As the Director for Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL), Urmy Shukla leads the development and implementation of IREX’s MEL policy and guidelines. She provides leadership, technical direction, and oversight for IREX program MEL efforts, supporting data-driven decision making and organizational learning. She works with IREX teams to increase program impact, through improved MEL systems and cross-program learning. 

Urmy brings over 15 years of experience advising non-profits, donors, government, international organizations, and private sector entities on the use of data and evidence for decision-making. She has provided technical guidance on developing and executing MEL systems, led the development of digital MEL platforms, and led the development of MEL capacity for local organizations. She previously led M&E capacity building at the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) South Asia, directed a monitoring and evaluation training program for the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) for over 200 programs, and worked with the Centers for Evaluation and Results (CLEAR), a World Bank initiative dedicated to improving the implementation and use of M&E systems globally. She has also worked at Trickle Up, the Center for Victims of Torture, Emory University, and ICF International. Urmy has supported program MEL in a variety of areas including migration, agriculture, rural development, human rights, education, and systems-level work in government and civil society. She has experience in 20 countries in Asia, Europe, South America and Africa, and speaks fluent Gujarati and Spanish, as well as intermediate Portuguese and Hindi.

Urmy holds a BA in Economics and Spanish Literature from Brown University (magna cum laude), and an MSc. in Local Economic Development from the London School of Economics (with Distinction).