Marcus Jenal is the Strategic Learning & Evaluation (SLE) Lead at Fondation Botnar. In this function, he coordinates the development of a SLE approach and practice for the Foundation. The aim is for the foundation to be able to gather very diverse types of data and use it for for its learning and to assess the Foundation’s contribution to change. He has a background in Environmental Sciences from ETH Zurich. Before joining Fondation Botnar, Marcus was a partner at Mesopartner; he supported organisations, programmes and projects during the design, inception and implementation of systemic change initiatives. In addition, he has been building knowledge in complex systems theory and other relevant scientific fields through various training and research engagements. He has actively engaged in conceptual work on systemic approaches, improving projects’ design, delivery, monitoring, and evaluation.
Laura Alexander is a freelance evaluator, researcher and consultant working at the intersection of arts, culture and society. She is focussed on qualitative and collaborative ME&L practices, building insight into the needs of practitioners at the front line of social change, and on critical reflection on the position and power of funding bodies in society. She is also an experienced trainer, and has led workshops in application writing for artists on behalf of organisations including World Press Photo and the Dutch Art Institute. Until 2024 Laura worked as coordinator of Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning at the Prince Claus Fund in Amsterdam, where she was responsible for the design of organisational MEL frameworks and for the research and writing of regular impact reports. She holds a Masters in Philosophy at the University of Amsterdam, and is currently based in Berlin.