Denise Brennan Email & Phone Number

Netherlands

Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands

• Lead the Organizational Strengthening & Learning unit with the objective of empowering our teams to transform evidence into actionable insights, enhancing learning and strategic decision-making across our programs.
• Advise on a robust organization-wide developmental evaluation that engages our program teams in the generation, synthesis and use of high quality evidence to promote continuous learning and evidence-based.
• Steer key initiatives such as the foundation-wide Learning Agenda, with targeted learning questions, to effectively harness and disseminate evidence, driving informed strategic decision-making across the organization.
• Oversee a suite of trust-based organizational strengthening grants collaboratively designed with our partners to be inclusive, flexible and adaptable to their unique contexts and needs.
• Part of the broader leadership team, actively contributing to the foundation's strategic decision-making and future direction; Engage with the foundation governance and senior leadership team, participate in investment.
• Demonstrate thought leadership through the publication of influential articles and of delivery of high-impact workshops, keynote speeches and panel presentations at major global forums.

Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands

• Guided Laudes Foundation's evolution into a Learning Organization by introducing an inclusive strategy that engaged staff and partners, fostering a collaborative, adaptive and evidence-based decision-making culture.
• Designed the Learning Hive, an interactive knowledge management tool that captures and maps program evidence, making it easily accessible for use and uptake.
• Acted as a key conduit between the Monitoring, Evaluation & Research (MER) unit and the program teams, engaging staff and leveraging creative communication methods to transform complex insights into actionable.
• Embedded robust learning processes, cultivated learning leaders and enhanced team evaluative capabilities to enhance operations and increase the effectiveness and impact of our grant-making.
• Created a Learning Champion Program that built the capabilities of staff to act as catalysts of change and advocates for continuous learning.
• Developed comprehensive guidelines for establishing Communities of Practice, focused on amplifying collaborative learning, sharing best practices and driving innovation across organizational borders.

Senegal

• Directed a £4.8 million research and adaptive learning program comprising two synergistic components: a multi-country research collaboration with the University of Birmingham and a youth entrepreneurship pilot.
• Established efficient coordination mechanisms in a matrix structure, enabling agile program design, planning, and management while fostering collaboration among geographically dispersed teams.
• Created a multidisciplinary advisory group, uniting experts from academia, program teams, and donors to ensure exceptional research quality.
• Crafted a dynamic learning and dissemination strategy, merging unconventional methods like community theater, street art, and West African manga animation with traditional approaches including workshops, policy events.
• Managed my team by driving performance and development through effective leadership, clear communication, and support for creativity and professional growth.

Senegal

• Led research and learning efforts within the Information Management Unit (IMU) by managing research activities, fostering research partnerships, and leveraging internal and external expertise to support data.
• Managed a research project funded by FCDO spanning six countries, exploring various migration topics, including rural-urban migration, artisanal mining, youth migration, women and migration, among others.
• Managed an EU-funded needs assessment in collaboration with 11 country offices, overseeing tasks such as preparing Terms of Reference (TORs), managing procurement, developing methodologies, and supervising consultants.
• Provided technical advisory support to the regional office in designing learning activities and contributed to the development of concept notes and project proposals.\ Managed my team by driving performance and.

Regional Bureau For Asia And The Pacific

• Participated in the rollout of WFP's newly introduced global external evaluation system (DEQAS), part of a comprehensive organizational change initiative aimed at revamping WFP's evaluation system.
• Coordinated the concurrent execution of three external mid-term evaluations for WFP (USDA McGovern Dole school-feeding program), in Laos, Nepal, and Bangladesh.
• Provided technical expertise by offering feedback on evaluation methodologies, drafting Terms of Reference (TORs), and reviewing and providing input on sampling and data collection tools.
• Coordinated evaluation stakeholders and conducted comprehensive quality reviews of all evaluation deliverables.
• Prepared a report for the regional office, outlining key takeaways from the implementation of external evaluations using the newly introduced process.

