Tulika A. Narayan

Tulika Narayan has more than 17 years of experience conducting research and evaluation to assess development effectiveness, inform policy action, and sharpen project implementation. Before joining Mathematica, she was the director of the International Evaluation and Research Group at Abt Associates, a practice she created within the International Development Division there.

Recently, Narayan was the research director for the $145 million AgResults initiative, which is testing the use of results-based prizes to incentivize the private sector to solve agriculture development problems. She developed the evaluation and learning framework for the initiative and led the evaluation of multiple projects in Africa and Asia using rigorous methods. The framework generated rigorous results for each project, while generating common lessons on the efficacy of results-based prizes.

Narayan is adept at assembling multidisciplinary teams, engaging in depth with stakeholders, and applying a diverse array of tools to deliver evaluations that are rigorous and relevant. She has also led policy analysis for several clients, especially to inform climate policy and the impact of policy on economic growth. She has been a thought leader in her field and authored several peer-reviewed journal articles, conceptual frameworks, and innovations to support evaluation and policy analysis. In 2017, Narayan received Abt’s highest award—the Clark Abt award for social impact—for leading policy analysis that led to policy changes in Tanzania.

Narayan holds a Ph.D. in agriculture and resource economics jointly from the University of Maryland, College Park, Department of Agriculture and Resource Economics and Department of Economics. In addition, since 1995 she has been a core volunteer with the Association for India’s Development, a volunteer organization that raises awareness on development issues, raises funds in the United States, and funds development projects in India.