Anne-Thora Vardøy-Mutale, Senior Adviser, joins Norec from her position as Director of Partnerships and Innovation at the Southern African Institute of Collaborative Research and Innovation (SAICRIO) in Zambia. She has previously served as Director of Program Development and Quality at Save the Children Zambia, and led the Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) data-driven education program from pilot to scale whilst working for VVOB.
As an adviser with UNDP Malawi, she worked on governance, aid effectiveness, increasing the use of evidence in UN programming, and was responsible for innovation work through the introduction of the “Accelerator Labs.”
She has interdisciplinary and multicultural expertise from developing and leading complex projects in areas such as governance, education, health, and climate with various partners and donors. Key strengths include developing evidence-based plans, projects, strategies, and policies, building and maintaining partnerships, evaluations, qualitative and quantitative research, resource mobilization, and leading interdisciplinary teams. She is committed to working with and through government systems where possible to achieve changes from within, as well as closely collaborating with local communities and stakeholders.