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Staff Profile: Nafisah Koguna

Nafisah Koguna works for MEASURE Evaluation in Nigeria.
Nafisah Koguna picAs Finance and Administrative Officer for John Snow, Inc. in Nigeria, Nafisah Koguna keeps track of all money coming in and out of the office. Her sundry responsibilities include preparing budgets, managing the financial database in QuickBooks and implementing an e-filing system. So it might come as a surprise when Nafisah makes the following statement:

“I still find myself surprised when people refer to me as a finance person or an accountant,” she said bemusedly in a phone interview. 

She went on to explain that she studied political science, and her professional background included program implementation and monitoring and evaluation (M&E) activities. When Nafisah joined MEASURE Evaluation in 2008, she envisioned herself taking on an administrative role. Upon discovering that financial management would be a large part of her job, though, she embraced the opportunity.

“I’ve always said that it’s amazing how versatile it becomes,” she said. 

And Nafisah has found that the role suits her well, satisfying her need to be engaged and stimulated by her work.

“I often get bored with a job after the first year,” she admitted, laughing. “But I like the dynamics of this job and never find it boring.”

Nafisah spent her childhood in Nigeria and Niger. She earned a B.S. in Political Science from Bayero University in Kano, Nigeria, in 2002. She is particularly passionate about gender and public health issues. 

Before joining MEASURE Evaluation, Nafisah worked for the COMPASS Child Survival Program for three years. Before that, she served as a Reproductive Health Fellow for Kano’s Development Research & Project Center’s Early Childhood Development Program and the Commonwealth Education Foundation Program. Nafisah also worked at the Women’s Rights Advancement and Protection Alternative as part of the National Youth Service Corps in Nigeria.

Looking back on where she started with MEASURE Evaluation and the progress made since that time has been particularly gratifying for Nafisah.

“I basically started from scratch,” she said. “And now we have a reliable financial documentation system and a standardized operation procedure we can all abide by. I think that’s laudable.”

When she’s not working, Nafisah likes to spend time with her son. She also enjoys participating in aerobics and exercise, especially as part of a team.  

Nafisah looks forward to continuing her work with JSI as part of the MEASURE Evaluation project, especially after attending the all-staff meeting in North Carolina and Virginia.

“It was very good to meet so many people,” she said. “And now I really have a sense of the bigger picture and being a part of a project started a long time ago.”