Lara Van Kouterik

The acting Director of Learning, Evidence, and Impact Lara provides strategic direction and oversight of the Learning, Evidence, and Impact teams. She also leads the Partnership Development Team. Working closely with team members, Lara plays a critical role in shaping Girls Not Brides’ learning work, ensuring that Girls Not Brides continuous to be a thought leader and a go-to-place for knowledge and resources on CEFMU, and ensuring that programs and initiatives are evidence-based. She plays a pivotal role in driving organisational learning and ensuring that programmes are informed by evidence, grounded in best practices, and designed to achieve meaningful impact and monitored and evaluated to measure and show impact. In addition, as Head of Partnership Development, Lara works closely with and contribute to the regional directorate work, by providing leadership to our global overarching approach to engagement of members, National Partnerships and coalitions.

Lara holds a MSc in Cultural Anthropology and International Development Studies from the Radboud University in The Netherlands. Prior to joining the Girls Not Brides team she worked in different roles is the Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights sector (in Zambia, Zimbabwe and The Netherlands) and at a feminist Women’s Fund based in Amsterdam.