The DEL Team

Jennifer Hudson is Professor of Political Behaviour at University College London (UCL). She is the Director of the Development Engagement Lab, a multi-country research programme analysing public support for development and aid, working in partnership with over 30 international development NGOs and government ministries. She has published on a wide range of topics analyzing elite and mass political behavior, including public opinion and engagement with development; support for foreign aid; and parliamentary campaigns and elections. Jennifer’s research has been funded by the Gates Foundation, Economic and Social Research Council, Danish Council for Independent Research, Nuffield Foundation and Leverhulme Trust.

David Hudson is Professor of Politics and Development in the University of Birmingham’s International Development Department. He is the Director of the Developmental Leadership Program and the Co-Director of the Development Engagement Lab. His research focuses on the politics of development, in particular on the role of leadership in reform processes and citizen engagement with global development. Recent projects include fieldwork or data collection in Fiji, France, Germany, Indonesia, Jamaica, Myanmar, Rwanda, UK, and the US, involving survey data, network analysis, experiments, text analysis, interviews and focus groups. He has held grants from the ESRC, British Academy, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Leverhulme Trust.

Soomin Oh is a postdoctoral research fellow at Development Engagement Lab. Her research focuses on the political economy of development and looks at the patterns of international and domestic redistribution. She has worked on impact evaluations of development projects in collaboration with USAID and the World Bank in the West Bank, Nepal, and Tajikistan. Soomin received her PhD in Political Science from Duke University, specialising in Political Economy.

Molly Anders is the Research Insights and Engagement Lead at the Development Engagement Lab and a research fellow at University College London. She is the former UK senior correspondent at Devex, where she reported on development finance and aid policy in the UK. A Fulbright Scholar, she produced flagship research on media rights and engagement in Jordan, Syria and Palestine, before joining IREX’s Jordan Media Strengthening Program funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development.

Arnaud Gaillard is a sociologist, associate researcher at Focus 2030 where he is in charge of conducting the French part of the Development Engagement Lab in collaboration with the DEL team, and in partnership with development NGOs, think-tanks, national institutions and governmental representatives. He also teaches at Sorbonne Paris-Cité University in semiotic and sociology. His work mostly deals with development stakes, fundamental rights, and justice issues (prison & death penalty). He has directed documentaries for TV and cinema, and published books or articles based his research or dealing with contemporary culture. Since 2019, he sits at CNCDH, the French National Institution for Human rights.

Felix Zimmermann is a strategic communications advisor at the OECD Development Centre and co-ordinates the OECD Development Communication Network (DevCom).

In his DevCom role, Felix leads research on good communications practices by organisations working to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and build public support for international co-operation and multilateralism. He manages workshops and conferences to promote peer learning and collaboration among development communication professionals. Felix oversees and writes for the SDG Communicator platform and is currently working on the second edition of the DevCom Toolkit.

Paolo is a Research Fellow at the Policy Institute, King’s College London and an Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Political Science, University College London. He holds a PhD in Political Science from UCL, and at King’s he works to deliver analysis and insights for the UK in the World Values Survey, and leads the Trust, Facts, Democracy research theme, researching political participation and public engagement with global challenges. His work has been featured on The Conversation, The Big Issue, and was covered in the media including the BBC.

Sergius Seebohm founded seebohm.berlin in 2014 to offer professional support in political strategy and communication, specifically for social issues and the non-profit sector. Since then, he has supported leading international organizations and distinguished personalities in their communication projects at the intersection of politics and society. Previously, he was communications director of the world’s largest petition and campaign platform Change.org in Germany and Head of Communications for the advocacy organisation ONE in Germany, creating effective and award-winning campaigns nationwide. He learned the craft of strategy consulting at a large agency in Berlin, working for clients such as the Federal Government of Germany, Coca-Cola, Bayer and studiVZ. Sergius Seebohm is a trained banker, holds degrees in political science and philosophy from the Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf and the Free University of Berlin as well as a Master of Business Administration. He teaches various aspects of political communication and strategy development at Quadriga University and the Berlin School of Economics and Law.

Sylvie Hahn is a Senior Consultant at seebohm.berlin, where she joined 2019. In her role, she oversees a diverse range of responsibilities in process and team management, alongside strategic tasks. Prior to joining seebohm.berlin, she organized the New Mobility World and the IAA Conference as a consultant for the German Association of the Automotive Industry. Sylvie also spent nearly two years at the German Development Agency (GIZ), where she worked at the intersection of the private and public sectors, focusing on sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia. She holds a Master’s degree in Political Economy of European Integration from the Berlin School of Economics and Law, and a Bachelor’s degree in Politics and International Relations from the University of Sussex, UK.