Expert

Ann Warner is a gender and policy specialist at the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW). In this role, Warner works on a range of projects related to the health and human rights of women and girls.

Warner brings more than 10 years of experience in research and program development in international health and policy issues. Prior to her current position, she served as the special assistant to ICRW’s president, where she directed a research and advocacy project on the social drivers of HIV and AIDS. Before joining the organization in 2008, Warner led a research project for Columbia University and the International Rescue Committee that documented the prevalence of violence against women and girls in two Liberian counties. Warner also worked as the director of development at CARE, where she managed the organization’s relationships with professional foundations and consulted on a post-tsunami development program for CARE Sri Lanka.

Warner won the Global Health Council’s “New Investigator in Global Health” award in 2008 for her work in gender-based violence in Liberia.

Sunayana Walia is a senior youth reproductive health specialist at the International Center for Research on Women’s (ICRW) Asia Regional Office. In this capacity, Walia coordinates intervention research projects on adolescent reproductive health and women’s empowerment. She also assists partner institutions to design evaluations and monitor programs.

Walia has extensive experience evaluating life skills programs for adolescent girls and measuring women’s empowerment. She has coordinated several impact evaluations on reproductive and sexual health in India and examined the links between workplace interventions and women’s empowerment. Before joining ICRW in 2001, Walia worked for six years with the Self-Employed Women’s Association in Ahmedabad on a longitudinal research study. She also worked as a research associate with the Indian Institute of Management, where she coordinated an evaluation study on a national residential school program.

Kirsten Stoebenau is an International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) gender and population specialist who focuses on women’s reproductive and sexual health.

A global health researcher trained in social demography, Stoebenau brings more than a decade of experience analyzing the social determinants of women’s reproductive and sexual health. Prior to joining ICRW in 2010, Stoebenau was a postdoctoral fellow at Canada’s University of Ottawa, where she led a mixed-method study of the social and economic roots of transactional sex among youth in two regions of Madagascar. She also has worked as a research assistant in the department of population and family health sciences at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Stoebenau served in the Peace Corps in Madagascar, where she developed, coordinated and supervised a project to nutritionally enrich a traditional highland Malagasy dish.

Anne Stangl is a behavioral scientist and stigma specialist at the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW). In this role, Stangl develops strategies and coordinates efforts to reduce HIV- and AIDS-related stigma and discrimination.

Stangl brings more than seven years of international public health experience in Africa and Asia with a focus on stigma, qualitative and quantitative research methods, research design, statistical analysis and monitoring and evaluation. Stangl’s research centers on HIV- and AIDS-related stigma, particularly as it relates to HIV prevention, care and treatment. Prior to joining ICRW in 2007, Stangl researched and designed studies on HIV prevention and stigma for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Tulane University School of Public Health.

Stangl also served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Zimbabwe, incorporating lessons on HIV and AIDS awareness and prevention into high school curriculum.

Surendra Kumar Singh is an assistant research officer at the International Center for Research on Women’s (ICRW) Asia Regional Office. In this capacity, Singh helps develop research tools and assists with data collection for work focused on preventing HIV and sexually transmitted infections among married women in India.

Singh has more than seven years of research experience. Prior to joining ICRW, he worked for five years at the International Institute for Population Sciences and one year at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences. In these positions, Singh helped develop data collection tools, assisted with project monitoring and evaluation and helped write project reports.

Rajendra Singh is a field coordinator at the International Center for Research on Women’s (ICRW) Asia Regional Office. In this capacity, he oversees all ICRW projects initiated through the organization’s Mumbai project office.

Singh has more than 13 years of experience working as a research officer. Prior to joining ICRW, he was a research manager at the market and social research organization, Gfk-MODE, an associate project coordinator and senior research officer at the International Institute for Population Sciences, and a research officer for independently organized workshops. In these positions, Singh worked on projects focused on reducing HIV risk and conducted research on patterns of sexual behavior. He has co-authored numerous published papers and has presented his research at national and international conferences on HIV and AIDS, reproductive health, masculinity, gender-based violence and capacity building. Singh also has conducted independent research studies for several institutions.

Taher Kasim Sayed is an assistant research officer for the International Center for Research on Women’s (ICRW) Asia Regional Office. His work includes preparing project reports, overseeing field staff and activities, and developing research tools to help with data collection.

Sayed has 30 years of experience in research and social work. Before joining ICRW, Sayed was an assistant research officer for the International Institute for Population Sciences, a program officer for Apnalaya, a nongovernmental organization that works with children in slums, and a project coordinator for the National Education and Welfare Society. In these positions, Sayed worked on projects focused on public health, community education and reducing sexually transmitted infections and HIV.

Silvia Paruzzolo is an economist at the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW). In this role, Paruzzolo works on projects related to economic development and provides monitoring and evaluation expertise to projects in a variety of ICRW’s areas of work.

Paruzzolo brings experience in designing and implementing impact evaluations as well as in strengthening practitioners’ approach to monitoring and evaluation. Before joining ICRW in 2009, Paruzzolo worked for the World Bank and the International Labor Organization. While there, she worked on a diversity of collaborative efforts, including research and program work on employment and children and youth development. Paruzzolo also served as a research fellow at Italy’s Bocconi University’s Centre for Research on Healthcare Management and as an assistant professor at the SDA Bocconi School of Management.

Meredith Saggers is an economist and monitoring and evaluation specialist at the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW). In this role, Saggers evaluates projects that aim to boost economic opportunities for women and provides technical assistance to research partners on monitoring and evaluation. Her work at ICRW primarily focuses on designing and analyzing the effectiveness of efforts related to strengthening women’s property rights and increasing women’s economic empowerment. Prior to joining ICRW, Saggers conducted independent field research on home-based care in South Africa.

Bell Okello is a gender, agricultural and rural development specialist at the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW). In this role, Okello provides technical support on gender and agriculture for ICRW’s initiatives across east Africa. He is based in ICRW's East Africa Regional Office in Nairobi, Kenya.

Okello brings 13 years of regional experience in livelihoods and food security, gender analysis and monitoring and evaluation. Most recently, Okello was an independent consultant on rangeland management, natural resource management, livelihoods and food security for a variety of organizations including ETC East Africa. He also has served as a rural development specialist for Mercy Corps and Cooperazione Italiana Nord Sud (CINS).