Andrea Coombes

Andrea Coombes has a diverse range of work experience in research and evaluation.

From 2009 to present, they have worked as a Senior Qualitative Researcher at the American Institutes for Research. In this role, they have been involved in a variety of projects including forced displacement and education, youth violence prevention, and the evaluation of child-friendly schools. Andrea has been responsible for qualitative research design, data collection and analysis, and report writing.

Prior to their role at the American Institutes for Research, Andrea worked as a Qualitative Researcher in the International Research and Evaluation Program. Andrea conducted qualitative studies, managed field data collection, and analyzed data using NVivo. Andrea also had project management responsibilities, including budgeting and subcontractor management. Their projects included evaluating education initiatives for refugees and conducting stakeholder analyses of early literacy programs.

Before that, Andrea worked as a Research Associate in the Education Program, where they conducted data cleaning and analysis using SPSS and SAS. Andrea also managed budget proposals and wrote technical reports.

Andrea started their career as a Research Assistant at the University of Michigan's Program on Intergroup Relations. Here, they recruited participants, organized and ran group data collections, and managed quantitative data files. Andrea was involved in a large-scale study evaluating the efficacy of an intergroup dialogue program in higher education.

Andrea also had a brief fellowship at the United Nations Information Center in 2008.

Andrea Coombes has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and Spanish from the University of Michigan. Andrea then pursued a Master of Science degree in Development Studies at The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). Additionally, they conducted field research on Intergroup Dialogue at Peking University. Andrea also studied Political Science and Spanish at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.