As the Director of Programme Strategy at the RDA, Kinisha Forbes is responsible for providing leadership and direction in the development of the Agency’s immediate and longer-term plans. Kinisha has been at the forefront of performance and results-monitoring and advice in the public sector for over a decade, providing strategic advice to promote good governance and sustainable development.

Kinisha served as the Head of Monitoring and Evaluation at the RDA from 2019 to 2023, designing and maintaining the Agency’s Results and Value for Money Frameworks to track project and Agency achievements, and promote continuous improvement. Immediately prior to employment with the RDA, Kinisha was Head of the Macro Fiscal Unit, and worked as a Policy Analyst in the Ministry of Finance for seven years. In this role, Kinisha led the Government’s macroeconomic and fiscal forecasting, research and policy analysis programme, and led reform of Central Government’s planning and budgeting frameworks to be more results-focused.

Prior to this, Kinisha was employed as a Research Officer with the International Labour Office (ILO) in Geneva, Switzerland. At the ILO, she conducted research on impacts of the global economic crisis on inequality and vulnerable groups, specifically analysing the role of public policy in cushioning crisis impacts.

Kinisha holds a Master’s degree in Social Policy and Planning from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology, Women’s Studies and Spanish from Georgetown University. In March 2023, she attained an Executive Certificate in Economic Development from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. Kinisha’s research interests include inequality, fiscal space for public investment, and the political economy of crises.