Alumna Spotlight: Najat Elegeberi – Evaluation Specialist and Assistant Professor
Dr. Najat Elgeberi has built a career dedicated to improving programs that serve communities both locally and globally. She currently serves as an Evaluation Specialist and Assistant Professor with the University of Nevada, Reno Extension in Las Vegas, where she collaborates with Extension faculty and staff to strengthen their capacities in program evaluation. Her work helps ensure that community initiatives are guided by evidence, responsive to local needs, and designed to create lasting, measurable change. In this role, she supports the development and monitoring of evaluation plans, ensuring that new and ongoing programs are effective, measurable, and responsive to community needs.
Before joining the University of Nevada, Dr. Elgeberi accumulated more than a decade of experience conducting evaluations across the United States and the Middle East, working with private and non-profit organizations in the humanitarian field. Her work has spanned a wide range of technical areas, including livelihoods, health, protection, gender-based violence (GBV), rapid response mechanisms (RRM), cash programming, agriculture and horticulture, and education. This diverse expertise gives her a broad understanding of how evaluation and evidence-based decision-making can improve lives in complex social and cultural settings.
A two-time graduate of Western Michigan University, Dr. Elgeberi earned both her M.A. and Ph.D. in Evaluation, Measurement, and Research (EMR) from the College of Education and Human Development. While at WMU, she distinguished herself as a Fulbright Fellow—one of the world’s most respected international scholarship programs, awarded to individuals who demonstrate outstanding academic achievement and a commitment to cross-cultural understanding and global collaboration. She was also inducted into the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, which recognizes the top academic performers across all disciplines.
Dr. Elgeberi credits her time at WMU with shaping her professional philosophy and equipping her with the tools to apply rigorous research methods to real-world evaluation settings. “The EMR program provided me with the theoretical knowledge and practical experience to approach evaluation work from a place of integrity, cultural awareness, and evidence-based reasoning,” she reflects. “Those lessons continue to guide my work with faculty, students, and community partners today.”
Originally from Palestine, Dr. Elgeberi brings a unique global perspective to her work and remains deeply committed to advancing equity and inclusion through evaluation. She is also an active member of the Western Region Evaluation Network (WREN), where she collaborates with colleagues to promote best practices in program evaluation and contribute to professional development opportunities for evaluators across the region.
Through her teaching, research, and applied evaluation projects, Dr. Elgeberi continues to embody the WMU spirit of inquiry, leadership, and service—using data-driven insight to make a meaningful difference in communities near and far.