aes22 International Evaluation Conference

Samantha Togni (S2 Consulting)

Panellists: Valerie Martin, Peggy Granites, Robyn Lawson, Karina Menkhorst, Peter Marin, Samantha Togni, Marjorie Brown

Over three years developmental evaluation supported the co-design of a financial governance training program aimed at strengthening the capacity of directors of two First Nations corporations in remote Australia who receive income from mining. Operating at the interface of different knowledge systems, laws and values, this co-design process involved Indigenous directors, land council staff and corporate and financial governance trainers. Developmental evaluation offered an approach that engaged all parties and centred the Indigenous directors’ values and perspectives in the co-design.

Relationships are central to developmental evaluation as it harnesses the knowledge and experience of all stakeholders engaged in the co-design of new initiatives in complex contexts. Developmental evaluation de-centres the evaluator ‘expert’; instead, situating the evaluator within the co-design team to facilitate evaluative thinking and iterative learning. Understanding how developmental evaluation practice supports culturally safe Indigenous-led co-design is important. Directors, land council staff, trainers and the evaluator will share their experiences of weaving together the co-design, learning and evaluation processes.

In conversation with the evaluator, panellists will share how they engaged in the developmental evaluation ensuring that it became integral to the co-design process and the training program delivery. They will explore how, not only was the training program transformed to align with Indigenous ways of learning through the centring of the directors’ values and perspectives in the evaluation, but there was reciprocal learning: the directors learned about financial governance and investing and the land council and trainers learned about delivering effective financial governance training in this context. This reciprocity enhanced relationships and built trust between the stakeholders, which further enhanced the learning environment and the training’s effectiveness.

When there is readiness and capacity for developmental evaluation, this approach can effectively centre First Nations people’s values and perspectives to strengthen relationships and the evaluation’s quality to support Indigenous aspirations.