DRG TIG Leadership

2025-2026

Chair

Marcia Mundt is the Director of Research, Evaluation, and Learning for the Consortium for Elections and Political Process Strengthening (CEPPS) and a public policy lecturer at Northeastern University. As a practitioner, Marcia has managed capacity building, community development, peacebuilding, and good governance programming domestically and abroad with organizations such as New Sector Alliance, City Year, the Corrymeela Community, the Peace Corps, and the US Institute of Peace (USIP). Her academic career has included research and evaluation positions with the University of Massachusetts Boston McCormack Graduate School, Stanford Graduate School of Business, Interim Executive Solutions, the City of Cambridge, USIP, and USAID. Marcia holds a BA in Government, Communication Studies, and Spanish from New Mexico State University, a MA in Peace Studies from the University of Bradford, and a MSPP and PhD in Public Policy from the University of Massachusetts Boston.

Co-Chair

Chris Peterson is a Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Associate at the Eurasia Foundation. As an emerging evaluator, he has assisted in the development of monitoring and evaluation mechanisms for international programming and has made contributions to learning projects on civil society in two Eurasian countries. He holds a BA In Middle Eastern Studies with an Arabic Emphasis from the University of Utah, and an MA in Public Policy and International Affairs from the American University of Beirut.

Program Chair

Ksenia Miliutinskaia is a program manager at Mathematica, where she manages global MEL partnerships, primarily with foundation clients. From Russia, her commitment to Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance has been shaped by witnessing her country's democratic backsliding. Her journey in the DRG field began at Transparency International and most recently included providing strategic and MEL support to a human rights organization protecting political prisoners in Russia.

Program Co-Chair

Zachariah Falconer-Stout is a program evaluator who has primarily worked for small management consulting firms providing external MEL services in the foreign affairs space for the past 15 years. He is a political economist by training, and as such a firm devotee of the interdisciplinary nature of DRG work and mixed methods evaluation approaches. He got his start studying simultaneous market-democracy transformations in the post-communist space, but since then has worked around the world. In addition to DRG, his technical backgrounds include youth and education evaluations, and social inclusion. He is currently a MEL Director at Bixal, where his portfolio focuses on managing USAID MEL platforms; previous clients have included OTI and the MacArthur Foundation. Domestically, he has chaired a county party, served as an election judge, worked on scrappy local campaigns, and currently sits on his party’s state central committee in Colorado.

Communications Chair

Denise Baer is a Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning (MERL) professional and President of Strategic Research Concepts, Inc.  Denise is a political scientist, professor and consultant with over 30 years’ experience in research and evaluation with substantive specialties across the range of democracy support including elections and campaign finance, social movements and civic groups, political parties, parliamentary strengthening, gender lens programming and private sector engagement.  She teaches evaluation at George Washington University and was Founding Director of the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE) Evaluation Department, one of the four core National Endowment for Democracy (NED) core institutes and has done consulting for a variety of U.S. federal agencies and nonprofits in democracy, governance and women’s empowerment.  She has worked with a variety of global donors and U.S. agencies as well as the U.S. Congress. Her interests include mixed methods integration, systems and multi-level causal impact approaches, institutional reforms, association capacity-building, evidence-based policies and women’s history. Dr. Baer holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in political science and research methods from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale and a B.A. in political science from the University of Illinois-Champaign-Urbana. 

Communications Co-Chair

Chase Bricker is an international development and evaluation expert serving as a consultant and advisor for capacity building organizations, government agencies, and research firms. He holds a Ph.D. in Public Administration from American University focused on Methods & Comparative Development. Through in-country and evaluation experience, Chase has demonstrated knowledge on public policy and capacity building, as well as the roles and levels of success decentralization (political, administrative, and fiscal) has had in governmental development. As a practitioner and academic, Dr. Bricker has worked on projects involving over 30 countries, from analyzing data and writing the reports to instructing researchers on proper methodology while in-country. Chase holds expertise in measurement, evaluation, and learning, democratic governance, civil society, sustainable development, and administrations of developing countries. Most recently he worked as a contractor for three bureaus at the US Department of State.

Emeritus Chair

Zack Medow is Senior Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Advisor for the Eurasia Foundation where he is working to clarify the organization's core theories of change through applied research in the organization's major programmatic areas. Before joining the Eurasia Foundation, Zack worked with Freedom House, RIWI, Corp., and Unlock Democracy - Canada in various research and learning roles. Lately, Zack has been particularly interested in the role of informal actors in donor-funded DRG programs and how international organizations can better support them.  Zack ongoing interest is increasing the degree to which program managers learn from our findings as evaluation and learning professionals take great care with our work and the risk is that too much of this work is getting lost at the uptake stage.  Zack holds a B.A. from the University of Toronto in Political Science.

