I’ve attended the American Evaluation Association (AEA) annual conference for the past nine years. During this time, the conference schedule has increasingly featured presentations on collaborative and participatory measurement and learning (MLE) for nonprofit social change programs. Continuing that trend, evaluators at AEA 2023 presented on MLE projects where they are serving as facilitators and …
Continue reading “Six Takeaways on the State of Evaluation from #AEA2023”
In a world where work can’t start until a cat is ejected from someone’s keyboard, private in-person business meetings are as rare as carbon paper. But a chat behind (real) closed doors is something that should not be lost entirely to the mists of time. In pre-pandemic 2019 I was an accidental witness to a …
Political campaigns were among the many activities of normal life upended by the sudden emergence of COVID-19 in the winter of 2020. State and local campaigns, which often turn on successful door-to-door voter contact, were particularly affected. In a Talking Points Memo piece co-authored with David Shorr, an evaluation colleague and local elected official, I …
Continue reading “Learning and Adapting on the Statewide Election Trail”
A strong evaluation or measurement plan positions you to make the most of policy opportunities. It prepares you to better manage unforeseen challenges. And it helps you meet the information needs of your management, board, and funders efficiently, and with less stress. A good measurement plan creates tools and systems that generate meaningful data, while …
