Welcome to new Policy Fellow, Domenica Avila Luna

We’re excited to welcome Domenica Avila-Luna to the LRaPP team as a Consultant Policy Fellow. Based at the Policy Institute at King’s College London as a Research Associate, Domenica brings extensive expertise in impact evaluation and data analysis for public policy.

In the project with LRaPP and the Policy Institute, Domenica will lead our work on student engagement, researching and developing innovative approaches to embed students in policymaking. In this blog, Domenica speaks with Aiysha Qureshi, LRaPP’s Senior Research and Engagement Coordinator, about her background, interests, and vision for the project.

What motivated you to take on this policy fellowship with LRaPP, and how do you see your previous experiences - across global development, Latin America, and UK higher education - shaping your approach to the work?

Since the beginning of my career, I’ve felt strongly about the need for better knowledge exchange between academia and policymaking. Growing up and working in Ecuador, I saw how these two worlds are often isolated. In my country, policymaking is highly politicised and polarised. There is a lack of institutionalised connections between academic research and government decision-making, which often results in policies being driven more by ideology than by evidence.

Having worked academia and the public sector, I can clearly see the disconnect between the two. There’s incredible research being produced that could genuinely improve lives, but it often stays within academic spaces and doesn’t get translated into action. At the same time, governments are making decisions without engaging with that knowledge. That’s what pushed me to specialise in public policy and evaluation - because I see evidence as a powerful tool to bridge that gap and create better outcomes. 

When I moved to the UK, I expected those connections to be more developed, but I found there’s still work to do. That’s one of the reasons I love working at the Policy Institute at King’s College London, where we aim to build those connections, and similarly why the LRaPP fellowship stood out. It was exciting to see an initiative focused on building those academic-policy links in a structured way. And doing this work in London - a complex and diverse city - feels like the perfect opportunity to learn what works and what doesn’t. My hope is to take those lessons back to Latin America one day and help build more evidence-informed policymaking in Ecuador and the region.

From homelessness to education, your work has focused on applying rigorous research to real-world problems. What have you learned about the role of evidence in driving and evaluating meaningful policy change?

I’ve come to really value how evidence can be integrated throughout the entire policy cycle. That’s part of what drew me to evaluation. It brings together the best of both worlds: the rigour of research and the real-world complexity of implementation. It forces us to ask: Is this policy actually going to have the desired effect? Is it the best use of limited resources? Will it truly benefit the people we’re trying to support? And most importantly, is this what they want?

One example of using evidence comes from a project I worked on about homelessness. We ran a randomised controlled trial to test whether cash transfers could improve housing stability and wellbeing. While the idea—giving people money and direct support—seems simple, it raises key questions: Would the government see it as a good investment? Would the public back it? And crucially, would it actually benefit recipients?

Interestingly, a similar international study found that cash transfers had limited impact on recipients themselves. On closer look though, recipients often shared the money within their communities, strengthening social ties. That reframes success: while the transfer didn’t change individual circumstances dramatically, it built community resilience. That’s still a powerful outcome, only revealed through robust evaluation.

Ultimately, evidence enables us to have honest conversations about what works, what doesn’t, and how to do better.

You’ve worked across institutions and disciplines throughout your career. What principles or approaches guide how you collaborate with others - whether students, academics, or policymakers?

For me, collaboration starts with balancing two things: the robustness of the research, and the human relationships behind it. As a quantitative researcher, I focus on a strong methodology: measuring outcomes properly, designing robust studies, and generating evidence that can reliably guide decision-making. That kind of rigour builds trust and reassurance among policymakers. But the human side matters just as much, especially when working with disadvantaged communities. Ethics are non-negotiable and research should never come at the cost of people’s safety or dignity.

One thing I love about working in social policy is that everyone, from government teams to charities or funders, is working towards making the world better. As an evaluator, I see my role as connecting these efforts to deliver meaningful, collective change.

As part of your fellowship, you'll be developing research focused on student policy engagement. What excites you most about working with students on this?

What excites me most is the fresh, creative energy and often unheard perspectives that students offer into policymaking. Unshaped by institutional thinking, their ideas can be bold and innovative. With the world changing so quickly, policymakers must learn how to engage with younger generations. And where better to start than in schools and universities?

I also have a personal connection to student engagement from my time as student representative back in Ecuador. In Ecuador, students have significant political power, often influencing policy through strikes or activism, especially in public universities. This environment made me deeply aware of the potential for young voices to shape policy, and I’ve carried that motivation with me throughout my career.

The challenge is how we approach policymaking. Often, student engagement is limited to consultation rather than genuine collaboration. We need a shift toward co-design, where students are seen as partners, not just as recipients or respondents. That requires changing both mindset and structures to create space for their voices. In a city as complex as London, good policies demand that kind of transformation.

What impact do you hope students can make through research-policy collaborations, and what long lasting change would you like to see?

At its best, student involvement in research-policy collaborations can fundamentally reshape how we make policy. Students bring not only new ideas but also a demand for accountability and relevance. When they’re treated as genuine contributors, their insights can make policy more forward-looking, inclusive, and grounded in real-life experience as they naturally reflect the diverse demographics across this city.

But the impact shouldn’t stop there. I want to see long-term structural change in how universities and policymakers engage, so that collaboration is no longer ad hoc or slow-moving, but embedded and agile. Right now, frustration arises when universities are told their work matters, but timelines and processes make it hard to integrate that work into policy as it’s being made. On the other side, academia is increasingly recognising that real-world impact can’t just mean more publications - it means shaping society.

We’ve seen what’s possible during moments of crisis, like the pandemic, where cross-sector collaboration happened quickly out of necessity. But we shouldn’t wait for crises to make this kind of partnership the norm. I hope we can institutionalise those lessons and build systems that make knowledge exchange natural, efficient, and ongoing. 

Join the Conversation on Student Engagement

We're always looking to connect with students, staff, and partners who are passionate about shaping better learning experiences. If you're interested in getting involved with this programme or simply want to find out more, please email Dome at [email protected].