Senegal

• Led a multidisciplinary and multicultural team ensuring the smooth running of AIMS-Senegal’s administrative and financial operations including Logistics, Finance, Communications, and IT.
• Provided a strategic vision for the education center and worked closely with the center President and the VP-Operations and CFO at the AIMS’ global secretariat to ensure continuous improvements to gain administrative.
• Supervised the management of the campus grounds and student residences (200+ students); oversaw construction and renovation projects including a new student cafeteria and classrooms.
• Managed an annual budget of $2.2 million USD and developed the country programs' work plan and budget.
• Assessed financial progress in alignment with project milestones, prepared cash flow requests, and ensured strict adherence to organizational procedures and protocols.
• Coordinated board meetings and directed the preparation of essential financial and operational reports.

Dakar, Senegal

• Part of the five-person team that launched the first-ever global science forum on the continent contributing to a significant milestone in the region's scientific community.
• Coordinated various aspects, including financial management, project oversight, proposal development, and administrative responsibilities.

Dakar, Senegal

• Led the transformation of the West & Central Africa region to a new global Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability & Learning (MEAL) model.
• Initiated a comprehensive evaluation of country office MEAL systems, culminating in the formulation of a regional MEAL strategy aimed at fortifying these systems.
• Advised and guided 11 country offices in the region to seamlessly integrate SCI's MEAL priorities into their operations, fostering robust systems for assessing the organization's global impact.
• Supported the country offices in the development and delivery of Country Strategy Plans (CSPs).
• Conducted in-depth trainings and facilitated workshops on MEAL.
• Pioneered the development of a project management toolkit, enabling real-time project monitoring and data capture to facilitate informed decision-making and organizational learning.

Toronto, Canada Area

• Oversaw the successful delivery of a $1 million CAD Social Innovation (SI) Program, fostering collaboration among entrepreneurs, startups, academia, industry, and investors to address social and environmental.
• Managed the project including budget and contract management, formulation of program guidelines, establishment of EOI and proposal review processes, definition of reporting criteria, monitoring project milestones.
• Designed and executed three partnership development forums, uniting 250+ experts from academia, policy, private sector, and nonprofits to drive cross-sector collaboration and innovate solutions for societal and.
• Launched and managed a Youth Social Entrepreneurship Program, delivering mentorship, resources, training, and seed funding to support the growth and expansion of ten youth-led startups.
• Evaluated program outcomes and piloted the application of the Social Return on Investment methodology to measure the program's impact.

Port-au-Prince, Haiti

• Managed the transformation of the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) department, overseeing operational and strategic changes to ensure fit for purpose for scale of the humanitarian emergency.
• Led over 60 assessments for projects ranging in budget from $75, 000 to $5 million USD for the following donors: ECHO, OFDA, DIPECHO, IOM, EC, UNICEF, ARC, OCHA-ERRF, Fondation de France, FCDO etc.
• Conducted research and presented findings at United Nations cluster meetings and NGO working groups, supporting evidence-informed decision-making of the humanitarian program.
• Restructured and expanded the team, hiring and training new staff, managing performance, and overseeing promotions, to strengthen team capabilities and drive departmental growth.

Khorog, Tajikistan

• Conducted project monitoring missions in rural Tajikistan and evaluated the impact of community-led disaster-risk reduction (DRR) projects.
• Identified best practices in DRR and presented program recommendations to senior management

Montreal, Canada

-Assisted in the strategic planning of communication and marketing campaigns- Conceptualized new design and improved user-interface for the Faculty website-Published web content, wrote press releases, reports, talking points, Q&As and speeches-Networked with other academic departments and represented the Faculty at public events

Uganda

• Engaged with rural communities to develop and manage a participatory rainwater harvesting project spanning five primary schools and two villages.
• Initiated a successful social media campaign, including the creation of a short film titled "Stick by Stick Makes a Bundle," which secured $15,000 USD in private funding for the project.

Montreal, Quebec

-Researched innovative urban development programmes targeting at-risk youth and drafted recommendations for adopting similar programmes in the city of Montreal.-Facilitated working groups and built partnerships with community-based organisations, government and private sector organisations working with youth.

Ma Political Science, Ethnicity & Public Policy, Gender, Political Theory

Honours Diploma, Women'S Studies

Honours B.A., International & Comparative Studies/French