About

I’ve worked at the intersection of community development, gender, youth participatory media, rights-based approaches and digital development for over 25 years, starting in El Salvador where I spent the 1990s. I’m an anthropologist by degree and a participant-observer by nature. I have been working as an independent consultant since 2014.

Current projects:

supporting The Asia Foundation to develop organization-wide responsible data policies and practices
working with CLEAR Anglophone Africa on responsible data governance and M&E
helping UNICEF create a manifesto on good governance of children’s data
coaching a large social media company on child safety via Child Wise
on-demand data privacy and safe design advisories for Here I Am’s Fatima application and Dalberg
developing a paper and running workshops on Remote M&E during COVID-19 for ALNAP
working with a small group to address harm in evaluation at individual evaluator and systemic levels.

Recent projects:

report for Save the Children on digital safeguarding for migrating and displaced children
gap assessment of the Principles for Digital Development and draft guidance on inclusion, transparency and accountability, and data responsibility
updated data responsibility guidance and two case studies for the Cash Learning Partnership (CaLP)

I organize the MERL Tech conference, which brings different disciplines together to discuss, learn, and intentionally shape how technology and (MERL) intersect. I’m a member of the World Economic Forum’s Expert Advisors Group on Technology and Social Justice, the Advisory Board of the International Program for Development Evaluation Training (IPDET), the Advisory Committee for the Strategic Evaluation of the WFP’s Use of Technology in Constrained Environments, and Co-Chair of the American Evaluation Association’s Technical Interest Group on Integrating Tech in Evaluation.

In the past, I have supported the WHO, CARE, Humanity United, Civic Hall, Farm Radio, Girl Effect, Catholic Relief Services, Girls Who Code, and USAID to develop responsible data principles, policies, guidelines, and practices. I also advised The Rockefeller Foundation on innovation and ICTs in evaluation. I previously worked at Plan International on youth engagement, child rights, digital development, and transparency & governance.

I’ve written reports, toolkits, guidance, and other publications related to digital development, data responsibility and digital safety. (See below for a list of publications). I also co-developed a satirical side project called WhiteSave.Me.

I’m a Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP) and Certified Information Privacy Manager (CIPM). I’ve run the New York City Technology Salon since 2011. I blog at Wait… What? and tweet as @meowtree.

Publications:

Data Responsibility Toolkit: A Guide for Cash and Voucher Practitioners for the Cash Learning Partnership
Case Study: Data Responsibility and Digital Remote Targeting during COVID-19 for the Cash Learning Partnership
Case Study: Responsible Data Sharing with Governments for the Cash Learning Partnership
Digital Safeguarding for Migrating and Displaced Children for Save the Children
COVID-19: A spotlight on child data governance gaps for UNICEF
MERL Tech State of the Field: The Evolution of MERL Tech for MERL Tech
What We Know About Traditional MERL Tech: Insights from a Scoping Review for MERL Tech
Big Data to Data Science: Moving from “What” to “How” in the MERL Tech Space for MERL Tech
Responsible Data Maturity Model for CARE
Head-to-Head: Biometrics and Aid for The New Humanitarian
Technology, Biases and Ethics: Exploring the Soft Sides of Information and Communication Technologies for Evaluation for IFAD
Considerations for Using Data Responsibly for USAID (literature review also available on request)
Girl Effect’s Girls Digital Safeguarding guidelines
How ICTs can be used in monitoring and evaluation for The Rockefeller Foundation
ICTs and equity-focused evaluation for The Rockefeller Foundation
Landscape review of Mobiles and Youth Workforce Development for the mEducation Alliance
Paper for UNICEF on integrating ICTs into communication for development work with adolescent girls
Overview of the role of ICTs in child and youth migration.
More detail on LinkedIn.

Non-work obsessions include my neighborhood in Brooklyn, politics, music, my bike, and healthy food/food chains.

The views and opinions expressed in this blog are my own. They do not represent the views or opinions of my employers or affiliates, past or present.

Contact me at lindaraftree [at] gmail [dot] com or @meowtree.

