About you:

I am a researcher and consultant with a multidisciplinary background in the Humanities (History, Philosophy, Law), Public Administration and Evaluation. I founded and now run the small consulting and research organization goodroot, which is working with international development organizations, foundations, NGOs and social investors to find meaningful ways to measure social impact and combine it with innovative forms of organizational development. I graduated from the Free University Berlin (MA 2000) and Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government (MPA 2002), and have worked in international development and non profit management. Today goodroot specialises in strategic philanthropy, participatory theory of change work and ethnographic methods of impact description.

Where are you based?

Berlin, Germany.

Where do you work?

Germany, the Middle East and Africa.

What policy areas do you usually work in?

Education, international development and humanitarian assistance.

What are you working on at the moment?

Ethnographic methods for impact description with a large social enterprise in Germany.

Is there anything you would like to share, discuss, or work with other SIAA members on?

I would be interested in a working group which critically discusses participatory methods (such as limits of participation for example) in evaluation and impact analysis. Special interest in ethnographic methods and how they could add to academic “rigour” or not. I am thinking a lot about the limits of social impact analysis and the type of advocacy an association like SIAA would need to engage in to not only be seen as “the number guys”. As a result, I would like to work on the ethical foundations and the bigger picture of what impact analysis is all about in the social sector.