Fitsum Dagmawi Desta

Fitsum Dagmawi Desta Email:-Mobile: - Optional: - PROFILE I am an experienced development program and data professional with over 14 years of expertise in project management, datadriven decision-making, survey planning, team leadership, stakeholder engagement, and strategic advisory. My work has focused on tackling issues of poverty and injustice across sectors such as agriculture, health, education, youth, and gender, with a strong emphasis on creating sustainable social impact. Throughout my career, I have contributed to over 50 impactful projects, influencing policymakers, donors, and academics while positively affecting the lives of over 100,000,000 households in Ethiopia. My role at Laterite involves collaborating with teams across East Africa, Sierra Leone in West Africa, Amsterdam and the UK in Europe, Peru in Latin America, and the United States. SKILLS • Software: Microsoft Office (advanced), Google workspace (advanced), Google drive and forms (advanced), • Languages: English (professional), Am haric (native), Afan Oromo (proficient) • Soft Skills: Fast learner, data driven, problem solving, team work, project management, excellent communicator • Certificates: Luma leadership course (6 months), Acumen East Africa Fellow (2024), PMI (trained but not certified), Managing successful impact evaluations (World Bank, 2022) • Project management tools: Trello (advanced), Bamboo HR (Advanced), Lattice (Advanced), Confluence (Advanced) • Communication and collaboration tools: Slack (advanced), Notion (Advanced), and email (Advanced) EXPERIENCE Laterite Addis Ababa, Ethiopia • Country Research and Program Manager (https://www.laterite.com/) May 2022 - Present ◦ Office and Project Management • Office and Project Management: Co-manage an office of 25 staff, consistently lead three or more projects, and build strong stakeholder relationships. • Financial Oversight: Manage finances, forecast budgets, and oversee recruitment and engagement of service providers. • Country-Led Role: One of three country leads in Ethiopia, overseeing business development, client management, office administration, and data operations. • Project Planning: Collaborate with clients and colleagues to develop work plans, maintain budgets, and review field budget approvals. ◦ Business Development and Stakeholder Relations • Business Development: Drive new business opportunities, write and lead EOIs and TORs, and ensure healthy revenue streams. • Proposal Development: Contribute to go/no-go decisions and develop technical and financial proposals. • Government and Stakeholder Relations: Manage relationships to ensure smooth project operations and compliance. ◦ Data collection and Operations • Oversee data collection: recruit, mentor, and support more junior colleagues on developing and programming surveys, setting up protocols and expectations, conducting high-frequency checks, and liaising with data collection teams. • Data Operations: Plan and implement all data collection projects, advise on processes, ensure efficient team allocation, and address capacity gaps. • Ethical Compliance: Lead Institutional Review Board (IRB) applications, ensuring research ethics compliance. • Process Improvement: Collaborate with the Regional Research Operations Manager to identify and implement innovations for operational efficiency and excellence. ◦ Team and Organizational Development • Team Development: Lead recruitment decisions, interviews, and support the professional growth of the data team. • Job Creation: Focus on creating dignified jobs for internal staff and field teams, fostering a professional and supportive work environment. • Regional and Global Contributions: Expanded responsibilities beyond managing the Ethiopia office to include contributions to Laterite's regional and global operations. Laterite (https://www.laterite.com/) Addis Ababa, Ethiopia • Research and Program Operations Manager February 2020 – May 2022 ◦ Leadership roles • As Research Operations Manager at Laterite Ethiopia, I led the scaling of the team, regional operations, and impactful research projects. My role involved team building, project leadership, business development, and strategic management across Ethiopia, Kenya, and Uganda. ◦ Key Contributions: • Team Building & Leadership: Built and onboarded high-performing data and research teams across three countries. Fostered a collaborative and mission-aligned corporate culture. • Project Management: Directed multiple socio-economic research projects in Ethiopia, ensuring timely, high-quality deliverables and stakeholder engagement. • Innovation & Adaptation: Pioneered phone-based data collection during COVID-19, ensuring business continuity and job creation. • Business Development: Optimized budgets, field team structures, and capacity planning to secure operationally feasible projects. • Strategic Oversight: Provided financial and strategic guidance, aligning country objectives with regional and global goals. ◦ Selected Projects -): • PSNP Wage Employment Pathway Evaluation: Designed and executed data collection for 1,200 beneficiaries, 94 government interviews, and 9 focus group discussions. • Couples' Business Training Evaluation: Managed data collection for 2,000 respondents, supporting an RCT to assess coaching impacts on entrepreneurship. • PSNP Post-Distribution Monitoring: Assessed food and cash assistance in conflict-affected Amhara and Afar regions. • Urban High-Frequency Survey: Led baseline and quarterly phone surveys for a panel of 3,000 households tracking Ethiopia’s economic reforms. • Willingness to Pay for Crop Insurance: Conducted surveys with 1,180 farmers to inform policy and product design. • SPIR Impact Evaluation: Directed midline and end line surveys for 4,300 and 3,996 households, including sensitive gender-based violence and nutrition modules. Laterite (https://www.laterite.com/) Addis Ababa, Ethiopia • Research and Program Operations Associate May 2017 – February 2020 ◦ Leadership roles and contributions • Team Development: Built Laterite Ethiopia’s data team from scratch, recruiting and training 1,200+ field enumerators and coordinators. Designed and delivered onboarding and capacity-building sessions. • Project Management: Led data collection for complex research projects across agriculture, health, education, and social protection. Developed project plans, managed timelines and budgets, and ensured