MEAL & Information Management Portfolio

James Gathogo

MEAL & IM Specialist · Humanitarian and Development Programmes

Turning programme data into decisions that reach people.

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KoBo Toolbox Power BI Google Sheets + Apps Script R · Quarto · Shiny Python DHIS2 Git / GitHub
Portfolio

Live projects you can click into.

Click any project below. All data is synthetic or anonymised.

Project 08 Live

Membership Management System: Amani Childcare Network

Context: National childcare network · 47 counties · 1,500+ members · role-based access · public registration portal

The problem: A national childcare network managing 1,500+ members across 47 counties relies on paper forms, WhatsApp messages, and fragmented spreadsheets. No single system exists for registration, approval workflows, membership status tracking, or county-level reporting. Staff at different levels need different views of the same data.
What was built:
  • Full-stack Django web application with PostgreSQL, deployed on a VPS with Docker and automatic SSL
  • Public self-registration portal with photo upload, cascading county/sub-county selects, and validation
  • Staff portal with approval/rejection workflow, member search, filtering, and sorting
  • Role-based access control: Admin, Secretariat, County Coordinator (county-scoped), View-Only (PII masked)
  • Dashboard with 4 KPI cards and 4 Chart.js visualisations (by county, trend, status, channel)
  • Full audit trail logging every action by user, entity, and IP address
Django PostgreSQL HTMX Alpine.js Tailwind CSS Chart.js Docker Caddy
Open Live App

Demo credentials - Admin: admin / admin123 · View-Only: viewer / viewer123

TWENDE PMEAL Dashboard overview page
Project 04 Live

PMEAL System Prototype: Climate Adaptation Programme

Context: IUCN TWENDE Project (GCF FP113) · 3 landscapes · 11 ASAL counties · 4 implementing partners

The problem: A multi-partner climate adaptation programme generates monitoring data in KoBoToolbox, SurveyCTO, and Excel with no unified dashboard. The MEAL team, implementing partners, and the GCF accredited entity cannot track indicator achievement, beneficiary reach, or safeguard compliance in one place.
What was built:
  • Star-schema data model: 6 dimension tables, 5 fact tables (5,000+ beneficiary records)
  • 6-page Power BI dashboard: Overview, Beneficiaries, Spatial Map, IPTT, Partner Performance, GRM
  • GIS integration via Azure Maps with county-level bubble visualisation
  • Indicator Performance Tracking Table (IPTT) for 32 log frame indicators across 3 components
  • Grievance Redress Mechanism (GRM) register with severity and resolution pipeline
  • Row-level security designed for 5 user tiers; synthetic data generated via Python
Power BI Desktop DAX Star Schema Azure Maps Python KoBoToolbox
Explore Dashboard Pages View Data Model & Code
GNB Self-Assessment Scorecard Dashboard screenshot
Project 02 Live

Member Self-Assessment Scorecard Dashboard

Context: Multi-country civil society partnership · Girls Not Brides (anonymised)

The problem: A global civil society network needed to track member organisations' performance across 8 governance principles and 6 gender-transformative practice (GTP) indicators across multiple countries, languages, and reporting years, without requiring specialist software.
What was built:
  • Live-connected Google Sheet pulling from KoBo via Apps Script (Token auth)
  • Dynamic scorecard: avg scores per principle, RAG conditional formatting
  • GTP results table with Gender Transformative Approach (GTA) continuum visualisation
  • Cascading filters (Year → Country → Org) with KPI chips (Submissions, Avg Score, GTA Zone)
  • Full multilingual UI: English / French / Portuguese / Spanish
  • Data anonymised; all scripts in GitHub
KoBo Toolbox EU Google Sheets Google Apps Script Python (anonymisation) clasp
View Live Dashboard View Code
📊

Power BI Dashboard
4 pages · 10,000+ records
Open .pbix in Power BI Desktop to explore

Project 01 Live

Consortium Beneficiary Registration & Monitoring Dashboard

Context: 2-partner EC-funded protection & livelihoods programme (synthetic data)

The problem: A consortium of two implementing partners has 10,000+ beneficiary registrations across 5 locations with no unified monitoring view. Programme managers and the donor have no real-time picture of coverage, vulnerability profiles, or assistance delivery.
What was built:
  • KoBo EU XLSForm (skip logic, GPS, consent) + 10,000 synthetic records via API
  • Power Query M connector with Token auth, date parsing, column typing
  • 4-page dashboard: Overview, Demographics, Assistance & Vulnerability, Case Management
  • DAX measures: CALCULATE, DIVIDE, DISTINCTCOUNT, DATEADD; RAG thresholds
  • Data governance: protection note, versioning SOP, indicator dictionary
KoBo Toolbox EU Power Query M Power BI Desktop DAX Python
View Dashboard (.pbix) View Code & Docs
Project 05 Live

