Democracy, Human Rights and Governance

La RED TIG Week:  Reflections from an Emerging Evaluator about the Need for Latinx Evaluation Theory and Framework by Gabriela Castro

Hola Estimados Colegas Evaluadores/Hello Dear Colleagues Evaluators. My name is Gabriela Castro, and I work at the RAND Corporation as a Policy Analyst. I’m also currently studying to earn my PhD in Evaluation and Applied Research Methods at Claremont Graduate University (CGU).   I work in a research-based institute, in which one of the core components …

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La RED TIG Week: Finding my Leadership Identity as a Latina (Reflections from a Leadership Seminar Specifically for Latinx Professionals) by Tatiana Elisa Bustos

Hi evaluators! I am Dr. Tatiana Elisa Bustos, a community engaged evaluator. I wanted to share some takeaways from recent leadership trainings as a Latina in the evaluation space.  Background: My worldview and values are strongly shaped by my most salient identities as a bicultural Latina who grew up in the US, a child of …

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La RED TIG Week: Culturally Relevant Evaluation (CRE) In Practice by Susana Morales

Hola. My name is Susana Morales and I am the Director of Community Health at the Texas Health Institute.  A few months ago, I facilitated a focus group in what is known as the most diverse part of Houston. We partnered with an anchor community organization because we know from experience that doing so leads …

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La RED TIG Week: Empowerment Evaluation: Links to Paulo Freire’s influences from Latin America by Emely Medina-Rodriguez

Hello colleagues, my name is Emely Medina-Rodriguez, Research Associate for Education Development Center, based in Chicago. I focus on culturally responsive and language appropriate evaluation and community engagement. This blog post centers on Empowerment Evaluation Theory’s roots in the works of Paulo Freire, a Latin American thinker.  Empowerment Evaluation Theory is a powerful tool to …

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La RED TIG Week: The Power of Names by Art Hernandez

Hi, I’m Art Hernandez and I’m a professor at the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas. Lessons Learned: Have you ever been in a situation where someone mispronounces your name? It might seem like a small oversight, but the correct pronunciation of names holds significant importance when it comes to respect, courtesy, …

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DRG TIG Week: Will Our DRG Capacity Building Efforts Lead to Policy Changes? by Jeanette (Jay) Tocol

Hi, my name is Jeanette Tocol and I am a Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Advisor at the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI). One of my primary roles at ABA ROLI is to oversee evaluations. I find that many of the evaluations we commission focus on establishing the linkage between capacity building and policy changes in the democracy, rights and governance sector.

DRG TIG Week: Made in Africa Evaluation: Applying Tanzanian Indigenous Knowledge Systems by Francis Mwaijande

I am Francis Mwaijande, former Chairman of Tanzania Evaluation Association (TanEA) and the Principal Investigator (P.I) of Democratizing Learning and Evaluation-Supporting evaluation ecosystems and opportunities for contextualized approaches: Made in Africa Evaluation (MAE). I’m grateful to the African Evaluation Association (AfrEA) and the U.S. Department of State who provided research support for this project to examine an inventory of scholarship in Africa-rooted evaluation approaches. MAE, “birthed” in the 2007 AfrEA Conference in Niami, was formally articulated by AfrEA in 2021 in a set of African Evaluation Principles designed to guide evaluation from an African perspective.

DRG TIG Week: Learning How to Evaluate Meaningful Outcomes in Collaborative Human Rights Digital Security Programs by Deanna Kolberg-Shah, Leah Squires, and Megan Guidrey

Hi all! We are MEL specialists at Freedom House (Deanna Kolberg-Shah and Leah Squires) and Internews (Megan Guidrey) and have been collaborating to develop an evaluation framework for digital security support programs in the DRG space as part of the USAID-funded Human Rights Support Mechanism (HRSM). HRSM is a 7-year leader with associate award designed to implement cutting edge human rights programming globally. Led by Freedom House in partnership with the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative, Internews, Pact, and Search for Common Ground, HRSM facilitates cross-project learning through a learning agenda based in best practices identified across 37 different associate award projects.

DRG TIG Week: From Evidence Review to Practicing with Tools: Insights on Evidence-Informed Dialogues from USIP’s Learning Agenda by David Connolly and Jill Baggerman

Hi, we are David Connolly (Director of Learning, Evaluation, and Research [LER]), and Jill Baggerman (Program Officer, LER) at United States Institute of Peace (USIP), sharing fresh insights from rolling out USIP’s inaugural Learning Agenda. In USIP’s ongoing growth in evidence to practice, we outline the rationale behind the learning agenda, its cross-programmatic dialogue-based approach to generating evidence, and key lessons central to both peacebuilding and the democracy, rights and governance (DRG) fields.