Natalie Hettle joins GHD after three years working in monitoring and evaluation, and reporting. Natalie worked as a monitoring and evaluation researcher based in Istanbul, Turkey where her main role was to conduct research on humanitarian operations in Syria and Iraq. She conducted evaluations on aid projects to ensure accountability to vulnerable populations and improve the effectiveness of project implementation. Natalie focused on food security and livelihoods and conducted economic and social analyses of agricultural value chains in Iraq. Most recently, Natalie has worked for St. Andrews Refugee Services (StARS)in Cairo,Egypt which is a direct services provider to refugees. Natalie oversees donor and internal reporting. Natalie was awarded a Boren Scholarship in 2017, which she used to attend an intensive Arabic program in Ibri Oman.

In 2019, Natalie graduated with honors from Ohio State University, with a B.A in International Affairs, and minors in Arabic and French. She is a 2022 Donald M. Payne International Development Graduate Fellow and will join the USAID Foreign Service after graduation. At Georgetown, Natalie is excited to learn how to use data collection and analysis to improve food security and agricultural value chains around the world. Additionally, Natalie hopes to learn how to mitigate effects of climate change and promote sustainable programming in food security projects. Also, she intends to begin studying Russian at Georgetown. In her free time Natalie likes to take walks with her dogs and study foreign languages.

Summer Internship Experience

USAID/Senegal in the Sahel Regional Office

This past summer I interned at USAID/Senegal in the Sahel Regional office. The Sahel Regional Office supports USAID initiatives in countries that include Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Chad, Niger, the Gambia, and Mauritania. My work primarily focused on issues concerning democracy, human rights, and governance projects. The governance work included a new project designed to combat human trafficking in the Sahel and also a mis-dis,-mal information project that will be implemented in the Sahel . I analyzed and compiled data which was used to inform USAID programming for several of the new regional projects. I presented the findings from this research to senior USAID staff who were responsible for program design. Additionally, I assisted on gender reports for both an agricultural activity in Guinea Bissau and the regional human trafficking report. Towards the end of my internship, I was sent to Mauritania with two other USAID officials and participated in meetings with 32 stakeholders following which I wrote a report that was used to begin a resilience program design in Mauritania. Also, I presented our findings from this visit to the US ambassador in Mauritania. Overall, it was an amazing summer and I am more excited than ever to join the USAID foreign service.