Wednesday, April 10, 2013
How Evaluation Can Make You Brilliant
Session Description
Though ‘measurement can save lives’ as Bill Gates pointed out in his annual letter, it often doesn’t. Many times it just occupies time and money, without leading to positive reflection and change. Why is this so? What information should we be gathering? What resources are available and how should we use it? And what, frankly, is pointless? This interactive session, led by philanthropy expert and author Caroline Fiennes, will provide practical advice on using evaluation and measurement to dramatically improve our outcomes. We will use international examples from NGOs, philanthropy, business, medicine, physics…and tennis.
When | Where
13:15 - 14:30
Wednesday, April 10
Lecture Theatre 4
Session leaders
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Director, Analysis & Insight, Skoll Foundation
As Director of Analysis & Insight for the Skoll Foundation, Ehren Reed is responsible for assessing the impact and effectiveness of the foundation’s efforts in order to support ongoing learning and evidence-based decision making.
He was previously a Director of Innovation Network, a Washington, DC-based evaluation consulting firm. He brings over ten years of experience managing research and evaluation projects for grantmakers and grantees in the fields of human services, human rights, and advocacy. He is a diehard promoter of evaluation use and a firm believer in the power of evaluation and learning as a support for effective strategy. He speaks frequently on emerging trends in evaluation and has presented at many sector conferences including Grantmakers for Effective Organizations, the Council on Foundations, Grantmakers in Health, the American Evaluation Association, and the Communications Network.
Ehren earned both a B.A. and M.S. in Education from the University of Connecticut. He is an avid fan of craft beers and Nationals baseball, especially when combined.
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Director, Giving Evidence
Caroline Fiennes is Director of Giving Evidence, a consultancy and campaign promoting evidence-based giving. Giving Evidence advises many donors about understanding and improving their effectiveness. It has a major study underway of how philanthropy can learn from medicine about using evidence, and supports foundations to disclose tales of challenges as well as success: it's hard to make data-driven decisions if lots of data are missing.
Caroline often speaks publicly and writes in the press, and authored 'It Ain't What You Give', an acclaimed book about effective giving. She serves on boards of The Cochrane Collaboration, the Center for Effective Philanthropy and Charity Navigator, and was an award-winning charity CEO.
