Anne Smiley, EdD, works for IRC as the Global Practice Lead for Foundational Learning in the Education Technical Unit. Previously she was Deputy Project Director, Technical and Research, for the LEGO Foundation-funded PlayMatters project in Ethiopia, Tanzania and Uganda, where she led a team of regional technical and research specialists focused on the integration of active, play-based learning methods into teacher professional development systems and schools in refugee contexts. Before joining IRC, she served as Associate Director of Research and Evaluation with FHI 360’s Global Education, Employment and Engagement business unit, leading a team of monitoring, evaluation and research specialists that supported a broad portfolio of development programs around the world.