Consortium Humanitarian Assessment Dashboard

Context: EC-funded Youth Livelihoods Programme · Sudan · 2 consortium partners · 7 states

The problem: A two-partner humanitarian consortium needs a unified view across post-distribution monitoring (PDM), activity reach, food security (rCSI), and community feedback mechanism (CFM) data, harmonised from partners using different KoBo form schemas with inconsistent column names, coding, and validation.
What was built:
  • Interactive dashboard with 7 visualisation panels: KPIs, geographic map, rCSI analysis, activity reach, CFM tracking, and demographics
  • Leaflet.js map with 7 sites across Sudan, circle markers sized by respondent count
  • rCSI calculation using standard WFP weights (1, 2, 1, 3, 1) with state-level comparison
  • CFM pipeline tracking: 120 cases, 7 categories including SEA, severity flagging, closure rate monitoring
  • Partner data harmonisation: different column schemas mapped to a common indicator dictionary
  • All data synthetic, generated for a consortium MEAL/IM coordination exercise
Chart.js Leaflet.js KoBoToolbox rCSI / WFP CFM Tracking Data Harmonisation
Explore Dashboard View Code
Project 06 Live

Digital Data Collection Design: XLSForm & KoBoToolbox

Context: GEC-T Inclusive Education Programme · Leonard Cheshire · 2,100+ girls with disabilities · 83 institutions · FCDO-funded

The problem: An FCDO-funded inclusive education evaluation needed digital data collection tools that handle Washington Group disability questions, cascading geographic selects, multilingual support (EN/SW/AM), complex skip logic, and field-level validation, deployed across 83 institutions with 30+ enumerators and strict NACOSTI ethics requirements.
What was built:
  • XLSForm architecture: survey/choices/settings with cascading county-subcounty-ward selects
  • Washington Group Short Set integration for disability prevalence assessment
  • Skip logic flowchart: consent gating, disability-specific branching, conditional modules
  • Validation rules: age range, date logic, cross-field checks, GPS accuracy, regex phone
  • Form-to-dashboard data pipeline: KoBo API → Python/R cleaning → Power BI/Google Sheets
  • Multilingual deployment: English, Kiswahili, Amharic across 3 BL/ML/EL rounds
KoBoToolbox XLSForm ODK Skip Logic Washington Group Multilingual
Explore Form Design
Project 07 Live

MEL System Architecture & Evaluation Methodology

Context: Global alliance MEL system (1,100+ members, 70+ countries) · Evaluation design across education, SRHR, and livelihoods programmes

The problem: A global alliance of 1,100+ organisations across 70+ countries needs a unified MEL system that harmonises data from members using KoBoToolbox, SurveyCTO, Excel, and DHIS2 in different languages and formats. Evaluation designs must handle stepped-wedge, DiD, and contribution analysis across diverse programme contexts.
What was built:
  • System architecture: 4-layer data flow from field sources to multilingual dashboards
  • Indicator dictionary with 8 harmonised indicators, disaggregation rules, and data sources
  • Data governance framework: classification, access tiers, PII handling, DQA checklists
  • OECD DAC evaluation framework with criteria-specific methods and data sources
  • Multi-stage cluster sampling design (2,100 students across 83 institutions)
  • Contribution analysis logic model and stepped-wedge design visualisation
MEL System Design OECD DAC Sampling Contribution Analysis Stepped-Wedge Data Governance
Explore System Design
Project 03 Live

End-to-End Evaluation Pipeline: Bicycle Mobility Impact

Context: Hwange Mobilised Communities Programme · World Bicycle Relief · 6,461 bicycles · 17 wards · 5 years

The problem: A 5-year bicycle distribution programme needed an endline evaluation that integrates longitudinal quantitative data (346 students, 400+ adults, 4 survey waves) with qualitative evidence (FGDs, KIIs) and translates mixed-methods findings into actionable programme decisions.
📋
Collect
KoBo surveys across 4 waves; FGDs & KIIs with students, adults, community workers
🔧
Clean & Link
R pipeline: panel merging, EMIS join, ID mapping, anonymisation for public sharing
📊
Analyse
Pre–post t-tests, Difference-in-Difference, qualitative theme coding
📈
Visualise
Interactive dashboards: education outcomes, DiD impact, qualitative synthesis
✅
Decide
Evidence fed spare-parts strategy, mechanic sustainability plan, scale-up decisions
R tidyverse KoBo Toolbox ggplot2 Chart.js Mixed Methods Difference-in-Difference
Education Outcomes DiD Impact Analysis Qualitative Synthesis R Analysis Pipeline View R Code & Pipeline
Project 09 Live

GREAT Programme Evaluation: Reproducible Impact Analysis

Context: Right To Play GREAT Programme · Ghana, Mozambique & Rwanda · 6,000+ children · Quasi-experimental · Global Affairs Canada-funded (2018–2022) · Published Impact Summary

