Kim Yi Dionne Joins DG Board of Directors

DG is pleased to announce that Kim Yi Dionne, Assistant Professor of Political Science at UC Riverside, has joined our Board of Directors.

Kim earned her Ph.D. in Political Science at the University of California in Los Angeles, where she was a Foreign Language and African Studies (FLAS) fellow in Kiswahili/African Studies. Her recent book, Doomed Interventions: The Failure of Global Responses to Aid in Africa, contributes new perspective on the relative priority communities place on HIV/AIDS, and the failure of global systems to respond to local needs. She is also a contributing editor at The Monkey Cage, a politics and political science column at The Washington Post, and host of the podcast Ufahamu Africa. Kim will bring a unique perspective and deep expertise to DG, expanding our organizational analysis of what we have learned in our recent work on improving data use and uptake of technical tools.

Kim states, “I’m really excited to join the team at Development Gateway, an organization I have admired for years because of its commitment to democratizing data use to enhance development programming. I hope to help connect Development Gateway to other scholars studying development who could further the organization’s mission to promote the use of data and technology to inform development initiatives.”

Kim was also a Fulbright scholar in Malawi from 2008-2009, now speaking and writing extensively on aid effectiveness, allocation, and agriculture in the country. This deep regional and sectoral expertise enables her to incorporate research and learning to the oversight of many of DG’s programs, for example our ongoing work on design and development of an agricultural MIS in Malawi.

Additionally, she is a co-founder of Women Also Know Stuff – a platform for women political science experts to be referenced by conference organizers and journalists seeking sources or panelists – in line with DG’s action towards making gender diversity a cornerstone of public and development discourse.

“We are thrilled to have Kim join our board, as a creative and influential thought leader who embodies the values we strive for at DG. Kim’s approach of working with communities to understand their needs, amplifying underrepresented voices, and challenging stale thinking will push us to continue to grow and learn as an organization.“ states Josh Powell, DG’s Deputy Chief Executive Officer.

You can also find Kim on Twitter at @dadakim.