By Natalia Pastori Cubelo – Senior Associate Researcher at Includovate
Natalia Pastori Curbelo is an Associate Researcher at Includovate originally from Uruguay but currently living in Brazil. Natalia’s journey speaks into the lives of not only researchers but also anyone looking to advance their careers in fields that are new to them. She introduces us to the possibilities of achieving dreams against all odds and learning from peers and mentors to elevate her career to unprecedented levels.
I decided to stay in Brazil, a beautiful and complex country, after completing my second master’s degree in Social Policy from the Fluminense Federal University (UFF). I have a background in Political Science (my bachelor’s degree) and Public Administration. I studied in the Government and Public Administration master’s program at the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM). I joined Includovate’s research team in November 2021, and since that time, my journey has been marked by learning, growth, and overcoming challenges.
From day one, I was immersed in Includovate’s global, multidisciplinary, yet localised approach to research, which enabled me to strengthen my existing skills and learn new ones. I’ve been involved in projects around the theme of inclusion for gender, disability and youth. This work, learning about the ground reality of different disadvantaged populations, gives one exceptional insight and understanding of the key issues and perspectives around inclusion and inequality. I have worked on multiple projects of excluded peoples in the global south: Bolivia, India, Burkina Faso, Mozambique, Madagascar, Egypt, Lebanon, The Philippines, and Vietnam. These direct learning experiences have enriched my understanding as well as building practical skills like language development (French, Portuguese, Spanish), with local organisations and individuals and with local researchers and learning about their experiences and cultural background.
Adults learn by doing, Includovate understands that and “builds capacity by doing”. During the last two years, I’ve worked with experienced researchers and learned new research and evaluation approaches, such as participatory and intersectional approaches and methodologies, namely Outcome Harvesting (OH), Case studies and After Action Review (AAR) through their mentorship. While it is rare for young and emerging researchers and evaluators to have the opportunity to lead projects, this capacity-building model allowed me to be the team leader in two projects: the External Evaluation of Asmae’s Youth for Change Programme Phase 1 in Burkina Faso, Madagascar, Egypt, Lebanon, and the Philippines and Save the Children’s Youth Needs Assessment in two districts in the province of Zambezia, Mozambique.
Both experiences are important milestones in my career. They posed different challenges. One was a multi-country evaluation, while the other was an assessment conducted in remote and rural communities. Overcoming the particular challenges of each process and delivering quality work gave me valuable lessons in designing research and evaluation tools, training field supervisors and enumerators, triangulating data from different sources and report writing. Technical advice and support from senior-level team members were essential in this process. The result of both experiences was significant professional growth and successful outcomes for our partners and employers.
Includovate is a unique researchers’ incubator, and it is great to be a part of it! This multicultural enterprise and its focus on diversity is building a new generation, a more comprehensive range of researchers, and, therefore a more comprehensive range of solutions. Its collegiate model gives newcomers in the field of development research, such as myself, chances to lead, explore new ideas and approaches, and grow professionally within a nurturing and professional environment.
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