Expert

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 senior behavioral scientist 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 designed and conducted 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.

Rajendra Singh is a technical specialist at the International Center for Research on Women’s (ICRW) Mumbai Project 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.

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).

Sophie Namy is a gender and development specialist at the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW). In this role, Namy helps international development organizations evaluate programs through a gender lens and conducts empirical research related to violence against women, engaging men and boys and women’s property rights.

Namy brings more than six years of experience in development research, with a particular focus on evaluating community-based interventions, training and capacity building. Prior to joining ICRW, Namy served as an American India Foundation Clinton Fellow with the Kumaon Agriculture & Greenery Advancement Society. Her work focused on designing and conducting research related to HIV, sex work and women’s economic empowerment in rural India. Namy also consulted for USAID and Futures Group International on a qualitative evaluation of a maternal health intervention designed to improve women's knowledge and their access to services at the village level.

Anurag Mishra is a senior technical specialist at the International Center for Research on Women's (ICRW) Asia Regional Office. In this capacity, he prepares data collection instrument, project reports and monitoring tools and helps evaluate data.

Mishra has more than 12 years of experience monitoring and evaluating programs in India and providing technical assistance to partner institutions that want to expand their efforts. Prior to joining ICRW, he worked for eight years as a program officer at Population Council in New Delhi, where he provided technical assistance and evaluation expertise for a variety of government programs. He also provided monitoring and evaluation support as a consultant for the Constella Group. As a doctoral candidate, Mishra coordinated survey work between the International Institute for Population Sciences and the government.

Jennifer McCleary-Sills is a senior social and behavioral scientist at the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW). In this role, McCleary-Sills uses theory to design and evaluate health programs that serve women, adolescents, and populations in post-conflict regions.

McCleary-Sills brings more than a decade of experience in public health practice and international development, with particular expertise in designing and implementing programs related to sexual and reproductive health, gender-based violence, and HIV/AIDS. Prior to joining ICRW in 2009, McCleary-Sills worked at the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs providing research and evaluation support to field offices for national communication programs. McCleary-Sills also worked with the grants and acquisition department at World Vision and served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Jordan.

McCleary-Sills has worked in more than a dozen countries throughout Latin America, the Middle East and Africa.

Aslihan Kes is an economic and gender specialist at the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW). In this role, Kes provides technical assistance, management and budgetary support to research partners.

Kes is an economist with six years of experience who conducts research and designs programs related to a variety of topics. Her work at ICRW has included analyzing the costs of maternal mortality on households as well as developing approaches to integrate gender considerations into agricultural projects. Kes also has explored the status of women’s property and inheritance rights globally as well as analyzed how those rights are linked to HIV, AIDS and domestic violence in Uganda and South Africa.

Kes is co-author of “Taking Action: Achieving Gender Equality and Empowering Women,” “Gender and Time Poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa” and “Seven Priorities, Seven Years to Go: Progress on Achieving Gender Equality.”

Anjala Kanesathasan is a senior health and development specialist at the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW). In this role, Kanesathasan provides technical and management direction for a range of projects related to health, gender, adolescents and women’s empowerment.  

Kanesathasan brings more than 15 years of experience developing, managing and evaluating health and development projects. She has led multiple efforts at ICRW, including assessing options for increasing women’s agricultural engagement in West Africa and evaluating a program to decrease violence among young men in the Balkans. Prior to joining ICRW in 2007, Kanesathasan directed the behavior change communications component of a large reproductive and child health program in Kenya with PATH. Kanesathasan also has directed communications programs for a social marketing project to promote family planning and prevention of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections in Uganda.  

In addition to her 10 years based in East Africa, Kanesathasan’s field experience includes southern Africa, South and Central Asia, Eastern Europe and the Caribbean.