Yuliya Dudaronak grew up in Belarus and moved to the United States at 21 years old. She soon enrolled at the University of Virginia, earning a Ph.D. in Sociology in 2014. Yuliya also taught at UVA, where she was introduced to ORB International through the UVA Survey Research Center. Joining ORB as a Senior Research Executive in the early days of the company, she progressively took on more responsibilities, including the development of innovative quality control procedures, and managing research design and execution for a variety of clients.
Her passion for solving complex problems shines through her work: “I love the puzzle of research; I get genuinely curious about each project – well why indeed are people in East Timor are not following what’s considered bast practices for garbage disposal? What drives people to support violent extremism organizations and how does this depend on specific context? Which type of programing helps with this particular issue? I appreciate the ability to use my research skills in a variety of ways and to creatively contribute and support clients in their research staff! I learned something new on each new project, which is very important to me.”
Yuliya has worked on more than forty projects related to countering violent extremism (CVE) and governance in her five years with ORB. When asked what project she is most proud of, she said:
“Each project has its challenges, but projects like a 19-country study of drivers of violent extremism are more challenging as they touch on complexities of cross-cultural research and the delicate balance between localization of research and larger comparisons, and the extremely sensitive nature of this study. But I am most proud of the team – I work with a group of highly motived, extremely smart and also kind and thoughtful individuals – I am very grateful that this is my team.”
Yuliya not only leads teams, but also presents ORB’s research. In August 2020, she gave a presentation for the USAID PELA project Learning Circle entitled ‘Measuring CVE Impact: Indicators of Support for Violent Extremism’, focusing on technical and methodological issues of measurement. One of the central issues in this research area is the absence of agreed upon indicators and how to measure programming impacts for Countering Violent Extremism, offering valuable insight into several key indicators gleaned from research recently conducted at ORB.
Yuliya is a self-described bookworm and enjoys reading both fiction and non-fiction titles. She highly endorses Hans Rosling’s “Factfulness: Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World–and Why Things Are Better Than You Think” because “it combines data, thoughtful inquiry, and challenges you to question if you really know the things you think you know – my favorite combination!”
About ORB
ORB International is a small business operating in 116 countries around the world providing monitoring and evaluation, nationally representative surveys, rapid assessments and specialized research in complex environments. Utilizing a data-centric and quality-first model, our primary focus is mixed-methods social and political research including the topics of counter-violent-extremism, governance, and working with vulnerable populations.