Mari Hickmann is an international child protection and social services specialist with extensive experience in systems strengthening, monitoring and evaluation, and research to support evidence-based decision-making. She works with governments, UN agencies, and civil society organizations to assess, strengthen and reform child protection and care systems. Mari serves as Maestral’s Lead for the Better Care Ukraine project, supporting UNICEF and the Government of Ukraine to reform the care and child protection systems and strengthen family-based care in humanitarian and conflict-affected contexts.
Mari’s technical expertise includes monitoring, evaluation, research, and learning; mixed-methods and participatory research; national child protection and care system assessments; and social service workforce analysis. She has led or supported national assessments and evaluations including care system reviews, workforce assessments, and programme evaluations funded by UNICEF, USAID, CDC, and other partners. Her work emphasizes ethical research practice, safeguarding children’s participation, and the use of evidence to inform policy and system reform. Mari holds a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Washington and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Oregon, and is based in the United States.