Rienzzie Kern, MSc

Senior Director of Evaluation, Research and Learning, Heifer International

Rienzzie Kern is a development professional with over 30 years’ experience operating at local, regional and global levels in the areas of program development, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and learning. Rienzzie joined Heifer in February 2001. In his role as Senior Director of Evaluation, Research and Learning he provides leadership in global evaluation practice, promoting and managing strategic research and evaluation projects, promoting learning for continuous improvement. Additionally Rienzzie manages a portfolio of academic and professional partners, the Heifer Fellowship program, the Scholar in Residence Program and works with interns to prepare them for a career in international development. Rienzzie has worked for over three decades in the field of sustainable development locally and internationally and worked in over 20 countries.

Rienzzie previously worked as a consultant, training and building the capacity of government and non-government agencies in the use of participatory approaches to develop national agricultural plans using a farming systems approach. He worked for CARE International for ten years in varying capacities ranging from a field staff position working with ethnic minorities, agriculture and livestock farmers, enterprise development to senior management. Prior to his work with CARE, Rienzzie worked on a micro-enterprise project with GTZ. He began his career in research as a Research Officer on a research project with the Wageningen University and Marga Institute a leading research institution and think tank.

 Rienzzie holds a master's degree in Sustainable International Development from The Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University, a diploma in Personnel Management and Industrial Relations, and a bachelor's degree in English. Rienzzie is a PMD Pro Certified Professional. Rienzzie is a member of the American Evaluation Association, the InterAction Round Table for Program Effectiveness and the Active Learning Network for Accountability and Performance in Humanitarian Action. Rienzzie has represented Heifer at the American Evaluation Association, the Sustainable Food Lab, the World Interdisciplinary Network for Institutional Research, the Clinton School of Public service and InterAction.

 Rienzzie believes that the true character of a learning organization lies in its openness to constantly test its model for relevance in the ever changing context of the development environment, so that the poor are not the victims of obsolete development models.