2023 in Review: Headlight’s Values in Action
Authors: Alison Harrell, Amy Leo, Maxine Secskas, Monica Matts, Rebecca Askin, and Rebecca Herrington When working in complex systems, there’s only so much we can control, and challenges and disruptions are often the norm. In light of this, Headlight staff performance is not evaluated against our project outputs or outcomes, over which we only have
Why Embeddedness Is Crucial For Use-Focused Developmental Evaluation Support
By Esrael Woldeeyesus Introduction “If I had an hour to solve a problem, I’d spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and five minutes thinking about solutions.” – Albert Einstein In other words, solutions are only as good as the understanding of the problem. The level of detail we know about the problem, such as
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
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
Reflections on Writing a USAID Performance Management Plan
By Maxine Secskas, CLAME Associate, Headlight Consulting Services, LLC This is the second in a 2-part series on USAID Performance Management Plans. This installment in our blog continues the discussion around USAID Performance Management Plans (PMP), begun in our previous post, What is A USAID Performance Management Plan?, which explored the history of PMPs to
What is a USAID Performance Management Plan?
By Maxine Secskas, CLAME Associate, Headlight Consulting Services, LLC This blog post is the first in a 2-part series on USAID Performance Management Plans. This blog post (and a subsequent post reflecting on our recent support in drafting a Performance Management Plan) is intended to inform and offer suggestions from our recent experience for those
Top 5 More Dos and Don’ts of Qualitative Analysis
By: Maxine Secskas, CLAME Associate, Headlight Consulting Services, LLC and Chelsie Kuhn, CLAME Specialist, Headlight Consulting Services, LLC This blog post is the first in a series of 3 posts on components of qualitative methods. Welcome back to Headlight’s educational blog series on all things collaborating, learning, adapting, monitoring, and evaluation (CLAME). You may have noticed