Emeritus Co-Chair

Jeanette (Jay) Asencio-Tocol has more than 18 years of experience in research, monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) in the democracy, human rights, governance and rule of law sector. She is currently the Senior MEL Manager of EarthRights International leading MEL in its global, U.S.-based, Mekong and Amazon regional programs. Prior to joining EarthRights, she was the MEL Advisor for the American Bar Association’s (ABA) Center for Global Programs, leading all evaluations in the Rule of Law Initiative (ROLI) division of ABA, providing guidance and support for MEL efforts in more than 50 countries globally, and leading numerous internal and external learning efforts in the democracy, rights and governance sector. Jay has authored numerous evaluations and studies, including the most recent study on National Human Rights Institutions and their interaction with Civil Society Organizations in addressing justice needs, and two practice notes that aid in measuring results of justice sector reforms and in assessing the performance of courts. Jay has extensive experience as a consultant to various donors including the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, UNDP, UNHabitat, USAID, CIDA, EU/ EC, and AusAID as an independent evaluator and an institutional capacity assessment and development specialist for Southeast Asian programs.Born and raised in the Philippines, Jay is a proud alumna of the University of the Philippines, Diliman and the Asian Institute of Management. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Comparative Literature, an Executive Masters degree in Development Management and Micromasters credential in Data, Economics, and Design of Policy (from MIT). 

Board Advisor/Liaison to AfrEA

Jerim Obure is a Global Senior Specialist for Monitoring, Evaluation, Research & Learning (MERL) at the International Justice Mission (IJM). IJM is an international development organization that is based in Washington DC and that works to strengthen criminal justice systems globally to be effective in protecting vulnerable people from violence. Working collaboratively with host government partners, IJM delivers strategic interventions that include justice system reforms, law enforcement capacity building, trauma informed care, research, strengthening measurements and data systems, among others.

Jerim has over 10 years of experience practicing Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning in multi sectoral contexts, including human rights and governance, global health, and youth development programs. Part of these experiences includes working for the National Human Rights Commission in Kenya where the scope of programs included; institutional reforms, democracy and human rights, rule of law, state compliance monitoring, etc.  Jerim’s interests include M&E capacity building, institutional M&E systems strengthening, strategic planning, program evaluations, M&E methods, and Implementation Science. He also enjoys working in cross cultural environments. Jerim holds a Master of Science degree in International Development from the University of Amsterdam, with specialization in Development Monitoring and Evaluation. Mr. Obure is also an Ex-Officio Co-Chair of the AEA-DRG TIG.

PAST LEADERSHIP

Laura Adams works at Pact as the Director for Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning for the USAID-funded global civil society and media strengthening award, CSM-STAND. Previously, she served as Senior Director for Strategy, Development and Learning at Freedom House in Washington DC where she led organizational learning and applied research initiatives. She entered the democracy and learning sector when she was an IIE USAID Democracy Fellow in the Learning Division of the Center of Excellence in Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance (DRG Center) at the U.S. Agency for International Development. Prior to this career transition, she was in academia for fifteen years, most recently at Harvard University as Director of the Program on Central Asia and the Caucasus, Academic Advisor to the M.A. program in Russian, East European and Eurasian area studies, and a Lecturer in Sociology. She specializes in comparative and cross-national research methods, qualitative methods, the design of research and evaluation, and participatory evaluation approaches.  Dr. Adams holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of California-Berkeley and a B.A. from Macalester in Russian Area Studies.

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Lauren Serpe is the Deputy Technical Director on the Global Results and Measurement Team at Pact. She is a monitoring, evaluation, research and learning (MERL) specialist with 15 years of experience designing, implementing, and evaluating results-oriented democracy, governance and civil society strengthening programs, with a focus on learning and adaptive management. She has piloted innovative complexity-adaptive methods in Pact’s global governance portfolio and led on the development of associated handbooks and toolkits. She has expertise implementing a variety of quantitative and qualitative methods in more than 25 countries globally. A regular presenter at the annual conference of the American Evaluation Association, most recently Lauren has led expert panels regarding learning, adaptive management, “lean data” and “complexity on a shoestring” topics. Previously she served as a Senior Research Specialist at the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES). She has an MA in International Politics from American University in Washington, DC.

 Mike Moore is a facilitator, evaluator, and analyst focused on the rights of displaced people in our increasingly challenged world. Passionate about supporting local communities to create change and tell stories of their choosing, he works to support programs that transfer power to grassroots partners and learn from data that matters to them. He loves qualitative research and evaluation design, and catalyzing connections and new ideas with meaningful gatherings of people committed to social change. Prior to finding program evaluation, Mike has been a data systems designer, a cross-cultural teacher, and a massage therapist. His broad technical and organizational experience smooths conversations about translating work on the ground into operational systems that make sense. Mike holds a recent MS in Research Methods with a Program Evaluation focus. This included a strong appreciation of contemporary approaches and of evaluation for equity and social change.  And it included extended training for a certificate in Applied Environmental Studies that he focused on climate and the US response to displacement. Mike also stays active in social change locally, and enjoys indoor climbing near home for relaxation and health. 

