Our approach

Global Insight bridges the gap between research and practice. Our team of academic scholars and independent researchers produce data-driven, gender-sensitive, multi-methods empirical research that answers our most challenging questions in fragile contexts. We measure impact, provide evidence, and test assumptions around the root causes of conflict, displacement, and vulnerability.

We are experts in a range of quantitative and qualitative approaches, preferring to develop multi-method studies. Our commitment to scientific rigor is matched by our dedication to research that is unafraid of tackling sensitive questions and working in the most challenging contexts. Global Insight researchers work across sectors to identify, map, and measure the causal mechanisms at the root of conflict, displacement, and vulnerability. Our work often takes the form of applied research, program evaluation, and novel data science projects. We also offer one-off and full-series courses for those undertaking scientific multi-methods research, analyzing and interpreting data, and applying findings in fragile contexts and the Global Insight Institute.

Global Insight scholars and independent researchers work in collaborative teams with the aim of adhering to the highest ethical standards, centering the wellbeing of participants, and encouraging research transparency. Research designs are frequently submitted for review by our panels of experts during annual network meetings. The feedback offered during these meetings promotes creative research design and the use of innovative instruments.

We seek to foster partnerships between practitioners, donors, and researchers. Findings from our work are shared with external audiences, including policymakers and donors, during events held throughout the year.

Our Team

Global Insight brings together academic scholars and independent researchers to provide empirical evidence that answers our most perplexing questions. In partnership with practitioners, policymakers, and donors our work informs evidence-based decision making and promotes innovative programs.

Leadership

Jillian J. Foster

Founder, Global Insight & Department of Political Science, Yale University

Jillian J. Foster studies armed group recruitment and mobilization and the performative nature of political violence at Yale University. Prior to joining Yale’s Department of Political Science, Foster completed masters degrees in gender studies from University College London and data science from New York University. As a Gender, Peace & Security expert, Foster has spent over a decade designing and leading fifteen quasi-experimental and mixed-methods studies, along with fieldwork in 12 countries. She is the founder of Global Insight, a consultancy specializing in the use of gender-sensitive, mixed-methods empirical research in fragile contexts. Foster is the Principal Investigator for the Women in Conflict Project, a research initiative - data collection: Somalia/land (2019); Afghanistan (2017); Syrian, Kurdish, and Palestinian women in Lebanon (2015); Tajikistan borderlands (2011) - that recently launched a podcast of the same name and for the Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI) joint review of conflict-related sexual violence and sexual exploitation and abuse.

Foster’s research has been supported by UN Women, CARE, the One Earth Future Fund, University College London, UNHCR and UNDP, in addition to the Yale University MacMillan Center Program on Refugees, Forced Displacement, and Humanitarian Responses Fellowship. Her work has informed programming and policy at UN DPO and DPPA, CARE, Plan International, World Vision, UNHCR, UN Women, the UN Trust Fund, the International Rescue Committee, and countless other INGOs. She has presented her research to academics and practitioners in Atlanta, Geneva, Ghana, Lebanon, New York, Tajikistan, Thailand, and Washington, DC.

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Jillian J. Foster