Marcus Hollington

• Programme Monitoring and Evaluation
• Managing stakeholder relationships.
• Supported the development of strategic initiatives to enhance organizational performance.
• Assisted in managing project timelines and ensuring adherence to key milestones.
• IRB ethics approvals for health and other sensitive studies.
• Research team management.
• Protocol development.
• Contributed to team meetings by providing insights on process improvements.
• Engaged in research and advanced analysis to inform decision-making processes.
• Documented project progress and maintained accurate records for stakeholder review.
• Coordinated communication between departments to streamline workflow efficiency.

Synopsis of major Projects covered
i. Conducted public health research to lay the groundwork for bringing implantable PrEP to at-risk women, focusing on 3 priority groups: adolescent girls, young women aged 18-29 years, and adult women aged 30-49 years in Zimbabwe, Eswatini, Kenya, and South Africa. The objectives of the study were to examine preferences, motivators, and barriers to product use for women and healthcare providers.

In addition, the study sought to understand end-users preferences for the product design and attributes, such as the appearance/feel of the implants, the number of implants, the location of insertion, the format of the product (e.g. implant vs. injection), mono- vs. dual-protection again both HIV and pregnancy and the duration of protection. Upon completion of the study, multiple reports were delivered to the client to inform their decision. The job was worth $101,736.00.

ii. Conducted a mixed-methods review on the impact that the Russia-Ukraine war had on food prices in Jordan on behalf of the World Food Programme and produced a total of 5 reports highlighting the impact. In-depth interviews were conducted with government officials in Jordan, store managers, and importers in Jordan. Additionally, a survey was disseminated to a total of 300 low and middle-income individuals including refugees to assess the impact that rising food prices were having on their quality of life and susceptibility to hunger. The job was worth $16, 948.30.

iii. Assisted the World Bank with the implementation of the South Africa Country Opinion Survey. The project involved the recruitment of high-level stakeholders in the country such as officials from the office of the presidency, national assembly, private sector, and academics, survey link dissemination, and follow-up with stakeholders that had not yet completed the survey. The job was worth R28,540.47.

iv. Conducted a Quality Check exercise for the Human Science Research Council (HSRC) for its sixth South African HIV Prevalence, Incidence, Behaviour, and Communication Survey (SABSSM VI) which was launched in February 2022. The job was worth $56, 594.34.

v. Conducted a brand and market structure study in Lesotho (Maseru) worth $17, 414.63 with a sample size of 270 participants. The deliverables consisted of a topline research report, an SPSS dataset, and a presentation.

vi. Conducted an online child safety study on behalf of MTN South Africa in Zambia (Lusaka), Nigeria (Lagos), and South Sudan (Juba). The capital cities of these countries were selected for study as they constitute a significant number of children and adolescents with access to the internet and mobile devices as facilitated by the urbanity of these cities.

The main objective of the study was to improve online safety for children aged between 8 and 17 years in the earlier-mentioned countries. It did this by identifying the determinants of risky online behaviour among study participants. The sample size was 1500 and the job was worth $53,000.00. The deliverables consisted of 3 detailed analytical reports with supporting SPSS datasets.

vii. Conducted a performance review for the South African Parliament across all legislatures as well as conducted a nationally representative public participation survey with 3504 South Africans. The outputs entailed several reports and SPSS data delivered to the South African Parliament as well as recommendations on what the South African government could do to improve legislative participation with the general population and improve programme implementation. The project was worth $239,561.39.

viii. Conducted South Africa’s first alcohol prevalence study on behalf of the Drinks Federation of South Africa. The study had a sample size of 10,004 respondents. The job entailed advanced statistical analysis of the results to identify the determinants of alcohol use in South Africa to inform interventions. The job was worth $305,027.91. The deliverables consisted of a research report and an SPSS dataset.

ix. Conducted a mixed methods study consisting of desk and primary research on behalf of the United Kingdom Department of Energy Security & Net Zero as part of a multi-country covering South Africa, Colombia, India, Kenya, and Vietnam. Specifically, I was the research lead for South Africa and responsible for monitoring and evaluating the International Finance Cooperation (IFC) programme Market Accelerator for Green Construction (MAGC) funded through Official Development Assistance (ODA).

The deliverables consisted of a financial market analysis report, political economy analysis report, primary (qualitative) report and finally a consolidated country report. The job was worth $50,860.00.

• Conduct market research to facilitate South African and intra-African market penetration for North American clients.
• Identifying domestic partnerships to expand revenues and create job opportunities for recipient markets.
• Analyzed market trends to identify new business opportunities and inform decision-making.
• Data collection and analysis to inform business decisions.
• Led cross-functional teams to execute business development initiatives and optimize performance.
• Spearheaded client presentations, effectively communicating value propositions to stakeholders.

• Developed customized lesson plans to enhance students' understanding of complex subjects.
• Fostered positive learning environments to encourage student engagement and participation.
• Mentored peers in effective tutoring techniques, improving overall tutoring effectiveness.
• Assessed student progress regularly, providing tailored feedback for continuous improvement.

• Led comprehensive market analysis projects to identify emerging trends and opportunities.
• Developed strategic research methodologies to enhance data collection accuracy.
• Provide general support to the IOA managerial team as needed.
• Mentored junior analysts in best practices for qualitative and quantitative research techniques.
• Spearheaded initiatives to improve data visualization and reporting processes.
• Marketing (social media), branding, and telephonic sales (cold calling) of advertising space on the Africa Country Benchmark (ACBR) among other reports produced by IOA.

Synopsis of major Projects covered

i. Assessed South Africa’s paper recycling industry by gathering pertinent information on recycling companies such as procuring the names of key people in the industry (CEOs, CFOs, shareholders etc.), analysing market share data and financial information as well as operating models among other things.

ii. Conducted market research on Namibia’s financial services sector. The project involved gathering pertinent information on several financial institutions operating in the country. Additionally, it required an analysis of market share, company structure, customer profile (low, middle, and upper-class) and relevant developments (new branches, new ownership, and shareholding structure) to gauge the financial landscape of the country.

iii. Carried out qualitative data analysis as part of a brand and reputation audit for an international school in Kenya and Tanzania by utilizing data provided by the school. Thereafter, reports highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of the school were compiled and provided recommendations on how to address weaknesses and better cater for needs of students and parents.

iv. Conducted in-depth market-entry research for a Japanese-based oil company that was looking to invest in Africa. The research involved the conduction of primary research in several African
countries and identifying key transport operators to target for business development as well as an overall analysis of the continent’s oil sector to help guide company’s investment decisions

v. Assessed South Africa’s tertiary education sector for a private business school client.

vi. Conducted a terrorism assessment study in South Africa on behalf of DIRCO to understand what terror cells are operating in South Africa.