Celebrating Evaluation
Jo Farmer and I had the privilege of presenting evaluation findings at an evaluation celebration last night! Yes there was wine and food and good times!
This was a first for both of us to be invited to a wonderful event held by our client, an asylum seeker and refugee organisation, to celebrate the evidence and learning gained through the evaluation but also of the process of engaging in evaluative practice. This was the first evaluation for this organisation and their co-design and engagement thought the evaluation process was instrumental for the success of the project. Evaluation capacity building was critical to ensure the ongoing impact of the evaluation as this was just the beginning of building an ongoing evidence base for their work.
The event was a celebration of the work of this organisation but also of their contribution to supporting asylum seekers and refugees overcome their experiences of torture and trauma and what more could be done to achieve even better outcomes. The project team invited the philanthropic organisation that funded the evaluation, the board, those that were on the ethics committee, previous and current staff and other researchers that were engaged in the topic. Some travelling as far as Western Australia to support the work and hear the findings. Most importantly, the organisation invited clients who spoke powerfully about their journey of recovery and how the service contributed to, and had a profound impact on their lives. Valuing clients experiences was something we tried to elevate in the evaluation methodology and approach. The project team saw this event as an opportunity to advocate for evaluation and for their work by inviting all those that had a stake in the project. They wanted to maximise the use and impact of the evaluation findings.
Personally, it was so gratifying for us to see evaluation elevated and celebrated (even the lessons learned) by an organisation. I say let's have more evaluation celebration’s and less shelving of evaluation reports!
