Nigel Thornton
Director
Nigel is a founding Director of Agulhas Applied Knowledge, Founder Trustee on Agulhas’s Employee Ownership Trust and an Honorary Professor at the University of Exeter in the Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences.. With over 30 years of experience, he is a trusted advisor to donor agencies, multilateral organisations and governments on strategy, evaluation, and institutional effectiveness.
Nigel has led more than 300 projects in over 30 countries, specialising in complex, high-profile reviews across global health, governance, climate policy and aid effectiveness. His experience includes leading Agulhas’s work with the Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI) for over a decade, in which capacity he undertook multiple reviews. He has led evaluations and contracts for international clients such as the OECD/DAC, MOPAN, the Gates Foundation, and the World Bank. He has presented findings at senior levels, including to the UK Parliament, the WHO Executive Board, and donor governance bodies.
Key work skills
Nigel’s work focuses on lesson learning and institutional effectiveness—applying research, evaluation and field experience to strengthen decision-making and performance. He is particularly committed to ensuring that knowledge leads to action, and that evidence is translated into meaningful change in policy and practice.
Trained as a geographer and health services manager, Nigel brings a wide technical range spanning governance, global health, climate and environmental policy, and the political economy of reform. His work regularly engages with senior stakeholders across government, multilateral organisations, and civil society, and has helped shape the strategic direction of major development institutions.
Other interests
Nigel is a Northerner in exile. A Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, he enjoys the outdoors, spending time riding up hills or round lakes on his bicycles (the correct number always being n+1) and sampling real ale alongside his adult children.
