TOR102: ALNAP with Alice Obrecht

The idea of innovation has become so popular in the development and aid community that, unsurprisingly, it is difficult to keep up. There seem to be forums, conferences, blogs (and yes, even this podcast) that are putting information out there for your consumption to the point of overwhelm and it can be difficult to cut through the noise to create a better understanding of what works - and more importantly - what doesn't when it comes to better serving those in need. Luckily, there are also people out there like Alice Obrecht who are helping to curate some of the learning around innovation and make it accessible to everyone. In this 102nd episode of Terms of Reference, I speak with Alice about her work as a Research Fellow at the Secretariat for the Active Learning Network for Accountability and Performance (ALNAP), where she is currently leading research on the themes of innovation and effectiveness. And, as part of this work, she has led the ALNAP Secretariat’s involvement in the World Humanitarian Summit process. This isn't, of course, Alice's first gig in our industry. Prior to joining ALNAP, she worked in policy research at several institutions focusing on capacity building of regional inter-governmental institutions as well as accountability practices and frameworks both in and outside the humanitarian aid sector.