Hi! My name is Patrizia Cocca and I lead the Communications and Knowledge Management team of the Global Evaluation Initiative (GEI). This year, together with Shaha Zehra and Claudia Olavarria, I coordinated gLOCAL Evaluation Week 2023, which saw an estimated 20,000 participants joining 300+ events hosted in 53 countries.
Hi, I am Heather Bryant, a member of the Global Evaluation Initiative (GEI) Global Team. The GEI supports developing countries in strengthening their monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems to help governments gather and use evidence that improves the lives of their citizens. The GEI believes that to effectively support countries in this process and to be able to provide tailored, context-specific advisory services, it is first necessary to understand the existing systems that affect M&E in the country. To assist in this effort, the GEI Global Team, in collaboration with the global network of Centers for Learning on Evaluation and Results (CLEAR), developed the Monitoring and Evaluation Systems Analysis (MESA) diagnostic tool. The MESA is a tool that guides stakeholders (e.g., government entities, evaluation professionals, civil society) in gathering, structuring, and analyzing information on the current capacity of their country’s M&E ecosystem. Since the tool’s launch in early 2022, the GEI Global Team and colleagues in the CLEAR network have been using it to help identify what is working well, what needs to be improved, and to inform capacity-development strategies meant to strengthen the systems that enable M&E to flourish. We have learned a few things along the way – both in the development and in the use of the tool.
Hello! My name is Toi Wise. I am an Evaluation and Data Specialist for the education department at Enlace Chicago, a community-based nonprofit organization which serves a predominantly Latinx/e neighborhood. I also serve as the Secretary for AEA’s local affiliate, the Chicagoland Evaluation Association. This year, I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to …
La RED TIG Week: A Collaborative Approach to Program Evaluation by Toi Wise Read More »
Hello, my name is Elia H. Bueno, and I am a fifth year PhD student at the University of Arizona studying Human Development and Family Science with a minor in Program Evaluation. In my research, I am interested in learning about the role of Latinx families in adolescents’ and emerging adults’ academic as well as …
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 …
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 …
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 …
La RED TIG Week: Culturally Relevant Evaluation (CRE) In Practice by Susana Morales Read More »
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 …
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, …
La RED TIG Week: The Power of Names by Art Hernandez Read More »
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.