high-quality deliverables. • Field Operations: Prepared training materials, supervised field teams, and ensured adherence to protocols for data quality and ethical compliance. • Operational Leadership: Managed office finance and administration during Laterite’s startup phase in Ethiopia. Represented the organization in regulatory engagements and served as the primary liaison between East Africa offices and expatriate staff. • Stakeholder Engagement: Facilitated communication between field teams, clients, and regional offices, ensuring alignment on project objectives and smooth execution. ◦ Selected Projects (2017 - 2020): • GAGE (Gender and Adolescence): Led longitudinal surveys on adolescent well-being (8,000 respondents) and COVID-19 phone surveys (6,500 households). Oversaw survey design, enumerator training, and data quality checks. • Refugees and Returnees Reintegration Survey: Managed phone surveys and qualitative research to inform socio-economic reintegration strategies for returnees and businesses. • CCT & TFS Pilot (Coffee Farming): Designed and led a pilot study on stumping incentives, surveying 3,000 households and conducting focus group discussions. • PSNP4 Livelihoods Pathway Evaluation: Evaluated Ethiopia’s safety net program with mixed-method data collection from 1,052 respondents, delivering actionable insights to stakeholders. • IDInsight (https://www.idinsight.org/) Field Manager Oromia, Ethiopia February 2020 - July 2021 ◦ Led a year-long impact evaluation of EthioChicken, assessing its effects on food consumption, income, women's decision-making, and access to finance. ◦ Managed a multidisciplinary team of 36, coordinating logistics for baseline and endline surveys across 6,000 households in Oromia. ◦ Supervised data collection, ensuring adherence to protocols and quality standards, and facilitated capacity-building for enumerators and supervisors. ◦ Delivered high-quality data on time, supporting actionable insights for stakeholders, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. • Habesha Breweries Field Researcher All regions, Ethiopia January 2016 – June 2016 ◦ Conducted a nationwide beer market census, traveling across Ethiopia in five different corridors to gather market intelligence information. ◦ Administered consumer preference surveys to assess market trends, brand perception, and consumption patterns. ◦ Compiled and reported findings to provide actionable insights for strategic market positioning. • Population Service International (PSI) Field Researcher, USAID’s MARPS Project All regions, Ethiopia January 2015 – December 2015 ◦ Conducted a comprehensive health facility census and mapping across 54 major cities in Ethiopia. ◦ Collected, and verified data on health services targeting most-at-risk populations to inform program planning and resource allocation. ◦ Ensured high-quality data collection by adhering to standardized methodologies and protocols. ◦ Coordinated with local health officials and stakeholders to facilitate seamless field operations and data collection. • Freelance Field Researcher Field Researcher, USAID’s MARPS Project All regions, Ethiopia December 2012 – December 2014 ◦ Various Roles: Research Operations Manager, Data Quality Control Manager, Team Leader, National and Regional Coordinator, Qualitative Data Collector, Field Supervisor, and Enumerator. ◦ During the two years period participated, managed and executed more than 21 large-scale quantitative and qualitative research projects across Ethiopia. ◦ Collaborated with diverse organizations, including prominent international NGOs (e.g., FHI 360, Save the Children, PSI, and the World Bank), government entities, and private consulting firms (e.g., WAAS International Consultancy, ABCON Consulting House, Precise Consult International, Momentum Consultancy, and VERITAS Consulting). • Ethiopian Economics Association Assistant field research operations manager All regions, Ethiopia February 2012 – November 2012 ◦ Various Roles: Research Operations Manager, Data Quality Control Manager, Team Leader, National and Regional Coordinator, Qualitative Data Collector, Field Supervisor, and Enumerator. ◦ Organized logistics, including leading recruitment of field team, led data collection training, field deployment, and on site/office supervision of field teams. ◦ Coordinated and managed large-scale national surveys, ensuring timely and quality data collection. ◦ Led and supervised field operations for two major national surveys: • Ethiopian National Health Account Survey (2012/2013): Oversaw a team of 184 field staff and 34 vehicles. • Ethiopian Community Based Health Insurance Survey (2013): Directed operations with a team of 56 field staff and 15 vehicles. ◦ Ensured compliance with survey protocols, data quality standards, and ethical guidelines. ◦ Coordinated with key stakeholders, including federal, regional, zonal and woreda level government agencies, survey respondents, and team members, to address challenges and meet objectives. ◦ Monitored field progress, managed resources efficiently, and prepared operational reports for leadership. • Sire Preparatory School Assistant field research operations manager Arsi Siree, Oromia, Ethiopia February 2012 – November 2012 ◦ Taught General Business and Economics to preparatory students ◦ Served as Unit Leader, coordinating academic and administrative activities to ensure efficient school operations. ◦ Participated as a invigilator tester for the 2010 & 2012 National Leaving Exam at the zonal level, contributing to the integrity of the examination process. ◦ Led the school’s Environment Club, organizing activities to promote environmental awareness and student engagement. EDUCATION Ashland University with Leadstar College Addis Ababa, Ethiopia MBA in Specialized Project Management September 2014 – August 2016 Courses: Project Management, Organizational design and change management, Business research methods and Statistics, Managerial Accounting, Financial management, Strategic planning and policy analysis. Debre Berhan University BeD, Business Education November 2006 – July 2009 Courses: Principles of Management, Principles of Accounting, Micro and Macro Economics, Business research, Business communications, Business Law, Marketing Principles and Practices, Entrepreneurship and Business management, Curriculum studies and education measurement and evaluation. References Will be provided upon request.