Adaora has led and contributed to high-impact initiatives that strengthen health systems, accelerate digital innovation and expand access to quality health care across Africa. In her most recent leadership role, she designed and implemented digital health and AI-enabled programs that improved patient-centered care for people living with chronic and routine health conditions while leading multicountry capacity-building initiatives that have reached more than 16,000 health care workers, managers and policymakers. She has also spearheaded innovative models that combine digital technologies, human-centered support and sustainable financing to improve continuity of care, health literacy and equitable access to health care.

Previously, Adaora led the Nigeria Health Innovation Marketplace, bringing together government, development partners, investors and health innovators to accelerate scalable health solutions. She designed innovation acceleration and investment readiness programs that helped health ventures secure more than US$1 million in funding and expand services to more than 280,000 beneficiaries. She also curated innovations that formed part of Nigeria’s investment case for the Global Financing Facility. A Commonwealth Professional Fellow, she continues to advance the responsible adoption of AI and digital transformation in health systems through user-centered design, policy engagement and implementation support.

Adaora serves as a board adviser to Hillbridge Consulting. She holds a Master of Science in public health from the University of Bedfordshire in the United Kingdom and a Bachelor of Science in applied microbiology from Nnamdi Azikiwe University in Nigeria. She also holds PRINCE2 Foundation and Practitioner certifications, a Project Management in Global Health certification from the University of Washington, and was awarded a Commonwealth Professional Fellowship.

Publications

• Baldridge et al. Formative Evaluation and Adaptation of a Hypertension Extension for Community Health Outcomes Program for Healthcare Workers within the Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria. Global Heart Journal of the World Heart Federation (2023).
• Baldridge et al. Enhancing Hypertension Education of Community Health Extension Workers in Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory: the impact of the extension for community healthcare outcomes model on primary care, a quasi-experimental study. BMC Primary Care (2024).
• Baldridge et al. Implementation of the Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes Model for Hypertension Education of Frontline Health Care Workers in the Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria: Explanatory Sequential Mixed Methods Evaluation. JMIR Publications (2025).

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Before her current role, Tomi interned with R4D’s Education and Nutrition teams. She also worked as a research assistant in ECD, conducting qualitative research on sustainable financing for ECD and improving the working conditions of early childhood workers. Prior to this, she interned at Roducate, an education technology organization in Lagos, Nigeria.

Tomi holds a master’s degree in international educational development & learning sciences and technologies from the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education, as well as a BA in philosophy, politics and economics from UPenn’s College of Arts of Sciences.  

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At Results for Development (R4D), Jessica leads the EdTech Hub Helpdesk, providing technical leadership to this global education policy and program support initiative. She works with a team of education experts to respond to discrete requests from education officers working in low- and middle-income countries around the world who are looking for ways to incorporate EdTech into their education sectors. She helps the team analyze context and explore relevant approaches for complex educational settings, while also contributing to broader business development and partner engagement work across the Hub.

Throughout her career, Jessica has worked to expand access and improve the quality of basic education for marginalized and underserved populations. In Ghana, she expanded a media in the classroom pilot project from 15 schools to more than 300 schools under one of the first public-private partnerships with the UK Girls Education Challenge. In Uganda and Ethiopia, Jessica worked with the Ministries of Education, private and public funders to expand an innovative accelerated education program, to impact more than 300,000 students, teachers and community members.

Prior to joining R4D, Jessica worked for Geneva Global managing projects in Ethiopia, Lebanon, Liberia and Uganda. At Geneva Global, she worked closely with corporate, foundation and individual clients to leverage funds and early project results to double project funding and expand program activity under the flagship education initiative Speed School — an innovative accelerated education program focused on helping over-age, out-of-school children enter the formal school system. Prior to her work on Speed School, Jessica worked with Discovery Learning Alliance (now Impact(Ed)) to expand a pilot program in Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria. She launched a new program office in the Northern Region of Ghana, significantly expanding operations and working closely with communities, school administrators and government education officials to improve enrollment, retention and learning outcomes.

Jessica holds a master’s degree in international educational development from Teachers College, Columbia University and a BA from The College of William and Mary. She speaks conversational Spanish.

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At Results for Development (R4D), Ms. Vasudevan is a regional Helpdesk lead at the EdTech Hub – a global research partnership led by R4D and partners. Within this role, Ms. Vasudevan supports education decision makers to incorporate evidence based and contextually relevant approaches in EdTech. She manages short term technical assistance requests within the Eastern Europe and Central Asia (ECA) and Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) regions and leads the management of the Specialist Network. In addition, Ms. Vasudevan supports research on the use of EdTech to improve learning access and outcomes in emergency contexts.

