Senior Fellow

Anne Eckman has 20-plus years of technical leadership, with a focus on program design, qualitative and participatory research, intersectional gender and power analysis, capacity-building, and experiential learning approaches. Her sectoral areas of expertise include HIV/SRHR, sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), and more recently mental health, resilience and trauma. Anne is known for her versatility in advancing innovative, gender transformative approaches across a wide range of settings internationally and in the U.S. – and she particularly strives to center the lived experiences and leadership of women, girls, and vulnerable communities. In her role as a Senior Fellow at Iris Group, Anne brings her passion for working at the interface of theory and practice, bridging emerging learning about “what works” into practical, on-the-ground approaches – and vice versa. Anne does this through technical accompaniment to project teams and partners, as well as contributions through technical fora, materials development, and publications.

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Anne provided technical leadership as a consultant and technical advisor for a range of US and international organizations. This experience included serving as the HIV Advocacy and Gender Working Group Directors with the USAID-funded Health Policy Initiative at Futures Group International from 2002-2008, where she led technical innovation in gender-transformative approaches and rights-based advocacy by and for key populations across its 35-country reach. Since 2002, Anne has also served as a core curriculum developer, trainer and provider of technical assistance for the USAID Gender Working Group and other international NGOs. In this role, Anne has advanced the development of key frameworks, training materials, gender analyses and related innovative programming that advances gender justice and social inclusion. Anne earned a PhD in Cultural Studies, with a minor in Women’s Studies, from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. More recently, Anne earned a masters degree in clinical social work from University of Chicago in order to better address the trauma-related dimensions of SGBV, stigma and discrimination as key determinants of health and well-being. She currently splits her time between providing direct mental health services to SGBV survivors with a focus on integrating body-centered and expressive arts approaches, and providing technical assistance to global projects.

Recent Projects