Biography

Anna Ellis is an interdisciplinary development practitioner with an interest in promoting equity through public health, economic development, and systemic change. She holds a Master's in Development Practice degree from Emory University. 

Ms. Ellis has applied mixed method research methods to understand development and public health challenges, approaching her work through a holistic lens.  As a consultant and research manager in the Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health at Emory University, she has worked with diverse partners including UNICEF, CRS, the Gates Foundation, Philippines Department of Education, and the Asian University for Women  She has worked throughout Africa, Asia and the Pacific to improve girls’ and womens' education opportunities; understand how menstrual health management affects adolescent girls’ education; what nutrition and water, sanitation, and hygiene, and nutrition challenges pregnant and lactating women face; and how specific countries have improved routine vaccination coverage. She has trained qualitative data collection and analysis teams in nine countries, incorporating team’s integral local knowledge and experience into the iteration of research tools, methods, and analysis to ensure cultural sensitivity and community ownership.   Based on her formative research, Ms. Ellis has developed pilot studies, created behavior change interventions, and informed established nation-wide curriculum and government policy. She is invested in data triangulation to understand people’s experiences from the individual, community, regional and governmental perspective. 

She is currently coordinating a USDA-funded research project focused on the effects of marketing and organizational management practices on the economic viability and quality of life of Georgia farmers, led by MDP Associate Director, Dr. Hilary King. In addition to her research role, Ms. Ellis teaches graduate level courses on qualitative research methods and analysis.