Abstract
The ‘Evaluator Perspective’ series cover a range of perspectives from evaluators working in the indigenous area; evaluators with a long career in evaluation; or evaluators experienced in a certain methodology. This particular perspective is that of an emerging evaluator who, although young, is an active contributor in the evaluation scene.
Amanda Mottershead won the ‘Emerging New Talent’ Award for Excellence in Evaluation at the online AES conference in 2020 for her work on developing a toolkit for engaging young and emerging evaluators across the world. She is a young enthusiastic evaluator who is already making a mark in her chosen profession.
Amanda has a double degree in human geography and planning and marketing. She obtained a Masters in International Development, and although at the time, she was uncertain of where to go to next, decided to move into evaluation.
She is in her first evaluation role at SDF Global (4 years) and working with Dorothy Lucks, a Fellow of the AES, who has been, and continues to be, a great mentor to Amanda.
Why did you become involved in evaluation?
I think I follow in the footsteps of probably the majority of evaluators as I did not intentionally or consciously choose evaluation. I got to the end of my degree course and was still undecided as to where to go to next. In one of those serendipitous moments, one of my university friends was working with Dorothy Lucks at SDF Global and the role seemed exciting – a mixture of strategic planning, international development and community planning. Although I had not had any experience with evaluation – (my university course had included one unit on it,) but for me, the attraction of being able to make a difference to improve things in the world was a great draw card: I call myself an ‘Accidental Evaluator’.
What kind of evaluation are you involved with, and has that changed over time?
The kind of evaluation I am involved with depends on the work being conducted by SDF Global, but the work has varied substantially over the time I have been there. The projects range from evaluations for local not-for-profits to evaluations for international agencies. As I have progressed in the organisation, I have taken on larger support roles in some of the evaluations. When I first came into SDF I mainly supported the smaller local evaluations as an opportunity to build my experience and skills in areas such as stakeholder engagement. Now that I have gained more experience, I am taking on larger roles in larger evaluations, including at the international level and even completing my own contracts. In terms of preferences in methodologies, my preference is for the mixed methods approach and being able to combine both qualitative and quantitative data so that data is able to be triangulated. I also likes to provide options for people in terms of data collection methods which I think provides a more inclusive approach and I do find that the robustness of quantitative methods, paired with the depth of qualitative methods works well
Tell me about the major influences which have helped to define your evaluation practice?
For me, the evaluation sector itself and the different methodologies used has influenced my practice. I also think it is important to take the contextual issues into account, so I recognise that the ability to adapt practice to suit the differing environments is a key way to learn. So, whether its local work, not for profits, government or international work, the differing contexts mean that you are challenged all of the time, and this has helped me to develop skills. Similarly, the evaluation sector itself has influenced my practice in terms of the new knowledge and approaches consistently being explored and published.
I know you are an emerging evaluator, but are there any challenges to your practice?
A major challenge for me over the last few years has been COVID. My first two years were spent on developing skills and building up connections, then COVID came. I was intending to be part of a team going overseas in March 2020 for mission meetings. However, this was not possible and so there was a need to adapt my practice and tasks had to be done remotely. Even now some projects feel more comfortable with remote practice and so requirements really depend upon the client and the context. The other challenge (common to a lot of people!) is balancing my career with voluntary work, family life, social life as well as keeping healthy.
Tell me about some of the highlights of your career so far?
Although I am a relatively inexperienced evaluator, I have had a few highlights. Firstly the connection through the AES and the Asia Pacific evaluation scene. As a consultant for EvalYouth (a global network supporting young and emerging evaluators (YEEs)), I have developed a toolkit for Engaging YEEs in Voluntary Organisations for Profession Evaluation (VOPEs) like AES. This was my first international contract. The process involved contacting evaluators from across the globe and hearing their diverse experiences from their different countries. This as a real learning situation which involved hearing about the different practices used across the world. One thing I learned was how supportive the evaluation community is. The kit was developed in July 2020 and published in July 2022, and it did win an AES award! Fairly recently, I have had my first oversea travel to the Philippines for work, and I also attended the AEA conference in New Orleans, where I did a presentation on young people building evaluation careers. Given the workshop was for YEEs, AEA agreed to offer it for free. This was the first time there had ever been a free pre-conference workshop at AEA. I honestly feel how privileged I am to make the connections which I has built over my career to date.
Tell me about some of your aspirations?
This for me is a tricky question to answer at this stage. I certainly want to stay in the field, and I would like to make a difference in the evaluation world. I am currently working on this with a group of other emerging evaluators to establish a local EvalYouth chapter as a way to contribute to the evaluation sector
What would you tell a young person who was considering evaluation as a profession?
I can honestly say that it is an amazing and diverse way to fit your interests and passion and also make a positive difference. I would encourage would-be evaluators to link in with organisations who could assist them such as AES, EvalYouth and other networks; also to volunteer and recognise that it takes a long time to build a career. Another piece of advice I have is to link in with the evaluation community and stick at it until you can build towards your goal.
What are your next steps?
At this stage, I think my next steps will be to consolidate the skills I have built up. Also, I want to continue to build on them, and to focus on the changes in society, and as well, to focus on the EvalYouth chapter for young and emerging evaluators.
Just to explain a bit about EvalYouth. https://evalyouth.org/It was formally launched at the EvalPartner’s series 2nd Global Evaluation Forum held in 2015 by 23 young and emerging evaluators from several countries and regions. It has a dual mandate of engaging young people in evaluation activity as well as making sure that young evaluators are engaged fully and that they contribute to the profession. They do a lot of free capacity building and have webinars on various approaches. It is a global network with regional chapters across the world. They are a passionate and enthusiastic group of people who are making a difference in their chosen profession.