Lara Mikhail Email & Phone Number

Cairo, Cairo Governorate, Eg

Cairo, Egypt

•Assist in leading the project’s MEL functions, including the development of procedures such as a MEL Manaual, for the monitoring and evaluation of the project activities. This is in addition to conducting orientation sessions on how to use the manual to all the project team members.•Provide guidance and supervision to the MEL specialist at one of the partner organizations to ensure the streamlining of the MEL practices.•Overseeing the progress of the program beneficiaries, including 700 undergraduate students, 50 post-doctoral, 60 masters and 500 short training participants.•Supervise data management and conduct spot checks and data quality assessments of the data collected by the project team members and partners in different locations.•Lead the processes of data collection and management; ensuring the validity, consistency, and integrity of the data collected. •Identify and address all data collection limitations, putting in place mitigation measurements to avoid inconsistencies. •Lead the verification and documentation efforts for all the indicators against the source of documentation.•Coordinate with internal and external project stakeholders to obtain information and data related to project performance.•Lead and supervise the data entry process for the different project components.•Organize the Collaboration, Learning and Adaptation (CLA) activities as per the learning agenda.•Collaborate and support the MEL advisor in conducting MEL orientation sessions, and presentation of achievements to project’s partners.•Support the MEL advisor in identifying and formulating MEL findings, lessons learned, and recommendations. •Monitor the progress of the implementing partners’ contributions towards the achievement of the Pioneers' indicators and set milestones.•Contribute to performing the essential reporting responsibilities, ensuring coherence with existing reporting requirements.

Cairo, Egypt

-Lead the project’s MEL function as per USAID contractual requirements and guidelines, creating a framework, policies, and procedures for the monitoring and evaluation of project activities and results. -Develop, implement and report on a unified monitoring, evaluation, and learning framework across all program components, setting out specific quantifiable performance indicators and targets for overall objectives and activities to measure project progress; and including identification of processes, outputs, outcomes, and sustainability indicators.-Establish and implement a system and mechanisms for collecting and managing project data on the set indicators.-Ensure appropriate baseline data availability or gathering, periodic monitoring, adequate performance reporting, and other activities to facilitate the implementation of evaluations. -Institute a mitigation plan for any project activity, as needed. -Develop data collection tools to measure indicators. -Keep verification documents and a proper audit trail for reported data. -Manage the processes of Data Quality Assurance (DQA) mandated by USAID/Egypt. -Develop and manage the learning agenda as per the MEL plan and USAID/Egypt’s requirements.-Review and maintain the project’s MEL Plan after consulting with the project’s Agreement Office Representative (AOR) and USAID’s Program Office. -Coach, train and mentor the project staff and partners to foster a culture of learning.-Input all required information into the USAID/Egypt information systems on a quarterly basis.-Coordinate with COP and DCOP to collect and monitor activity-related outputs and results in all aspects of programming.-Plan and implement weekly project meetings to review progress, attend relevant meetings, collect data and present findings on learning questions.-Supervise data management in eight local project locations along with the local program site coordinators. -Work closely with the project team to check data integrity.

Between April and June 2023, I worked (alongside another M&E consultant) as Monitoring and Evaluation Consultant at Heritage Climate Change: Conservation and Capacity Building Project. Below are the tasks I worked on.-Development of an M&E system/plan that includes methodology for monitoring and evaluation of the project, Log frame with indicators, activities, means of verification and expected results and data collection strategy.-Baseline assessment, including results of baseline assessment and set performance targets.-A training workshop that provides the team with orientation on the M&E system/plan.

New Cairo, Cairo, Egypt

•Design and implement a monitoring and evaluation strategy and framework that serves the project’s goal through: -An M&E plan, which outlines the indicators/progress markers, the data collection process, analysis and dissemination processes. -Project action plan. -Project organogram, which delineates the roles and hierarchy of the different team members and project’s partner(s) and the reporting cycle. -Project database, which includes segregated data on the project’s beneficiaries. • Follow up on project’s activities to ensure alignment with project’s performance management system. • Collect and maintain data using diverse M&E tools such as Focus Group Discussions, In-depth Interviews, Questionnaire(s), Case Study, Most Significant Change, etc. • Develop reporting templates to be filled by relevant team members and partners. • Develop good practices, human stories and lessons learnt to be integrated in the project’s implementation process. • Draft regular (monthly) monitoring and evaluation reports on status of results and implementation progress. • Handle the data analysis process and share the findings internally (with the team members) on a monthly basis and externally with relevant stakeholders on a quarterly basis. • Advise, using the findings from the data analysis process, on project implementation progress, challenges encountered and possible adjustments and interventions. • Ensure that the project is gender sensitive and mainstreamed throughout the implementation phases.• Collaborate with the donor’s M&E team to agree on the Performance Monitoring Framework, including Means of Verifications (MoVs), and provide relevant data on a regular basis; including the preparation of quarterly, mid and final reports in a timely manner. • Conduct constant data audit to ensure that the data collected is accurate and precise. • Provide thorough feedback on different project documents, including studies that are conducted during the project duration.

