My Biography

Zenda Ofir

EVALUATOR, SCIENTIST AND TRANSFORMATION SPECIALIST

About Me

I work at the intersection of evaluation, transformation, and living systems. I am a South African scientist and evaluator, currently based in Geneva, whose path—from a PhD in Ecological Chemistry, through research management and leadership, to evaluation on the global stage—has shaped how I see human and social-ecological systems, and the possibilities for changing them.

As Director of Research at the University of Pretoria, I was responsible for all grants-funded research, intellectual property, research contract management, and the university's international office. Before that, at South Africa's national science council, the Foundation for Research Development (now the NRF), I managed research portfolios spanning biotechnology, agrifood systems, rural and urban development, as well as the development of research capacity in what were the 13 'historically black' universities in South Africa. These experiences gave me a close view of how the systems that govern knowledge production are structured, funded, and applied—and how they can either enable or constrain meaningful impact.

Over more than two decades, I have worked on development evaluation, research evaluation, and transformation in many areas across more than 40 countries on five continents, supporting and advising bilateral, multilateral, government, non-government, academic and philanthropic organisations. I have led or participated in more than 100 evaluations, each reinforcing my view that evaluation practice needs to evolve more quickly if it is to address the structural reforms and drastic systemic changes our world demands.

These experiences have shaped my leadership roles — among others, as former President of the African Evaluation Association (AfrEA), former Vice-President of the International Development Evaluation Association (IDEAS) and the International Organisation of Cooperation in Evaluation (IOCE), and more recently as a Scientific Leader in the International Evaluation Academy (IEAc). They have inspired me to co-create what is today known as 'Made in Africa Evaluation,' an effort to ground evaluation in the realities and knowledge systems of the Global South. And it underpins my advisory work, including representing South Africa on the High-Level Evaluation Advisory Committee of the BRICS New Development Bank, and my engagement with transformation-focused initiatives such as the SDG Transformations Forum, Bounce Beyond, and Financial Ecosystems for Systemic Transformation (FEST).

My work has been recognised through a range of academic appointments and fellowships. I have been a Fellow at the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study (STIAS), and have held a Honorary Professorship at Stellenbosch University as well as a Visiting Professorship at Hiroshima University. I am a Research Fellow in the School for Data Science and Computational Thinking at Stellenbosch University, and hold a prestigious Richard von Weizsäcker Fellowship at the Robert Bosch Academy in Berlin. I have led modules in universities on four continents, and through my writing, blogging, and keynote addresses, I engage with questions of evaluation, living systems, and transformative change.

What connects these roles and experiences is a sustained focus on a central question: How do we design for genuine transformation, and use evaluation’s full value in support—not merely for incremental improvement, but the deeper shifts needed to address the impacts of climate change, environmental destruction, economic unsustainability, and the traps that keep countries in the Global South from positive development pathways?

What Drives My Work

I approach this question by blending the rigour of my scientific training with insights from systems and complexity sciences, strategic foresight, futures sciences, and relevant philosophies from around the world. I track global shifts, trends and risks, easily moving between the macro and the micro while keeping the broader picture in view.

I engage deeply with the cultures, contexts and knowledge systems of the Global South, and their connections with the Global North. I helped initiate the 'Made in Africa Evaluation' movement, and see value in examining and where necessary revising inherited mindsets, theories and practices. I also work to bridge and blend different traditions and perspectives—drawing on Indigenous and East Asian philosophies alongside the best that science and evaluation can offer.

Looking ahead, I am drawn to an aspirational vision of regenerative futures where humanity lives in harmony with nature and with one another. Through my evaluations, advisory work, mentoring, and writing, I strive to help us all to navigate towards that future.

I see my role as a translator and bridge-builder—between natural and social sciences, between Global South and North, between the urgent present and the possible future. It is in these connections that transformative change takes root, and it is to cultivating these connections that my work is dedicated.