Ella Desmedt combines a pedagogical background with theoretical and practical expertise in the field of government management, policy management and evaluation. She holds a doctorate in pedagogical sciences (UGent, 2004) and a master’s degree in government management and policy (KULeuven, 2014).

She developed her evaluation expertise as an auditor at the Court of Audit, where she evaluated specific policy measures and/or the general functioning of several federal government institutions in the context of performance audits. Within IDEA Consult, she has broadened her approach: today, it is opting for more participatory trajectories, based on a learning approach to evaluation.

Education is her second area of expertise. Between 2007 and 2010, she was an advisor at the offices of the Flemish education ministers Vandenbroucke and Smet. She participated in the decrees on higher vocational education and the Flemish qualification structure, the decree on local flanking education policy, and followed up dossiers on the interface with other policy areas (e.g. community school, arts and culture education, environmental education, remembrance education,…). This is also the way things are done within IDEA Consult: she leads projects on the cutting edge of education and IDEA’s other areas of expertise (labour market, innovation, regional development, etc.).