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Nadiia Zaritska is a Ph.D. sociologist with 13 years of extensive experience in programme management, research, monitoring, evaluation, research, and learning (MERL), and gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) analysis. With a steadfast commitment to promoting gender equality, social inclusion, and human rights, Zaritska has focused her efforts on driving reforms, democratization, and addressing the social repercussions of conflict and war. Her professional journey has led her to engage closely with national and local governmental bodies in Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova.

Hanna Kovaleva is a program manager with 15 years of experience managing  humanitarian aid and development programs in Ukraine, with a recent focus on the eastern part of the country ravaged by the war with Russia. She has worked with international organizations, including the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and the United Nations, as well as social enterprises. Kovaleva’s work with vulnerable populations has centred around gender equality, non-discrimination, conflict sensitivity, and social inclusion. She has extensive experience with monitoring, evaluation, research, and learning approaches; program management; and communication strategies in public health, mental health, and community stabilisation.

Peter Saling has 14 years of experience designing, leading, and managing programs to increase incomes through agriculture-based livelihoods. His expertise spans from expanding climate resilient livelihoods for marginalized and disadvantaged populations to increasing affordable access to financing for catalyzing enterprise growth. Saling has designed climate smart agriculture, economic development, and financial sector strengthening programs in more than a dozen countries across sub-Saharan Africa, southeast Asia, and the Middle East. He has worked with governments, the private sector, cooperatives and associations, and civil society to link agricultural producers and small businesses to markets, while also designing innovations to engage young people in agriculture and increase earning opportunities for smallholder farmers.

Melissa Schweisguth is an inclusive market systems development and economic growth expert with more than sixteen years of experience in the international development and food and agriculture private sectors. She has focused extensively on designing programs, providing technical expertise for implementation, developing market systems approaches and guidance, and developing and delivering staff training.

Researcher and policy analyst Karin Martinson has extensive knowledge of workforce development and income security policies affecting low-income populations.  With more than 30 years of experience, her research focuses on identifying effective strategies to assist disadvantaged groups seeking to gain a foothold in the labor market. The groups include low-skilled adults, cash-assistance recipients, the long-term unemployed, and those with disabilities or substance use disorders. She oversees Abt’s large portfolio of work at the U.S. Department of Labor and has worked with a wide range of federal and state agencies and philanthropic organizations.  She has led numerous research and evaluation projects, primarily in workforce and income support arena, as a project director, principal investigator, task leader, and content expert. She co-authored more than 50 research reports and briefs and contributed to published volumes on workforce policy. 

Hailu Zelelew is an economist with 30 years of experience in health financing/economics, health insurance, health policy processes, health systems strengthening and economic development. He has worked on development planning and economic cooperation; policy analysis and development; rural development; program design and management; maternal, newborn and child health; family planning and reproductive health; HIV/AIDS; and capacity building. His financial expertise includes health program costing, resource tracking, health financing policy, health insurance, public financial management, and governance. He also has extensive experience with monitoring, evaluation and research.

Dr. Jessica Thornton Walker is an accomplished researcher and the leader of Abt’s quantitative methods team who brings 20 years of experience designing and implementing policy-relevant research. She is a recognized expert in large-scale, multi-site evaluations to assess the impacts of social policies and programs in housing and homelessness, child welfare, adolescent risk-taking behaviors, and substance use.In her role as the Quantitative Methods Lead, Dr. Walker is responsible for the management, staffing, budgeting, solutioning, and strategy that guides the work of 120 quantitative research staff and ensures Abt provides high-quality technical delivery and innovative solutions tailored to clients.

Eric Reading serves as Abt Global’s first Chief Climate Officer. He is an interdisciplinary social scientist with a background in geography, economics, and urban planning and more than 25 years of experience in water, energy, natural resources, land use, and agriculture. He has worked with national and local governments and the private sector in dozens of countries on policy, finance, and institutional reforms for more sustainable systems.

Dr. Hecht is an environmental economist with more than 19 years of experience in economic analysis, policy analysis, and research. His primary areas of expertise are in environmental economics, cost-benefit analysis, regulatory economics, and decision analysis. Dr. Hecht is an expert in estimating the monetary value of “non-market” benefits, such as improvements in environmental quality, public health, safety, and security. Dr. Hecht has over 10 years of experience in the economic analysis of climate change and in evaluating the costs and benefits of climate change mitigation measures.

Jennifer Cissé leads Abt’s Climate Adaptation and Resilience practice, including strategy development, business development, project execution, and thought leadership across its public and private sector client portfolio, both in the U.S. and internationally. She uses her more than 15 years of experience as a risk and resilience expert to serve as the climate adaptation technical lead for public and private sector clients.