Alexander Gaus

Alexander Gaus is a project manager at the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi) in Berlin. His research and consulting work focuses on humanitarian assistance and monitoring and evaluation, with a focus on the administrative and organizational dimensions of humanitarian work. He also frequently advises philanthropies on strategy, program design, and impact. 

At GPPi, Alexander is currently a senior evaluator for an evaluation of the advocacy work done by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation’s Refugee Initiative and supports an ongoing governance reform of SOS Children’s Villages International in an advisory role. Previously, he led an organizational review of the Risk-informed Early Action Partnership (REAP) and managed the Independent Review of Individual Donor Assessments in Humanitarian Operations on behalf of UNHCR. He was also a senior evaluator for a feasibility study on anticipatory action for Malteser International, the Evaluation of the Policy on WFP’s Role in Peacebuilding in Transition Settings, and an organizational evaluation of Fondation Botnar. Prior to these projects, Alex was GPPi’s point person for the review and roll-out of the 8+3 Template, a new harmonized reporting template that standardizes and simplifies reporting across the humanitarian system. He also led the review of the German coordinating body for humanitarian aid on behalf of the German Federal Foreign Office, as well as the development of inter-agency quality criteria for humanitarian response plans. Earlier, he managed the research project ​“Uniting on Food Assistance – Promoting Evidence-Based Transatlantic Dialogue and Convergence”. For these assignments, Alex has worked across a number of countries in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and sub-Saharan Africa.

In addition to his work at GPPi, in 2017, Alexander co-founded Between|.|ness, a consulting company focused on network analysis and organizational development. He advises non-profit and for-profit clients on building communities and teams, strengthening networks as well as organizational change.

Alexander holds a PhD in political science from the University of Potsdam with a focus on networks and organizational politics. He holds a master’s degree in political science from the University of Freiburg and received a Diplôme d’Administration et Politique Internationale from the Université Pierre Mèndes France in Grenoble, France. He also holds a postgraduate diploma in public management from the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. In 2009, he was awarded a research scholarship from the University of Oxford.