Cairo Governorate, Egypt

I worked as an M&E officer for "The Socio-economic resilience of migrants and Egyptians in Greater Cairo" project (2020-2023), funded by (SDC). The project targets 1,200 beneficiaries (70% Migrants and 30% Egyptians) in Greater Cairo. The project provides the beneficiaries with life and employability skills and vocational trainings in the food sector; followed by job placement. As an M&E officer, I carry out the following tasks: • Develop M&E plan. • Manage monitoring database(s) and perform quality assurance to ensure effective storage of monitoring data. • Analyse the data collected and provide feedback to the project manager on the project’s progress. • Submit monthly and quarterly reports, using the data collected that should be segregated by gender, age and nationality, on the progress of the project’s activities to the project manager.• Supervise data collection at the field level. • Undertake regular field visits to monitor the project’s activities and provide technical support to the different project implementation teams (i.e. Project coordinators, Trainers, Gender mainstreaming officer, Employment officer, Chamber of Food Industries technical team). • Oversee assessments conducted by external consultants to measure beneficiaries’ needs and satisfaction with the project’s activities such as baseline and end line evaluations. • Undertake assessments, such as surveys, focused group discussions, key informant interviews and pre and post training questionnaires, to measure beneficiaries’ level of knowledge, skills and learning before and after their participation in different training and capacity building activities. • Contribute to institutional learning on better livelihood approaches in the refugee context through the documentation of challenges, lessons learnt, best practices and recommendations.

Garden City-Cairo `

I have worked on the implementation of “Refugees to Refugees” project that aimed at the socio-economic empowerment of 1,716 refugees and their integration in the job market in Egypt.Job Description: -Research: I conducted a desk research on “Refugees’ right to work in Egypt: Challenges versus Opportunities”. -Project design: I assisted in the development of a proposal for a project that is funded by The Office of International Co-operation (OIC) in The Swiss Embassy on refugees’ employability in the food sector in Egypt. The project will start in July 2019.-Project implementation: I was involved in the implementation of “Refugees to Refugees” project’s activities. -Events’ organization: I worked on the organization of a Roundtable Discussion and a closing event for R2R project. The aim of such events was to disseminate lessons learnt and recommendations from our project and to open discussions with multiple stakeholders on the issue of refugees’ employability in Egypt.-Networking and communication: I regularly attend meetings of networks that Gozour Foundation is part of such as DPG meetings (local network), UNHCR Livelihood Working Group (local network) and Cross Center for Refugees and Migrants (CCRM) (regional network).

Egypt

This assignment mainly aimed at the analysis of Children on the Move harms and access to services in Egypt and along the North Eastern Migratory Route part of the program of ‘Initiating Cross-Border Partnership for Children on the Move along the North Eastern Migratory Route’. My tasks in this assignment included the following: -Comment on the questionnaires (which are conducted by 10 researchers in Aswan, Damietta, Alexandria and Cairo) and interviews’ map for data collection and analysis; -Coordinate and oversee data collection. I act as the focal point between UNICEF Egypt and UNICEF Italy. I am also the head of the quality control team in that project whereby I coordinate and oversee data collection with the support of three field coordinators. I, then, report back to UNICF Italy; -Carry out 25 qualitative interviews in Cairo, Alexandria, Damietta and Aswan, type up notes and insert the data online; -Data entry for both qualitative and quantitative data; -Review and comment key findings and recommendations from the analysis of the data collected by May/June 2019;-Write a blog on human stories and experience during data collection.

Egypt

Following my graduation from the Political Science department at The British University in Egypt (BUE), I worked as a teaching assistant/demonstrator in the same department from September 2013 till August 2018. During those years, I taught a number of courses:-Research Methodology -Humanities and a History of Civilizations-Contemporary Ideologies -Negotiations and Conflict Resolution-Arab-Israeli Conflict -The Making of Modern Egypt-American Politics-Conflict and Order in Latin America My job also included a number of administrative tasks.

Master'S Degree, Middle East Studies, 3.744 Out Of 4

Activities and Societies: In August 2018, I was chosen, among other 8 students, to participate in a summer school that was organized.

Exchange Semester, International And European Studies

I spent an exchange semester in Budapest (Hungary) in The National University for Public Service (NUPS) from February 2018 till June 2018..

Bachelor Of Science - Bs, Political Science And Government, 69 (B+)

Bachelor of Science in Political Science. Loughborough University in The United Kingdom. (2009- 2013) -Grade: 69%, upper second-class.

Bachelor Of Science - Bs, Political Science And Government, 84% (Distinction With Honors)

Activities and Societies: During my undergraduate years, I participated in a number of extra-curricular activities: -Delegate in Arab.

Education record