Food Security

Fellow and former President of Canadian Evaluation Society and recipient of the Society’s award for Contribution to Evaluation in Canada with over thirty-five years conducting evaluations in a wide range of natural resource and human settings now focusing on sustainability and climate.

Dr. Rowe has published extensively on developing a focus and capacity for evaluating sustainability, led the Canadian Evaluation Society assessment of a sustainability-ready evaluation capacity, is a founding member of Footprint established on the premise that all evaluations should include consideration of environmental sustainability. He has also developed a new approach for evaluating impacts (Rapid Impact Evaluation), for use-seeking assessments and for assessing net environmental impacts of an intervention. Andy served on the initial Technical Evaluation Reference Group of the Adaptation Fund. He holds a PhD from the London School of Economics.

Dr. Jane Davidson is an internationally recognized evaluation specialist, best known for developing evaluation rubrics as a methodology for drawing conclusions about quality and value. She has also made significant contributions in the areas of causal inference for qualitative and mixed methods, and in synthesis methodologies for evaluation. Jane is former Associate Director of the internationally recognized Evaluation Center at Western Michigan University, where she launched and directed the world’s first fully Interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Evaluation. She was the 2019 recipient of the American Evaluation Association’s prestigious Paul F. Lazarsfeld Evaluation Theory Award.

Katherine Dawes is the Evaluation Officer at the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Since August 2020, she has work to implement the Foundations in Evidence-based Policymaking Act at EPA, particularly focused on advancing the use of program evaluation to support evidence-based decision-making. Katherine, a 33-year career civil servant with EPA, is regarded as an expert in federal program evaluation and evaluation policy. Katherine is internationally known in the evaluation community and recognized for advancing the field of environmental program evaluation and building coalitions across sectors to develop environmental program evaluation tools and promote continuous improvement. She teaches program evaluation as an Adjunct Professor at the Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration at The George Washington University and is an active member of the American Evaluation Association. Katherine holds a dual Master of Public Administration and Master of Arts in Geography from the Maxwell School of Syracuse University and a Bachelor of Arts from Dartmouth College. She lives in Washington, DC’s Union Market NE neighborhood with her husband Barry Lucas (a Professional Engineer), two children, and the family cat.

Nanthi has over 25 years of professional experience in the development field, including more than 20 years of evaluation experience in the United Nations development system. As Head of the Thematic Evaluation Group in the UNDP Independent Evaluation Office, he conceptualized and conducted corporate and country level evaluations. As a Regional M&E Advisor in the Asia-Pacific and Sub-Saharan Africa regions, he was responsible for planning, monitoring and evaluating (M&E) country programmes and developing M&E capacities in 68 countries. Prior to joining the United Nations system, he was a researcher at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University.

William (Bill) Sutton is Global Lead for Climate Smart Agriculture and Lead Agricultural Economist in the World Bank’s Agriculture & Food Global Practice. He has worked for over 25 years to promote sustainable development by integrating across sectors—including agriculture, environment, and climate change—and leading both investment and analytical projects in East Asia & the Pacific, Europe and Central Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Middle East and North Africa. Until recently he coordinated the World Bank's climate-smart and sustainable agriculture program in China, including preparing the innovative Hubei Smart and Sustainable Agriculture Project. He also led efforts in five Southeast Asian countries to build resilience to the El Niño Southern Oscillation in agri-food systems. He is currently leading the World Bank Global Flagship on Decarbonization of the Air and Recarbonization of Landscapes through Agri-food System Transformation. Dr. Sutton has authored dozens of journal articles, reports, and books, including Looking Beyond the Horizon: How Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Responses Will Reshape Agriculture in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. He was awarded the World Bank Green Award in 2011 in recognition of his innovative work on climate change and agriculture. Dr. Sutton holds a Ph.D. in Agricultural and Resource Economics from the University of California, Davis.