance assignments. Developed particular experience in large-scale multi-sectoral programme management, programme-level M&E systems, and dissemination of new knowledge and best practice.
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