EIS Virtual webinar 6 Aug 2025: The role of evidence intermediaries in bridging the evidence–implementation gap

EIS Virtual webinars offer free access to global conversations in evidence-informed practice and implementation science. See the full series HERE.

"The role of evidence intermediaries in bridging the evidence–implementation gap: Lessons from around the world"

Speakers

Kerry Albright
Principal Adviser and Deputy Director of Evaluation, UNICEF

Isabella Luksic James
CEO, Fundación Luksic (Chile)

The webinar will be facilitated by Dr Robyn Mildon, CEI CEO, and Associate Professor at National University of Singapore and Monash University.

See more information and register for this free event HERE

More about the event

This webinar explores the critical role of evidence intermediaries – organisations and individuals that connect research with policy and practice – in closing the persistent gap between what we know and what we do.

Drawing on international case studies and lived experience, speakers will examine how evidence intermediaries operate in different contexts to support decision-making, influence systems change, and drive better outcomes.

Key themes will include effective strategies for implementation, building trust between policy makers, practitioners, organisational leaders and researchers, navigating political and cultural contexts, and sustaining the use of evidence over time.

Participants will gain a clearer understanding of the value of evidence intermediaries, global lessons that can be applied locally, and opportunities to build or enhance intermediary functions within their organisations.

More about the speakers

Kerry Albright is a social and political scientist with more than 25 years' experience international development and evidence-informed decision-making. For the past three years, Kerry has been based in UNICEF's New York office, overseeing evaluation partnerships, evaluation synthesis, national evaluation capacity development, strategic planning and general operations.

Prior to this role, Kerry was Deputy Director a.i. and Chief of Research Facilitation and Knowledge Management for UNICEF Innocenti (UNICEF's Office of Research, based in Florence) where she was responsible for research oversight and capacity building across 190+ UNICEF offices worldwide.

A long-term advocate for evidence-informed decision-making, Kerry introduced structured evidence synthesis capacity at UNICEF Innocenti and strengthened a global ethics in evidence generation. She also enhanced attention to evidence uptake and impact measurement and designed various global capacity-strengthening products and trainings to help build evidence literacy and critical thinking skills across UNICEF.

Before joining UNICEF in 2015, Kerry worked for the UK Government’s Department for International Development (DFID, now FCDO) where she co-founded the Global Open Data for Agriculture and Nutrition (GODAN) initiative alongside the US and Dutch governments. Prior to this, she established and headed up a new Evidence into Action Unit in FCDO’s Research & Evidence Division – a multi-disciplinary team specialising in research uptake and impact, evidence-brokering and capacity-strengthening across the organisation.

She also oversaw a portfolio of programs aiming to strengthen science communication, evidence brokering and capacity for evidence-informed policymaking with science journalists, parliamentarians, researchers, policymakers and other evidence-brokering intermediaries. She has lived and worked widely across sub-Saharan Africa and S/SE Asia.

Among many other notable achievements, in 2021, Kerry was invited to be a Commissioner on the Global Commission on Evidence to Address Societal Challenges.

Isabella Luksic James has been CEO of Fundación Luksic (Luksic Foundation) in Chile since 2023, where she has led a strategic transformation to make it an operating entity. Under Isabella's leadership, the Foundation has expanded its work in skills development and launched new initiatives in early childhood development, STEM education, international higher education and conservation. Isabella has also championed several gender-focused programs that promote opportunities for women and their development.

Isabella is an investor and social development leader with a strong track record in strategy, design and implementation of social programs in Chile, with a deep commitment to addressing systemic inequalities, developing data-driven and user-centred initiatives that bridge public, private and civil society sectors at both national and international levels.

Recognised among Chile's100 Women Leaders in 2024 and as a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader in 2025, Isabella also serves on the Board of Enseña Chile, Corporación de Adelanto Amigos de Panguipulli, and the Advisory Board of the MIT Sloan Latin America Office.

Isabella holds a Bachelor's degree in Sociology and Development Studies (Honors) from Brown University, USA.