Prior to joining R4D, Sharanya was an education specialist with the World Bank where she provided technical assistance to operational and analytical projects in the ECA and South Asia regions. Her work focused largely on teacher professional development, strategies to increase learning outcomes and equity of service delivery in pre-primary and primary grade classrooms. She has worked on projects in India, South Sudan, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova, Liberia and Timor Leste. Prior to the World Bank, Ms. Vasudevan was an education specialist with the Aga Khan Foundation and led the development and implementation of a civic education curriculum program in Kyrgyzstan. She began her career as a primary school teacher with Teach For India in Mumbai.

Ms. Vasudevan holds a master’s degree in international education policy from the University of Pennsylvania. She is fluent in English and Malayalam and proficient in Hindi.

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At Results for Development (R4D), Ms. Shehu is the program administrator for the EdTech Hub, providing high-level and comprehensive executive support to the executive director. Prior to joining R4D, she worked as project coordinator for Junior Achievement, a nonprofit focusing on entrepreneurship education and literacy.

In her career, Ms. Shehu has engaged with international organizations and contributed to projects including data collection on gender stereotypes, public perceptions of gender roles towards violence against women, and studies on child marriage.

Ms. Shehu holds an MSc in public administration and a BA in finance from the University of Tirana.

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In her career, Ms. Makungu has worked with small and medium enterprises in developing countries to shape stories in agriculture, food, and nutrition. Her focus has been to coordinate the provision of technical support for small and medium enterprises, shaping, and disseminating stories of impact and growth for low-income communities.

Prior to R4D, Ms. Makungu worked for the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition where she led the development of training curriculums and coordinated program communications. Before this, she worked in research for an education firm helping to coordinate messaging to improve literacy and numeracy competencies in lower primary schools. She also previously led communications, events management, and the knowledge platform revamp for AgriFocus Kenya.

Ms. Makungu holds a bachelor of arts degree in journalism and media studies from the University of Nairobi, Kenya. She speaks fluent Swahili and English.

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Sophie manages EdTech Hub’s digital systems, including the website, evidence library and internal communication platforms, while supporting the publication of research across various channels. She brings creative expertise to the Hub, helping translate research into accessible formats such as curated digital libraries, WhatsApp summaries, one-pagers and posters, keeping in mind the diverse needs of the global audience. She works closely with research teams to ensure their findings reach decision-makers and communities effectively. She also coordinates project flow across communications teams, overseeing budget and resource planning to ensure timely delivery and high-quality outputs.

Sophie has led the design, development and management of several new creative outputs that make research insights more accessible, including EdTech Hub’s Learning Brief Series and 10 Scenarios for Education in 2035. Her work has made complex evidence both understandable and engaging.

Before joining EdTech Hub, Sophie co-managed digital production for one of Europe’s largest retail chains, where she gained significant experience overseeing the creation of digital content and systems for large-scale projects. Additionally, Sophie worked in the nonprofit sector with Sue Ryder and the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, where she honed her skills in project management, digital systems coordination and the creation of meaningful, impactful digital content. She has a background in digital project management and creative production, with extensive experience managing cross-functional teams. She speaks English fluently and has a deep understanding of digital design, website management and communications strategy.

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Ms. Lalbeharie is a managing director at Results for Development (R4D) where she supports the growth and development of two practices — global education and innovation. She also serves as executive director of EdTech Hub, a global research-to-practice initiative led by R4D that supports education decision-makers in low- and middle-income countries by giving them the evidence they need to use technology to accelerate learning. In this role, she leads the Hub’s strategic direction and works closely with partners and donors, representing the initiative externally.

Previously, Ms. Lalbeharie served as managing director for personalized learning at the American Institutes for Research, where she guided state and local education agencies in implementing EdTech and digital personalized learning initiatives, and led business development for a portfolio of research, evaluation and technical assistance projects. She also served as co-chair of the national steering committee for the EdTech Genome Project, which aimed to support more evidence-informed EdTech decision-making and is currently a member of the Brookings Institute’s Global Taskforce on AI and Education.

Before AIR, she was the EdTech director for the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, where she led the implementation of the state’s digital learning initiative and the development of digital learning competencies for teachers and administrators. She provided strategic vision and oversight for North Carolina’s suite of EdTech platforms and tools aligned to curriculum and instruction.

Earlier in her career, Ms. Lalbeharie was a senior program director at the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation at North Carolina State University, where she supported professional learning and innovation in teaching with technology. She also spent more than a decade in nonprofit research and development roles, leading large, multi-year, multi-partner initiatives focused on secondary and postsecondary education reform.

A native of South Africa, Ms. Lalbeharie is based in North Carolina, U.S. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from Smith College and a Master of Education from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

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