The problem: A multi-country education programme evaluation originally analysed in SPSS needed to be reproduced in R to demonstrate rigorous, reproducible statistical methodology, including DiD-style impact estimation, logistic regression, multi-variable pathway analysis, and subgroup analysis across treatment and control schools.
What was built:
  • Full SPSS-to-R translation of the evaluation analysis pipeline using Quarto for reproducibility
  • Change-score (first-difference) regressions estimating Average Treatment Effects on Oral Reading Fluency, attendance, and 5 life skills domains
  • Logistic regression for enrolment outcomes; multi-variable regression for programme pathway analysis
  • Balance checks, attrition analysis, and subgroup analysis by sex and disability (Washington Group)
  • Publication-ready visualisations: trend lines with 95% CIs, forest plots, summary heatmaps
  • Raw data kept private; only aggregated outputs and model coefficients shown
R Quarto DiD / Causal Inference OLS & Logistic Regression ggplot2 tidyverse Washington Group SPSS-to-R
View Full R Analysis RTP Published Summary
Project 10 Live

Mortality Survey and Surveillance Toolkit: Interactive Prototype

Context: International humanitarian consortium · Mortality estimation initiative - 10 toolkit deliverables - KoBoToolbox-to-dashboard pipeline

The problem: Humanitarian organisations need to estimate mortality rates in crisis settings but lack standardised, field-ready tools. Existing methods require specialist statistical knowledge, and no single toolkit covers the full pipeline from survey design and sampling through data collection, analysis, and reporting.
What was built:
  • Interactive web-based prototype covering all 10 toolkit deliverables: guidance, protocols, XLSForms, analysis tools, reporting templates, and training materials
  • End-to-end data pipeline: KoBoToolbox collection through CSV export, data cleaning, CDR/U5DR analysis, to factsheet and dashboard output
  • Three working calculators: sample size (two-stage cluster with PPS), PPS cluster selection with population weighting, and CDR/U5DR with threshold comparison
  • Downloadable Excel workbooks: CDR/U5DR Calculator with named ranges and conditional formatting, Sample Size Calculator with parameter guidance
  • Survey vs Surveillance analysis mode toggle demonstrating converged CDR formula with different denominator sources
  • Simulated 28-cluster, 676-household KoBoToolbox export as demo data for the full pipeline walkthrough
HTML/CSS/JS XLSForm Design KoBoToolbox openpyxl R Shiny Two-Stage Cluster Sampling CDR/U5DR Verbal Autopsy
Explore Toolkit View Code
Competencies

What I bring to a MEAL/IM role.

From field teams to donor reports, across 30+ countries.

📋
MEAL System Design
Results frameworks · Log frames · Indicator dictionaries · IPTT design · DQ checklists · Theory of Change
📱
Data Collection & ODK
KoBo XLSForm design · Skip logic · GPS · ODK Central · Consent management · API submission
📊
Dashboards & Visualisation
Power BI (DAX, M, star schema) · Google Sheets (Apps Script, QUERY) · DHIS2 reporting · Shiny
🔬
Data Analysis & Reporting
R (tidyverse, ggplot2) · Python (pandas) · Quarto reports · Qualitative synthesis · Donor reporting
🔒
Data Governance & Protection
PII anonymisation · Access control · Data classification · GDPR-aligned SOPs · Responsible data
🤝
Coordination & Capacity
Consortium M&E · Partner reporting systems · MEAL training · Remote team coordination · Surge support
About

The context behind the work.

I do both MEAL and Information Management: I design the surveys, build the data pipelines, and write the evaluation reports. I have worked on humanitarian and development programmes in East Africa and internationally - field operations, data systems, and programme accountability.

I have supported programmes funded by ECHO, SIDA, UNHCR, FCDO, GCF, and others, building M&E frameworks, data collection tools, and reporting systems that field staff can actually use and donors trust. The projects here are the technical side of that work, built to the standard I would deliver on a real programme.

I am looking for MEAL/IM Coordinator and Data/MEAL Manager roles with INGOs, UN agencies, and consultancies - East and Central Africa, the Horn, or internationally.

Data note: All data here is synthetic (generated programmatically) or anonymised to humanitarian data protection standards. No real beneficiary data, GPS coordinates, or identifying information is present.

Every project is clickable. Live dashboards, analysis code, and reproducible pipelines you can open and explore.
Built for programme decisions. Every dashboard and pipeline here answers a specific question: who was reached, what changed, where are the gaps.
Tool-agnostic. Power BI for donors, Google Sheets for field teams, R/Quarto for analysis. The right tool for the right audience.
Governance built in. Every project includes PII anonymisation, data protection notes, and access SOPs.