October Changemaker Spotlight | Maria Rhomari
Meet Maria Rhomari, Policy Manager at the Morocco Innovation and Evaluation Lab, J-PAL Middle East and North Africa
What does it take to turn evidence into better policies and real-world impact? For Maria Rhomari, it is about strengthening the connection between rigorous research and the decisions that shape people’s lives.
As Policy Manager at the Morocco Innovation and Evaluation Lab, part of J-PAL Middle East and North Africa, Maria works at the intersection of research, policy and practice, contributing to efforts to bridge the gap between evidence generation and its use in policymaking. Maria brings a valuable combination of policy experience and economic expertise to her work.
Before joining J-PAL in 2023, she served as an Evaluation Lead and Senior Policy Officer within France’s Ministries of Labour and Health and Social Affairs, where she worked on policy analysis, evaluation and social indicators. Today, she draws on this experience to help strengthen the link between rigorous research and policymaking in Morocco, particularly in areas such as social protection, labour and employment. Her journey highlights the value of bringing policy experience and research expertise together to help ensure that evidence informs decisions on pressing development challenges.
Her work reflects an important principle at the heart of evidence-informed decision-making: evidence creates the greatest value when it reaches the right people, informs relevant questions and helps shape decisions that respond to real-world challenges.
Through the work of the Morocco Innovation and Evaluation Lab, the connection between researchers and policymakers is central to advancing the use of evidence in public policy and supporting more informed, effective approaches to development.
Why her work matters
Across Africa, strengthening evidence-informed decision-making requires more than producing research. It calls for relationships, collaboration and sustained engagement between those who generate evidence and those who use it. Practitioners like Maria play an important role in helping bridge these worlds and strengthening the foundations for evidence-informed policy.
As the Africa Evidence Network continues to connect people and organisations across the evidence ecosystem, Maria’s work offers a valuable reminder that building a culture of evidence is a collective effort-one that depends on meaningful partnerships and a shared commitment to better decisions.
The Africa Evidence Network celebrates the people helping evidence travel further, connect more deeply and make a difference where it matters most.
