Kimberly Norris

Kimberly Norris oversees the design and implementation of Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E) and Collaborating, Learning, and Adapting (CLA) evaluations that are co-created, participatory, user-focused, and localized. Projects in her portfolio focus on monitoring systems, research, and meta-analysis. One such project is USAID's MEASURE II in Bosnia-Herzegovina, which emphasizes local capacity building for evaluations and social science research, designed to bolster local institutional and organizational programming. The M&E/CLA portfolio also includes large Third-Party Monitoring contracts in sub-Saharan Africa, which are often carried out in conflict-affected and remote areas and employ a combination of on-the-ground and remote methods for data collection. M&E/CLA methods Dr. Norris uses also include machine learning and augmented data cleaning, which support accuracy, efficiency, and equity; data visualizations; interactive dashboards; and predictive modelling, lending near real-time support and lessons learned to decision makers working in international development and humanitarian relief.

Prior to joining AIR, Dr. Norris worked as a senior MEL specialist and CLA advisor for five years at EnCompass LLC. She has worked in the MEL and adaptive management field for more than 20 years in the private and non-profit sectors, as well as for the U.S. government, in the fields of domestic and international development and security.

In 2021, Dr. Norris served as acting CLA director for USAID/Ukraine Monitoring and Learning Support platform, and she managed, trained and advised teams on CLA at other USAID missions, including facilitating advances in Knowledge Management and organizational capacity building toward collaborative evidence-based decision-making processes and systems.

Dr. Norris has managed, facilitated, and conducted mixed-methods evaluations and assessments using systems-based, participatory designs, analysis processes, and visual-based reports. Her work has involved a variety of disciplines, including agriculture, education, climate and environment, health, food security, democracy and governance, human rights, and humanitarian development.

Dr. Norris conducted eight anti-human trafficking evaluations with the U.S. State Department, including evaluations in south Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. She also supported MEL and evidence-based program theories of change for a MacArthur Foundation Big Bet focused on anti-corruption efforts in Nigeria. She served as the IRB Ethics Committee Chair for EnCompass and is in her third year as Systems in Evaluation Topical Interest Group Chair for the American Evaluation Association, and facilitates AEA, EES, and Washington Evaluator events.