Learning to Make Our Assessments and Evaluations More Effective for Our Clients through Better Contextualization
By Maxine Secskas, CLAME Specialist, Headlight Consulting Services, LLC This blog came about as a response to my interest in learning more about how to get better feedback and insight from a client while designing an assessment or a tool. Last year, I was disappointed to realize that a very involved assessment and analysis that
Organizational Capacity Assessment Process (Part 1)
By Yitbarek Woldetensay and Chelsie Kuhn Background Local ownership and organizational learning have become integral to many international programs that engage in capacity development. However, many local organizations still need greater capacity to assume this leadership role. Hence, many international programs want to assess organizations’ capacity before and after their capacity-building interventions to identify capacity-building
Adaptive Action Planning Workshop: the What, Why, and How?
By Esrael Woldeeyesus, SDRM-SI DE Deputy Team Lead, Headlight Consulting Services, LLC. Many institutions conduct or commission studies or facilitate discussions to generate evidence to identify successes and areas for improvement. However, taking recommendations into action can be a challenge for two reasons: (1) some perceive evaluations or studies as just compliance activities and have
Locally-Led Developmental Evaluation Advantages and Limitations: The Case of Headlight Consulting Services
By: Endashaw Beshir, Esrael Woldeyesus, Tseday Tilahun, Yitbarek Woldetensay, and Yomif Worku Introduction Development and humanitarian challenges are local in nature; hence, effective humanitarian and development assistance requires an inclusive approach that centers local actors throughout all aspects of the work (USAID, 2022; USAID Learning Lab, 2022). Locally-led development improves the participatory process and enhances
Being a DE Admin – How the Role Shifts When Focusing on Locally-Led DEs
By Chelsie Kuhn and Julie Mandolini-Trummel Now that we have reminded readers of what DEs are, when DEs are the right fit, and how to determine if their project is ready for a DE, we wanted to share a bit more about one of the essential roles for implementing a DE—the DE Administrator. This post
Is Developmental Evaluation a fit for all projects? (Part 2)
By Dr. Yitbarek Woldetensay, Developmental Evaluation Lead, Headlight Consulting Services, LLC. Introduction As described in our previous post, two essential questions need to be answered before deciding that Developmental Evaluation (DE) is the right fit for our project. The first question (Is DE the right fit for the proposed project?) was described in our last
Is Developmental Evaluation a fit for all projects? (Part 1)
By Dr. Yitbarek Kidane Woldetensay, SDRM-SI DE Team Lead, Headlight Consulting Services, LLC. Introduction No single evaluation approach is best for all projects, nor is there a “good enough” approach– matching an evaluation approach with a particular project is about finding the “right fit.” Choosing the right evaluation approach for the proposed project is crucial
What is a Developmental Evaluation? (101 Level)
By Julie Mandolini-Trummel, CLAME Specialist, and Alison Harrell, CLAME Specialist, Headlight Consulting Services, LLC This blog post is the first in a 3-part series on Developmental Evaluations. In Parts II and III of this blog series, we will explore how to identify if a DE is a good fit for your project/activity and how DE
Continuing Your Organizational Learning Journey with CLA
By Georgia Handforth, CLAME Associate, Headlight Consulting Services, LLCand Rebecca Askin, Senior CLAME Specialist, Headlight Consulting Services, LLC This blog is the third and final of a three-part mini-series on organizational learning and the Collaborating, Learning, and Adapting (CLA) Framework. This is the third and final post of our three-part mini-series on Collaborating, Learning, and
Two Tools for Assessing and Leveling Up CLA in Your Everyday Work
By Georgia Handforth, CLAME Associate, Headlight Consulting Services, LLC This blog is the second of a three-part mini-series on organizational learning and the Collaborating, Learning, and Adapting (CLA) Framework. Welcome back to our mini-series sharing Headlight’s experiences with Collaborating, Learning, and Adapting (CLA)! In the first post in this series, we talked about why CLA is