21 Comments »

21 Responses

on February 10, 2010 at 12:50 pm | Reply Elisa Hebert

WP – Better! Nice!
- on February 10, 2010 at 6:45 pm | Reply lraftree
  
  thanks Elisa! I feel like I finally graduated from blogging pre-school… 🙂
on February 12, 2010 at 9:43 am | Reply Teddy

hello,

I love your blog. Am also involved in the same area at the coastal region of kenya and I want to see how I can Use ICT to share and generate knowledge. We can get intouch Ias I could greately benefit from your experince. I could offer my email address if its ok
- on February 12, 2010 at 5:20 pm | Reply lraftree
  
  Hi Teddy, thanks for reading! It would be great to connect about ICTs in the coastal region. It’s fine if you send me your email.
on April 16, 2010 at 5:51 pm | Reply Neil

New blog looks great, Linda !
on July 6, 2010 at 9:12 am | Reply samuel

i like about this web site
on September 28, 2010 at 2:09 pm | Reply Blurring Borders » Blog Archive » Help Crowdsource the Availability of Prepaid Mobile Internet in Africa

[…] initially sought. In particular, the complicated nature of Africa mobile Internet was explained by Linda Raftree from her personal experience. Katrin Verclas, of Mobile Active, provided the initial introduction, […]
on October 11, 2010 at 12:00 pm | Reply Ben Tremblay

People sometimes get /amazingly/ offended and upset when I incorporate *blink* into online conversation.
Now I can say, “It’s no big deal. It just means something like ‘Wait, what?'”

thanks for this
and for the blog
stay well

ben
on November 19, 2010 at 4:47 am | Reply Harris S. Momoton

lraftree
I am getting so impressed about you and your activities. You are such a great innovitor. As I said, I need some partnership link with you. I need similar development for Liberia. The facts that You can leave your country to go to the remote parts of Africa and sit with African to help change their mind, It mean you are truly a African savior. I am so impressed about. Keep the good and God will help yoouu to achieve your goals.
Harris
- on November 20, 2010 at 8:07 am | Reply Linda Raftree
  
  Hi Harris and thanks again for the kind words. However I would say that you are doing more for the continent of Africa than I am with all of your efforts to train the youth in Liberia. I really congratulate you for that work and encourage you to keep it up! Have you contacted Computer Aid in Liberia? or Plan Liberia? You can probably find their contact information by doing a Google search to see if they are working on any programs in your district or if they would be interested in hearing more about what you are doing. Best, Linda
on March 6, 2011 at 9:05 pm | Reply Cristina

Very interesting blog!
on April 25, 2011 at 8:20 pm | Reply Edmund Sama

I find your blog very interesting and you are just a wonderful multi-talented individual intervening in different aspects of human life.
Let me give you a typical Bafut interpretation of your Blog title Wait, What?
N yu’u ta ke? meaning, Take action.
Since you are focusing “on integrating new information and communication technologies (ICTs) and social media into community development programs and communications initiatives to improve impact, reach and quality, and to offer tools that can help increase youth participation and voice at local, national and global levels”, would you mind considering using video phone technology for distance learning progams? This is an area of interest to me and we could share ideas.
- on April 26, 2011 at 6:03 am | Reply Linda Raftree
  
  Thanks again Edmund for the comment, I really appreciate it! Are you using video phone technology for distance learning now? At what level? Primary, secondary or higher education? How has your experience been?
on July 17, 2011 at 1:35 pm | Reply Leila

Hi Linda, you may remember me from the writing workshop in kenya earlier this year. I wanted to let you know that I finally got round to starting a blog – you might find some of it interesting and hopefully not too cynical! http://kitchenaid.posterous.com/
I read yours with interest. Take care!
- on August 8, 2011 at 9:30 am | Reply Linda Raftree
  
  Hi Leila! love your blog! have left mine a bit dormant this past month or so… too much going on…. hope you are well!
on August 8, 2011 at 9:21 am | Reply Elin Wallberg

Hi Linda,
Working in Plan Sweden with Corporate Engagement in the Programme Department. Trying to learn more about ICT4Dev and Plans work in the area and came across your blog. Understand you are a key person in the field 🙂
Cheers
Elin Wallberg
- on August 8, 2011 at 9:30 am | Reply Linda Raftree
  
  Hi Elin – look forward to working together!
on October 11, 2011 at 2:51 pm | Reply Sarah H

Hi Linda – I think you have a fabulous blog! You and your colleagues may be interested in this: http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unyin/onlinediscussion/
on February 2, 2012 at 12:51 pm | Reply Luis Enrique Manzur Avalos

Hola Linda.
La felicito por su blog esta muy interesante, especialmente lo referente a El Salvador. Agradecería me enviara su dirección de correo electronico.

Atentamente

Luis Manzur
on March 6, 2013 at 7:39 pm | Reply Deborah Strickland (@deborahs)

Amazing examples of how networking technologies can make such a difference to people in remote areas, and living in very difficult situations. I’ve been researching how different organizations are using mobile technology to develop services to alert and educate people. I never knew the power of something as basic as SMS. I did chat with FrontlineSMS recently and saw what a difference a small organization can make.
on August 2, 2020 at 12:14 pm | Reply Edzai Zvobwo to speak at MERL Tech Jozi 2018

[…] Tech was started by Linda Raftree and Wayan Vota in 2014 with the M&E Tech Conference and Deep Dive, supported by The […]