Francis Xavier Rathinam is the Senior Director of Global MERL practice at Athena Infonomics, which he joined in August 2020. He has worked with global multilateral and bilateral institutions, developing country governments, and think tanks on various aspects of monitoring and evaluation on issues related to governance, livelihoods, and data for evaluation.

His work experience includes technical advisory on rigorous impact evaluations, programme management, and evaluation capacity building with DFID, BMGF, Hewlett Foundation, and others. Prior to joining Athena Infonomics, Francis was a senior evaluation specialist with 3ie, and also worked with UK DFID and the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER).

He holds a doctorate in law and economics from the University of Hyderabad, India, and was a visiting scholar at the Institute for Law and Economics, University of Hamburg, Germany. He has published two monographs, several journal articles, and book chapters on a range of development issues.