Our Team

Ciaran McDonald

I am a Social Researcher at Renaisi, working in the Consultancy Team. I joined in April 2023 and currently work on several projects supporting different organisations with research, evaluation and learning. My role involves conducting quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods and desk-based research. I am also project managing our learning and evaluation partnership with Southwark Council’s Thrive-to-25 programme.

Skills and Experiences

I am an experienced social researcher and educator. Before joining Renaisi, I held various researcher roles in academia and thinktanks that sparked my interest in community-engaged research. I also taught research methods to undergraduate students at a couple of London universities.

I am passionate about challenging established research hierarchies and decolonising knowledge production, particularly through emancipatory and participatory approaches.

I hold an MSc Politics of the Middle East from SOAS University of London. My mixed methods dissertation focused on whether, and how, non-governmental social service provision shapes individuals’ socio-political constitution in Palestine. I also hold an undergraduate degree in politics from the University of Edinburgh.

My interests

I love playing and watching football (I’m a long-time and intermittently suffering Liverpool fan!), cooking and spending time in nature. I am currently trying to grow my own tomatoes, aubergines and lettuces, with varying degrees of success!