5th Class, 2009-2011
Field Placement: Helen Keller International (HKI), Bangladesh
As a research fellow at HKI-Bangladesh, Jillian Waid worked within the Learning and Reflection Unit (LRU), assisting in the creation of evaluation tools and sampling designs for new studies. She also worked to catalog over 16 years of nutrition surveillance and past program evaluation data. Apart from evaluation, Jillian assisted HKI in designing new research plans, wrote concept notes for funders, and worked with local staff to examine certain features of HKI’s programs. Outside of LRU work, Jillian worked with HKI’s training staff to revise nutrition and livelihoods-related training materials.
Policy Placement: Helen Keller International, Bangladesh
Jillian continued her fellowship at HKI-Bangladesh, where she acted as an analyst for the Food Security and Nutrition Surveillance Project, coordinating data and information sharing from the project with the Government of Bangladesh (through FAO counterparts at the Food Planning and Monitoring Unit, Ministry of Food and Disaster Management) and other stakeholders. Jillian worked extensively on designing a new sampling structure for the second year of the project, consulting with the Technical Consultative Group and reaching out to other stakeholders. She regularly participated in national level meetings and briefings and assisted in planning the research program of HKI-Bangladesh, including outlining protocols for project and country level Monitoring and Evaluation Systems. She presented research at an FAO Symposium in Rome, led a training session for UNICEF on nutrition in emergencies, and trained computer programmers at the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.
Pre-Fellowship Education/Experience:
Jillian Waid received an MSW with a concentration in Social and Economic Development from the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis. Prior to graduate school, she spent several years working on issues concerning South Asia. Jillian worked as a Research Assistant in Washington, D.C. in the World Bank’s Poverty Research Unit. She also served as a fellow for an American Indian Foundation Service Fellowship in Gujarat where she worked on reproductive health and women’s livelihood issues with Kutch Mahila Vikas Sangathan. Jillian then continued working in India with the Institute of Financial Management and Research, Center for Micro Finance Research, where she managed evaluations that focused on the effectiveness of financial instruments in reducing risk for poor communities. Jillian has a BA in Economics and South Asian Studies from Brown University.