Her work typically evaluates whether development strategies utilized by bureaucracies can be transformational or whether change within systems is hampered and requires an outside structure to be effective.
Erika's parents, Helen and John Penner were Mennonites and farmed in what is now Point Pelee National Park.
[3] She completed her master's degree in 1995 with a thesis titled Treading Water: Survival Strategies by Smallscale Women Farmers in Zimbabwe from the University of Guelph.
[5][6] After graduating, Tiessen was hired in 1999, as an assistant professor in International Development Studies at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
She participated in field research in Indonesia, Kenya, Malawi, Sri Lanka, and Zimbabwe examining the relationships between NGO partners and local populations, and evaluating youth work and study-abroad programs which attempt to promote global citizenship.
The audit also found that poor tracking made it difficult to evaluate funds spent if recipients of aid met more than one development target.