Lisa Petersen is a PMEL practitioner who contributes to research, monitoring, evaluation, and learning assignments across a range of programme areas. She holds an Honours degree in Linguistics and a Master’s degree in Child and Family Studies from the University of the Western Cape (UWC), with a focus on parental mental health and nurturing care in early childhood.
Lisa’s academic and professional experience reflects a strong commitment to understanding people within their social and developmental contexts which shapes her approach to generating evidence that is both contextually grounded and practically relevant, supporting meaningful change within programmes, families, and communities. Her work is informed by an interest in early childhood development (ECD), parenting, community development, parental mental health, and the strengthening of ECD policy and practice in South Africa. She brings experience in both qualitative and quantitative methodologies and has supported research and evaluation processes across diverse organisational contexts, engaging with a range of stakeholders. Her work spans data collection, analysis, and reporting, alongside the coordination of evaluation activities to support timely and high-quality delivery.
Recent Applied Research and Evaluation Experience:
- Process and impact evaluation of the School Readiness Initiative, Roger Federer Foundation (Evaluator – 2025–2026)
- Development of a Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) system, including Outcome Harvesting, and production of baseline and endline evaluation reports for the SPAC Early Childhood Development Programme (Evaluator and Project Coordinator, 2025)
- Development of baseline and endline country assessment reports for EduConservation (Project Coordinator and Evaluator, 2023–2026)
- Family Strengthening Programme with the Western Cape Government: Department of the Premier (Emerging Evaluator, 2022)
Lisa has also contributed to the academic field as both a lead and co-author on peer-reviewed publications, including:
- COVID-19 Daily Realities for Families: A South African Sample (2022)
- Perspectives of Nurturance within Parent–Child Relationships in Resource-Constrained Families (2021)
- Communication Across the Developmental Span in Parent–Child Relationships from a Human Capability Approach: A Study of Rural South Africa