Leni has been Director at Global Partners Governance since September 2024, having previously been Deputy Director.
She has 20 years’ experience as a researcher and policy adviser on political change and analysis, and on innovations in international development to ensure more politically smart and context appropriate support. This includes over a decade at the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), a major international development think tank based in the UK, where she led ODI’s politics and governance programme, carried out political economy analyses and evaluations of political programming, and developed new insights and applied support on adaptive management, politics and aid. She is a recognised leader on ‘doing development differently’ and has worked embedded within a number of donor agencies and advising a range of governmental- and non-governmental organisations on organisational change with a focus on embedding politically smart, adaptive and learning models within aid delivery. Leni is also a Board Member for Results for Development’s UK office.