Employee Spotlight: Aliaa Abdella

Aliaa Abdella is a sharp, extremely talented Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Specialist for the Services to Improve Performance Management, Enhance Learning and Evaluation (SIMPLE) project. Since joining SIMPLE in the second half of 2018, she has spearheaded the final design, execution, and roll out of a one-stop-shop data platform for USAID’s Egypt Mission. The platform collects and analyzes the Mission’s data on activity performance, using smart formulas that feed into dynamic dashboards. Because it is user-friendly and can be accessed by multiple users at any time, Aliaa’s skilled work on this platform has provided a valuable solution for data access and use for adaptive management. In 2020, she skillfully managed a large task order under SIMPLE that supported the Mission’s successful effort to design their new Country Development Cooperation Strategy (CDCS). As part of that effort, Aliaa became a master of a key virtual platform used to conduct facilitated sessions for the CDCS process remotely, among many other tasks that she supports involving technology-savvy solutions and application of her M&E expertise.

“I believe that working with SIMPLE and QED is all about learning and adaptation – it is a work environment that fosters communication and learning. There are always opportunities to continually learn and improve our skills. The CDCS was a learning experience of setting long-term priorities at the national level through a broad-based consultative approach with stakeholders, further reinforcing a learning and adaptive management environment.”

Prior to joining SIMPLE, Aliaa provided M&E advisory to two projects at the German Society for International Cooperation (gesellschaft für internationale zusammenarbeit or GIZ), as well as similar work on another USAID-funded activity. She brings valuable experience working with the Government of Egypt acquired through assignments at the Ministry of International Cooperation, Ministry of State for Administrative Development, and Ministry of Finance involving research, international relations and other work. She holds two Master’s degrees in Public Policy and Administration (MPPA)/Designing and International Studies/International Affairs from the American University in Cairo, Egypt, and George Washington University in the US, respectively.