Dr Tara Polzer Ngwato is a Founding Director of Social Impact Insights Africa, based in Johannesburg, South Africa. She has twenty-five years of experience in social development research, social change facilitation and evidence-based decision-making support. She specialises in breaking complex concepts and systems, like social cohesion and national reading ecosystems, into clearly defined and measurable indicators and tracking change over time to inform adaptive strategy. She is lead designer and implementer of Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning processes at a national scale (Indlulamithi Barometer on Social Cohesion in South Africa; South African National Reading Barometer; M&E support to national donor and NGO coalitions in foundational literacy and numeracy) institutional strategy scale (Durban University of Technology ENVISION2030 Strategy Tracker) and project level. Tara’s areas of content expertise include human mobility/migration, education, social cohesion/unrest, and community development related to extractive industries (mining and renewable energy production). She is a highly quoted author on migration, social cohesion, education and health, with over 700 citations of her work on Research Gate. Tara holds a BA in Social and Political Sciences from Cambridge University, and MSc and PhD in Development Studies from the London School of Economics.
Climate-related issues, Ethnic discrimination or persecution, Gender-based violence/domestic violence, Healthcare access/health systems capacity, HIV/AIDS, Land tenure disputes, LGBTQ, Political persecution, Government/state actor persecution, Safe internal relocation, Sexual abuse/assault, Tribal discrimination or persecution, Violence against children/child abuse
10 years as Senior Researcher and Masters Course Lecturer in Forced Migration Studies at University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa. Have written 2 CIO reports since 2012.