We learn in community: announcing more teaching by MTI!

The MERL Tech Initiative’s 1700+ member community is proof that, as humans, we are always learning, and we learn best in community and through sharing knowledge. We’ve gained a reputation for creating well-informed but warm, friendly spaces for training and joint thought leadership, where everyone and no one is an expert at the same time. We pride ourselves on critical thinking, so in addition to our community of practice on AI and NLP (the NLP-CoP), we also partner with universities, publish in open-access publications, and present at conferences. We’re excited to announce that we now have four MTI members who are teaching Masters students at Columbia’s School of International and Public Affairs:

I have been a core collaborator at MTI for the past six months, working with several clients, and I also co-lead MTI’s Gender, AI, and MERL working group, one of the NLP-CoP’s thematic groups. Following a long academic career at the University of Manchester and the London School of Economics, and my PhD in community radio and telecentres in the early ICTD days, for the past few years, I have been teaching Masters-level students UX (user research) and digital development and advising capstones at Columbia SIPA. My 14-week Spring 2026 course with Claudia Barcha from Dalberg Design is titled UX and Digital Development, which includes AI interfaces. One of the best parts about being involved in these various spaces is being in a position to cross-pollinate ideas and learning, which helps these emerging AI learning spaces advance and coalesce.

Veronica Olazabal, another long-time MTI collaborator, co-leads the NLP-CoP’s Philanthropy Working Group. Veronica also teaches  Impact Measurement and Evaluation for Sustainable Development at SIPA, bringing learnings from her senior leadership roles at Rockefeller Foundation, Nuru, Mastercard Foundation and Food Bank for New York City among many other organizations. Veronica is a past president of the American Evaluation Association, and a strategic thinker and leader when it comes to responsible integration of emerging tech into evaluation practices.

Finally, Kevin Hong (another co-lead of the Philanthropy Working Group) and MTI founder Linda Raftree will be teaching a 7-week short course titled “Emerging AI and MERL: Responsible use of AI for monitoring, evaluation, research, and learning” at SIPA in Spring 2026. Linda brings years of experience from work with clients, including UNICEF, Girl Effect, Rockefeller, Plan International, the World Bank, and others in addition to her role leading our Community of Practice.  Kevin is a proud graduate of SIPA, and has a solid list of organizations to his name, including Wellspring, IPA, ideas42, Mercy Corps and the US government. He has been teaching a course called Monitoring and Evaluation is Everyone’s Job: Driving Evidence-Based Development and Humanitarian Aid at SIPA since 2017.

We’ve always believed in academia and practice informing each other, and as we teach, we also believe we’ll continue to learn and grow ourselves. Among our core team of collaborators, others are pursuing PhDs and Masters degrees, and we regularly publish with partners and in academic journals (preferably open-access).

Reach out if:

• You’re already registered at SIPA or are considering it and curious about these courses
• You’re in our CoP, share if you are also teaching or studying something that you’re enjoying
• You’d like us to facilitate any small group teaching or training.