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I am a Director and co-founder of the Sababi Institute, an independent research organization based in Hargeisa, which seeks to conduct and facilitate rigorous research in regions neglected by most scholars, especially Somalia. I am also the Director of Research (2020-2022, 2024-present) at Consilient, a research firm conducting monitoring & evaluation research in Somalia and across East Africa.  In both roles, I serve as technical backstop for a range of research projects on governance, conflict, and access to justice; I currently lead projects on local governance and applied survey / statistical methodology.  My goal, across projects and organizations, is to improve our collective understanding of Somali society, governance, and development by improving M&E practices, collaborating on academic research, collecting and curating new sources of data, and otherwise improving research practices wherever possible.

Previously, I was the Chief Research Quality Officer at Forcier Consulting, and a Ph.D. candidate at the Woodrow Wilson Department of Politics at the University of Virginia, where I studied the salience of ethnic identities in Kenya. 

A copy of my academic CV is available here, and a copy of my development consulting CV available here.