“EASST Opened Countless Doors:” How CEGA Supported A Fellow’s Career
CEGA Associate Director of Global Networks and Inclusion Maya Ranganath and Network of Impact of Evaluation Researchers in Africa (NIERA) Program Manager Jennifer Nyakinya recently talked with EASST Fellow Anthony Mveyange about his career trajectory and new role as the Executive Director for Partnerships for African Social and Governance Research. This post is abbreviated and reposted from the original publication on the NIERA blog.
Since 2011, CEGA’s East Africa Social Science Translation Collaborative (EASST) has brought 32 East African researchers or “fellows’’ to our headquarters at the University of California, Berkeley to study rigorous impact evaluation methods (and we’ve recently started piloting a virtual, non-resident fellowship to reach even more people). All fellows go on to join the Network of Impact Evaluation Researchers in Africa (NIERA) and continue growing in their careers as academics and important interlocutors between research and policy. We keep in close touch with fellows after their stay at CEGA, updating them about opportunities in our network, monitoring and supporting their research, and tracking their perceptions of how EASST has contributed to their career growth.
One of our fellows from 2015 and Founding Treasurer of NIERA, Anthony Mveyange, shared that he has recently been appointed Executive Director for Partnerships for African Social and Governance Research (PASGR). Headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, PASGR is an independent, non-partisan pan-African not-for-profit organization established in 2011 to build the capacity of African researchers, policy makers, civil societies, private sector, and universities to do research on social/public policy and governance.
In his new role, Anthony shares thoughts on the research-policy continuum, opinions on EASST and NIERA, and candid advice for future fellows.
Maya: Can you please tell us about PASGR and your new role, and the kinds of decisions you’ll be involved in making?
Anthony: PASGR was set up to focus mainly on non-economics social science disciplines, such as public policy, political sciences, and governance. Over the years, PASGR has expanded significantly and now organizes itself around three key themes 1) conducting innovative research for policy engagement; 2) working with African institutes of higher education on pedagogy and research capacity; and 3) working on professional development and training for young researchers and policy makers. We have a footprint in over twelve countries in Africa and are continually expanding. As the Executive Director, I’ll be in charge of the organization’s overall strategy and operations, including institutionalizing an ambitious and transformational research and training agenda on topical social/public policy and governance in Africa.
Jennifer: How does PASGR connect with other organizations on the ground? How will it be interlinked with NIERA?
A: PASGR has two key approaches to collaborations. These are south-north connections and south-south connections with pan-African countries. In terms of potential linkages with NIERA, the Network has advanced technical expertise to conduct deep impact evaluation training unlike PASGR, which would probably conduct these capacity trainings at an intermediary level. In terms of professional training, the next puzzle is: so what? We’ve all trained students, university lecturers, and policy makers, so what? There is a need to start thinking out of the box and ahead of the curve to devise ways to ensure stakeholders apply the acquired impact evaluation skills in their work. Can we entice policymakers to use the impact studies to change policies and have behavioral responses to do that? We have all done so much training but these in themselves are outputs and not outcomes. We want to know to what extent can we observe that the training has contributed to policy change or the quality of conversations in the policy landscape?
At PASGR, I plan to stretch out our thinking and philosophy on training a little more and track over the years, the extent to which these have contributed to policy changes and translated into something meaningful.
M: On that note, we also like to track the impacts of our EASST fellowship over the years! We’re so proud of everything you’ve done since being at Berkeley. You’ve had a great career across the World Bank, Trademark East Africa, and now PASGR. Would you say that EASST had an impact on your career trajectory on the whole and to this new role? If so, how?
A: EASST gave me the gift of coming to Berkeley and being mentored by [CEGA Faculty Co-Director] Ted [Miguel] — it has helped my career explode outward and has opened countless doors. Ted has really been there for me and graciously and unconditionally supported the growth of my career trajectory. I am grateful for the privilege to have been his mentee.
Connections, networking, and friendships with CEGA staff and the faculty I met there were major benefits for me. It’s great to connect with Berkeley alumni elsewhere, too. Connections with the faculty I met (such as Alain de Janvry, Betty Sadoulet, and Paul Gertler) and PhD students (who have now gone on to have interesting careers) have continued. CEGA also still invites me to conferences, such as the 2018 GeoDev Conference held in Berkeley and the 2019 Food and Agriculture Organization conference in Rome, where I met many others whom I am now working with.
Over the years, EASST and now NIERA, have really brought together African colleagues — now I have friends not only in Berkeley, but in Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, and other countries. We’ve collaborated together across many studies, continue to apply for grants together, and constantly keep in touch via WhatsApp.
In a nutshell, EASST contributed significantly in terms of exposing me to the world, and giving me a platform where I connected with so many researchers. Through EASST, my talents were amplified and identified — it gave me the chance to be recognized.
M: Do you have any advice for future EASST fellows or for CEGA and NIERA?
A: For future fellows- don’t be shy, be very open-minded to working on different types of projects, and be proactive and engaged (I benefited from knowing the American way of being direct and active to get things done by spending some time there before). Don’t wait for opportunities — be creative, and make things happen — speak up, engage, interact, reach out.
For CEGA and NIERA — don’t forget the value of collaboration. Finding the right partners helps to provide better context and different perspectives matter. If you want to make a big impact, reach out to the people who are likely to consume what we produce — governments as well as the private sector and civil society actors. Don’t stay in your silos of academia. And keep learning directly from these actors about their contexts. Context is key — it can define how fast you can run and how far you can go.
Hope I can come back to Berkeley and visit you all soon!
