Nilu Rimal: The Leadership Behind Proof to Progress
Nilu Rimal founded Proof to Progress after more than two decades of senior-level leadership in Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning across national and global organizations and programs.
Since 2002, Nilu has provided strategic, operational, and technical MEL leadership to various development projects across the globe. Projects varied in size from $2 million to $70 million.
In her most recent positions at NCBA CLUSA (2016–2022) and Partners of the Americas (2022–2024), Nilu served as Director of MEL and led monitoring, evaluation, and learning activities for more than 14 agriculture, food security, and climate change-focused projects across 20 countries in Latin America, Africa, and Asia.
The nature of these projects varied from enhancing agricultural productivity through low-cost, climate-smart farming practices to empowering civil society organizations and individuals; improving maternal and child nutrition; increasing access to safe drinking water; strengthening resilience to climate-related shocks and stresses; empowering youth to engage in economic activities; and strengthening cooperative capacity.
Many of these projects were funded by USAID and USDA through initiatives such as Feed the Future, Farmer-to-Farmer, Cooperative Development, and Food for Progress (FFPr). Prior to 2016, Nilu’s MEL journey was concentrated on health-focused programs, including HIV/AIDS, reproductive health, family planning, and nutrition, with organizations such as HJF, FHI 360, and URC.
The Purpose Behind Proof to Progress
Over more than two decades of working in Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning, Nilu Rimal observed recurring problems in how organizations account for change. She realized that when this happens, no one wins: not the organizations implementing the work, not the donors investing in it, and not the people the programs are intended to serve. That realization led her to establish Proof to Progress.
Inaccurate attribution and contribution: Overreporting claims too much, while underreporting obscures meaningful results.
Negative outcomes buried beneath the numbers: Difficult findings are not adequately examined or used for improvement.
Unintended consequences left unaccounted for: Positive and negative changes beyond expected results remain invisible.
Evidence collected but not used: Reporting takes precedence over reflection, learning, and adaptation.
Connections across sectors overlooked: Relationships among health, climate, agriculture, food security, resilience, and social justice remain unse
Nilu Rimal - Accomplishments
Since 2002, Nilu has led monitoring, evaluation, and learning for 35+ projects in 24 countries, spanning a combined portfolio of approximately $500M and ranging from $500K community initiatives to $70M multi-country programs. She builds measurement systems where none exist, rehabilitates the ones that have broken down, and leaves organizations able to run them without her.
Project Performance Monitoring
Strengthening and streamlining systems and processes for timely availability of accurate data.
- 75 indicator tracking systems
- 210+ MEL plans developed (incl. BD proposals)
- 68 data quality assessments
Project Outcome and Impact Evaluation
Directing donor-mandated evaluations and spearheading learning-agenda-guided special studies.
- 60+ end-to-end evaluations combined portfolio of approximately $400M
- 25+ learning-agenda-guided special studies, including outcome harvesting, project effectiveness analysis, and most significant change analysis
Capacity Building and Strengthening
Building MEL capacity of organizatoins and individuals.
- 600+ individuals trained and mentored
- 50+ organizations strengthened
- 35+ curricula, guidebooks, toolkits, manuals, and job aids
On a mission to evaluate, learn, and improve lives.
Nilu Rimal - Education and Training
- M.A., Sociology; MBA
- Lean Six Sigma Black Belt
- Instructional Design
- Business Intelligence
Nilu Rima - MEL Track
Before founding Proof to Progress, Nilu served in senior leadership roles with Partners of the Americas and NCBA CLUSA, where she guided MEL across diverse portfolios in agriculture, food security, migration, education exchange, and international development. As a member of senior management, she translated organizational missions and strategic priorities into MEL strategies, systems, standards, staffing structures, and practical approaches that programs could implement across countries and contexts. She also worked closely with program and business development teams to shape theories of change, learning agendas, indicators, MEL strategies, staffing models, and evaluation approaches for new initiatives.
Earlier in her career, Nilu worked extensively in global health, health information systems, nutrition, HIV/AIDS programming, healthcare performance, and community-based evaluation. She supported national ministries, implementing partners, healthcare institutions, and community-based organizations in strengthening routine monitoring systems, improving data flow and use, evaluating program outcomes, and applying quality-improvement approaches. This foundation gave her direct experience working across multiple levels of a system, from communities and frontline services to national institutions, donors, and organizational leadership.
Through Proof to Progress, Nilu offers mission-driven organizations the depth of a senior MEL leader combined with the focus and responsiveness of an independent partner. Her purpose is not simply to deliver a framework, study, or set of tools, but to leave organizations with stronger systems, greater internal capability, and evidence they can confidently use to learn, decide, and improve.
- Systems thinking — connecting the parts to see how change really happens
- Cultural sensitivity — evaluation shaped by context, built with the communities it serves
- Rigor in the details — the precision that makes evidence hold up and decisions stick
- Value to the client — Senior-level expertise, right-sized and scalable to your organization or project.
- Dependable delivery — on time, at quality, every time