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Marian Ware is a Senior Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) Specialist focused on inclusive MEL approaches in the Middle East and North Africa as well as sub-Saharan Africa regions. She works at the International Republican Institute (IRI), an international non-governmental organization that builds and supports democratic actors and practices globally, and serves as an advisor of IRI’s Political Inclusion Community of Practice in addition to her MEL role. Marian has led the development of IRI’s inclusive MEL approach and institutional approach to political inclusion, and currently supports project design, monitoring, evaluation and learning efforts across sub-Saharan Africa. She has experience leveraging complex-aware, participatory MEL methods such as Most Significant Change and Ripple Effect Mapping to support project monitoring, and has supported more than a dozen evaluations, including in extremely challenging, authoritarian, and conflict-affected contexts. Marian holds a Master's degree in Peace and Conflict Management Studies from the University of Haifa, in Haifa, Israel, as well as a Bachelor's degree in International Affairs and Humanities from the University of Colorado. She has spent several years living and traveling in the Middle East, and speaks both Levantine Arabic and French conversationally.

Founding and Prior AEA DRG TIG Officers 2015 – 2026


2015-2016

Rebekah Usatin, Founding Co-Chair

Elizabeth (Liz) Ruedy, Founding Co-Chair

Andrew Green, Founding Co-Chair

NOTE:  The Bylaws of the TIG were adopted at the first business meeting in 2015 based upon a draft prepared by Denise Baer. Now called Operating Guidelines, these were revised in 2023.

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2016-2017

Rebekah Usatin, Founding Co-Chair

Elizabeth (Liz) Ruedy, Founding Co-Chair

Andrew Green, Founding Co-Chair

Salome Tsereteli-Stephens, Program Co-Chair

Giovanni Dazzo, Program Co-Chair

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2017-2018

Salome Tsereteli-Stephens, Co-Chair

Giovanni Dazzo, Co-Chair

Danuta Dobosz, Program Chair

Matthew Cruse, Program Co-Chair

Imara Crooms, Webmaster

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2018-2019

Danuta Dobosz, Chair

Kelly Skeith, Co-Chair

Denise Baer, Program Chair

Chareen Stark, Program Co-Chair

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2019-2020

Denise Baer, Chair

Co-Chair position vacant

Dylan Diggs, Program Chair

Kate Krueger, Program Co-Chair

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2020-2021

Dylan Diggs, Chair

Kate Krueger, Co-Chair

Alysson Akiko Oakley, Program Chair

Megan Guidrey, Program Co-Chair

Nigina Valentini, Communications Chair

Denise Baer, ex officio

NOTE:  The name of the TIG was officially changed July 30, 2020 from Democracy and Governance to Democracy, Human Rights and Governance (DRG) TIG and the bylaws were updated through an online vote and virtual meeting.  These changes, initiated following the 2019 AEA DRG TIG business meeting which lacked a quorum were approved virtually in 2020, expanded the TIG officers to include a Communications Chair, created ex officio positions for the most recent Chair and Co-Chair, and clarified on procedures for amendments to the TIG operating procedures.

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2021-2022

Alysson Akiko Oakley, Chair

Megan Guidrey, Co-Chair

Lauren Serpe, Program Chair

Marian Ware, Program Co-Chair

Nigina Valentini, Communications Chair

Dylan Diggs and Kate Krueger, ex officio

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2022-2023

Lauren Serpe, Chair

Marian Ware, Co-Chair

Laura Adams, Program Chair

Jerim Obure, Program Co-Chair

Denise Baer, Communications Chair

Alysson Akiko Oakley and Megan Guidrey, ex officio

NOTE:  The bylaws (now called operating guidelines based on an AEA clarification of TIG structures within AEA) were revised to describe the name change and to include a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion in an online vote January 23, 2023.

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2023-2024

Laura Adams, Chair

Jerim Obure, Co-Chair

Zach Medow, Program Chair

Jeanette (Jay) Tocol, Program Co-Chair

Denise Baer, Communications Chair

Lauren Serpe and Marian Ware, ex officio

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2024-2025

Zack Medow, Chair

Jeanette (Jay) Tocol, Co-Chair

Marcia Mundt, Program Chair

Chris Peterson, Program Co-Chair

Denise Baer, Communications Chair

Chase Bricker, Communications Co-Chair

Laura Adams and Jerim Obure, ex officio

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2025-2026

Marcia Mundt, Chair

Chris Peterson, Co-Chair

Ksenia Miliutinskaia, Program Chair

Zachariah Falconer-Stout, Program Co-Chair

Denise Baer, Communications Chair

Chase Bricker, Communications Co-Chair

Zack Medow and Jeanette (Jay) Tocol, ex officio