Velia Manyonga works for Parliament of Malawi as Head of Research Section. She is holds a Master of Public Health Degree from Malawi College of Medicine. She is currently studying for second Master’s Degree in Gender and Development. Her work involves generating evidence for Members of Parliament to use in Parliamentary Committees and Parliament House debates. Specifically, she is responsible for generating knowledge through research to help members of parliament to make informed decisions carrying out oversight, legislation and representation roles. She access, appraise and synthesizes research findings or systematic reviews for members of parliament. Through use of evidence, she assisted Members of Parliament to successfully create a budget line for contraceptives and increased resources to the budget line despite most budget lines being cut. As a Head of Research department, Ms. Manyonga is happy when Members of Parliament make decision based on evidence. She engages the think tanks from universities to source evidence and technical expertise for the Parliamentary Committee inquiries. Currently Ms. Manyonga is engaged with activities tthat increase demand for evidence use among Members of Malawi Parliament and staff to use during Parliamentary Committees and House debate.

Kali Godbee is a PhD Candidate with a background in Clinical Neuropsychology. Her research involves supporting general practitioners and practice nurses to work with their patients to reduce dementia risk. Previously, Kali project managed research on psychological treatments for problem gambling and a co-design intervention for community mental health.

Mitchell Sarkies is a Physiotherapist from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, with an interest in translating research into practice. He is currently a Ph.D. candidate at Monash University.

Zohra Lassi is a Perinatal Epidemiologist currently working as a NHMRC Research Fellow at the University of Adelaide. She has been actively involved in conducting evidence based systematic reviews for various Cochrane entities as well as commissioning agencies. Her research interests include interventions to address reproductive, maternal ,newborn, child and adolescent health and nutrition.

Sumera has over fifteen years experience in the social development sector in Australia, Africa and South Asia, providing technical support from a distance as well as working directly with disadvantaged communities, in rural and urban areas. She has ten years’ experience specifically focused on monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) of development projects with national and international NGOs. Economic development, food security and women's empowerment have been areas of special interest for her. Sumera has augmented her field-based experience in monitoring and evaluation with a Masters in Assessment and Evaluation and then her PhD in evaluation and international development. Her PhD thesis focuses on the unintended outcomes of development interventions in developing countries. Sumera also has specific experience in gender equality programming and related MEL and has conducted several trainings for NGO and government staff in several countries. Currently, she is working with World Vision Australia where she provides programmatic and technical support to various projects and evaluations.

Dr. David Sarfo Ameyaw is the CEO of the International Center for Evaluation and Development (ICED), an Africa-based international think-tank that combines research and innovation with extensive practical experience in evaluation for development in the Global South. He has served as the Head of Strategy, Monitoring and Evaluation at The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA). Dr. Ameyaw has served as the Senior Director for Monitoring and Evaluation at the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), Washington DC, as well as the Director for Monitoring and Evaluation for the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) Headquarters. As the former Managing Editor of the Africa Agriculture Status report he has to date published four series of the report. He is a Board Member of the Agriculture Technology Adoption Initiative (ATAI), and a member of the Board of Directors of BASIS Assets and Market Access Innovation Lab. Dr. Ameyaw has chaired many international working groups and sessions on monitoring and evaluation, and has extensive international development experience in Africa, Europe, Asia, the Caribbean and South America.

Dr Emma Barrett is a Senior Research Fellow and Psychologist at the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre and NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in Mental Health and Substance Use, University of NSW. She is a Fulbright Scholar and is currently supported by a highly competitive NSW Health Early-Mid Career Fellowship. Her program of research addresses co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders, including prevention and early intervention of co-occurring disorders and psychological intervention in forensic settings. In recognition of the innovation and impact of her research, Dr Barrett has accrued a number of prestigious awards, including the 2017 NSW Young Tall Poppy Science Award from the Australian Institute of Policy and Science.

An independent development/environment journalist, Sangeetha Rajeesh is Fellow - International Institute of Journalism, Berlin and Fellow – National Media Foundation, New Delhi. She holds a Masters in Mass Communication and Journalism, and is currently pursuing her PhD in Strategic Communication in the Wageningen School of Social Sciences (WASS), Wageningen University, The Netherlands. Sangeetha was Contributor to Rural 21- Germany and Global Press Institute - US, and has worked with leading National dailies in India. She was also Media Researcher - Panos South Asia; Consultant Researcher – ActionAid; and Consultant-Author/photographer for International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). Sangeetha is Former Editor, Press Institute of India & Research Institute for Newspaper Development. She also was Web Documentor for UNICEF, ActionAid and CCF Canada in India.Sangeetha Rajeesh is Research Uptake Manager and Communication Specialist based at MSSRF, and is responsible for research communications for the LANSA Consortium.