Our Team

Anna Waldie

As Principal Consultant in Qualitative Research, Anna designs approaches that reveal insights in carefully considered and creative ways. 

About Anna 

Anna is curious by nature. She draws on her academic background in social anthropology (University of Cambridge, BA) and her hands-on experience in film and photography through visual anthropology (University of Manchester, MA). She is passionate about bringing her background in ethnography to explore complex issues in real-world contexts; and understands how to make sense of – and propose viable solutions to – issues by exploring cultures, systems and underlying behavioural drivers.  

While Anna’s extensive social research experience has seen her work across a medley of issues and topics, she has developed specialist interest and expertise in research and evaluation with vulnerable audiences, specifically with children and young people.  

Working with clients across charity, funding and local government sectors, Anna has designed unique approaches that get to the heart of research and evaluation questions to uncover something new for the client, while ensuring the people involved feel comfortable. 

Anna’s work at Renaisi  

Anna leads a portfolio of research and evaluation projects and learning partnerships and is committed to working collaboratively and adapting to bring clients along on the learning journey.  

Anna leads the Consultancy Team alongside other Principal Consultants, advances Renaisi’s equitable evaluation work and is joining up learning across the organisation by driving the evaluation of our own frontline employment & advice services.   

Anna is dedicated to ensuring research and evaluation reflects the interests of those affected by the findings.  

Anna’s specialisms  

• Qualitative research 
• Ethnography 
• Visual methods 
• Learning partnerships 
• Equitable evaluation and co-creation  
• Working with children and young people 
• Youth social action 
• Youth violence 

• Health and wellbeing  
• Working with vulnerable audiences  

Portfolio 

Anna leads teams and oversees a range of mixed-methods evaluations, research and learning partnerships, including: 

• Leading on Renaisi’s work as the learning partner to the ‘learning hub’ for the #iwill Fund, to explore how youth social action can be meaningfully embedded in different organisations 
• Understanding more about what works to prevent youth violence, through our evaluation work for London VRU-funded ‘Stronger Futures’ and ‘Girls and Young Women’ programmes  
• Supporting Children in Need on their learning journey as they seek to share power with children and young people, through implementing a portfolio of funds focussing on youth social action 
• Providing responsive strategic learning and evaluation support to the #BeeWell coalition as they work to set up an ambitious wellbeing monitoring programme in Manchester and beyond.
• Working with the GLA to explore the successes of a new collaborative funding model to bring youth social action to under-served young people in ‘cold spots’ across London  
• Delivering insights to The Reading Agency on the effectiveness of their Summer Reading Challenge Pilot to inform their rollout and development of the pilot across multiple years  
• Understanding how young people are engaging with heritage as part of our ongoing, multi-year evaluation for The National Lottery Heritage Funded ‘Kick the Dust’ programme