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Seeds for Thought

Seeds for Thought: Negative Results

Whether you are evaluator of a program or someone associated with the initiative being evaluted (the evaluatee?), it’s probably safe to say that everyone hopes for good results: proof that all the planning, effort, and resources that went into the program made a difference. Sadly, that doesn’t always happen, leaving the evaluator to figure out […]

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AEA Conference – Day 4

I’ll admit, today my energy and enthusiasm level at the conference was a bit lower compared to the other days. There’s likely a couple of reasons for that, ranging from a somewhat earlier start time today and yesterday compared to the first two days, to the accumulated effects of being away from home. However, I […]

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AEA Conference – Day 3

Today’s workshop at the American Evaluation Association was on participatory methods, which covers a range of methods and approaches for use with populations that could be categorized as “vulnerable”: those living in poverty, not speaking or understanding the dominant language, identifying as LGBTQ, Aboriginal / First Nations, or a racialized minority, living in an area […]

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AEA Conference – Day 2

Another great day, including meeting a group of awesome people around the topic of community development and cities (I’m an urban nerd at heart!). Lots of talk today about how to introduce and implement developmental evaluation practices, which can be difficult as the whole point of the field is to eschew the “one size fits […]

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Resources Thoughts

AEA Conference – Day 1

It’s the end of day 1 at the American Evaluation Conference, and so far it’s been a great experience! In addition to the content of the workshop itself (more on that below), I had the opportunity to chat with people from academia, research institutions, government, and non-profits doing work in an array of fields. The […]

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Thoughts

En Route

Right now, I’m waiting to board my flight to Minneapolis for the American Evaluation Association’s annual conference. I’ve been to other conferences before, but this is the first time attending one in the capacity of a self-employed consultant, rather than as a student or the representative of an organization. I don’t know how this different […]

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News Resources

Two Quick Announcements

Two quick announcements. First, the site’s undergone a minor reorganization to make it easier to navigate, with Strong Root’s areas of focus now listed under Activities and a new Resources section. The latter is home right now to a growing list of local grant opportunities, building on my last post on the Funder’s Forum (as […]