Harmonizing Voices: Building the Organizational Capacity to Advance and Sustain Internal Evaluation Activities

Abstract Information: This presentation is focused on the intersection between internal and external evaluation, evaluation capacity building (ECB), and organizational learning. Addressing the lack of guidance in the evaluation field, this roundtable will highlight the interconnected and cross-functional operational policies, processes, and practices that are critical to effectively launch and sustain an organization-wide learning and evaluation agenda. Examples of intersecting processes and functions (and associated “voices”) include the strategic functions (planning and decision-making); finance (budgeting, monitoring, reporting and data integration); human resources (hiring, job descriptions, candidate interviews, onboarding, training); performance management (accountability, performance appraisals, promotions); staff training/development (ongoing training, staff transitions, succession planning, and professional development/core competencies); information technology (selecting technology systems, data governance, data sharing, systems training; marketing and communications (data use, messaging, storytelling, data visualization); programming (program design, planning for program evaluations, adapting and refining programming); and fundraising (funder prospecting, proposal development, and accountability reporting). External evaluators will discuss the challenges and mitigating strategies observed in organizations that fail to properly plan to support internal evaluation efforts. Internal evaluators who have successfully supported and built integrated evaluation teams will share how they ensure organizations manage the internal evaluation role for power-sharing, improvement, and impact. Our targeted learning questions to pose to other roundtable participants for an in-depth discussion will include: -In your organization, how do you foster an inclusive evaluation environment where all voices are valued and integrated? -How do you prioritize diverse voices/perspectives when building evaluation capacity? -What frameworks and tools can be helpful in this process?