Dr Laura Batatota (she/her)

I’m deeply interested in understanding the role that contexts and ecosystems play in how we understand the world, and in turn, how we use these insights to make changes at a grassroots level.

My background…

I started my journey in this field in 2009, when I began working for an outreach project in London. Since then, I’ve gone on to work in the not-for-profit, international development, and local government sectors. However, working with grassroot organisations gives me a special sense of fulfilment – because it allows me to work deeply with people and communities.

My love for this work emerged following the completion of my Master’s fieldwork in Southern India examining microcredit schemes. I’ve since completed a PhD in Anthropology, where my research examined the extent of the socio-political context in Sri Lanka, and how these influence the types of aspirations adolescents imagine.

How I can help…

My professional and lived experience has shaped my approach - exploring why and how change takes place. I apply a decolonial lens, by interrogating evaluation and research methods, whilst acknowledging the often-oppressive systems and structures which form our contexts.

My work has led me to lead on a range of projects – be it supporting a grassroots organisation just starting their journey to understand and better evidence their impact, to conducting large scale evaluations on behaviour change in an international context. I have a strong grasp of often intersecting issues and themes across the many sectors I have worked in, and find it fascinating to connect the dots and see the bigger picture.

The future of community health and wellbeing…

Through research and evaluation there is great potential to shape programmes and interventions to speak to the needs to communities. I believe that to do this, we need to work with people rather than for them, challenging the very ways research and evaluation have been done historically.

The movements happening within the research and evaluation world at the moment, this presents an exciting opportunity for organisations to think innovatively in how they want to measure impact. I am a firm believer that collective action can instigate waves of change.