Panelists: Isabel Cascante, Dr. Gillian Kerr, Dr. Keiko Kuji-Shikatani, Varsha Naik, Chris Penrose, and Micaella Riche
Host: Donna Howard
Presenters: Dr. A. Sidiq (Sid) Ali, Dr. Cameron Norman, Dr. Paul Favaro, Heidi Schaeffer, and Marshal Rodrigues
Presenters: Paul Bakker, Stephanie Gee, Rachel Harris, Rachel Laxer, and Elaine Stavnitzky
Hosts: Dawn Campbell-Borland, Harry Cummings,Dr. Paul Favaro, Stephanie Gee, Rachel Harris, Marisha Holmberg, Rachel Laxer, Magda Montagnese, Betty Onyura, and Hema Vyas
Presenters: Tanya Darisi, Alecia Korkowski, Vanessa Parlette, John Roberts, and Vivien Underdown Tanya Darisi, Alecia Korkowski, Vanessa Parlette, John Roberts, and Vivien Underdown
Dr. A. Sidiq (Sid) Ali, Ph.D. is an expert in program evaluation, assessment system development management and evaluation, and data visualization. His research and work interests include program evaluation capacity-building, licensure and certification programs and performance measurement. He is a CES Credentialed Evaluator.
Session: Methods Masterclass: Five Quick and Easy Tips for Better Data Visualization
Find Sid online on LinkedIn and at Research & Evaluation Consulting, Inc.
Paul Bakker, C.E. runs his independent evaluation consulting practice, Social Impact Squared. His evaluation projects are typically for non-profits or provincial government agencies in the areas of education, health, employment, youth development. His wide range of experience includes using developmental evaluation approaches to carrying out quasi-experimental designs, and has increasingly been using the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework and Principles-Focused Evaluation to guide his work. Paul has organized Evaluation Café events since 2011.
Session: Communities of Practice: Re-Imagining Evaluation Café Ontario
Find Paul online on Twitter, LinkedIn and at Social Impact Squared.
Dawn Campbell-Borland has been with Canada Life as part of the Strategy Planning and Execution team since 2016. Her work is focused on strategic portfolios enabling execution and performance capability. Dawn works with leaders and teams to align the organization, its people, and systems, helping shape opportunities, and solve for sticky challenges.Prior to that she worked at KPMG working with Global teams and with Hydro One through significant transformation. Her experience with a variety of sectors and industries translates to insights on what it takes to transform and the organization and people dynamics that make a difference to results and to making work work.
Session: Communities of Practice Networking: Connecting students and new practitioners with established evaluators
Isabel Cascante has over 20 years of research, evaluation, and program management experience in academia and the not-for-profit sector. Currently, in her role as director of research, public policy and evaluation with United Way Greater Toronto, Isabel is responsible for developing and implementing the organization’s research and evaluation strategies, based on a strong evidence base, a commitment to addressing systemic discrimination, and a solid foundation of partnerships and relationships. Isabel believes strongly in collaborative learning and leadership and the need to integrate the strengths and perspectives of all stakeholders involved and affected by conversations and initiatives. Isabel holds a BEd from the University of Regina, a BA and MA from the University of Calgary, and a PhD in literature and cultural studies from the University of Toronto.
Session: Evaluation Today and Future Opportunities
Find Isabel online on Twitter, LinkedIn, and at United Way Greater Toronto.
Harry Cummings is the Director of Harry Cummings and Associates (HCA) which was established in 1997. Harry has a Masters and Ph.D. in Geography from Clark University in Massachusetts and a B.A. (HON) Geography from Western University in London, Ontario. He is a Registered Professional Planner (RPP) and Credentialed Evaluator. He speaks English, Indonesian and French fluently. Harry worked in Ottawa for the International Development Research Center and the Canadian Council on Rural Development. He followed this with a position with the University of British Columbia in Sulawesi, Indonesia where he directed approximately 20 professional Indonesian and Canadian Planners in the development of a regional development strategy. He has worked as a private consultant on regional economic development issues with Alberta, the Federal Government, Indigenous Metis and First Nation Communities. From 1982 to 2016 he taught International and Canadian Rural Planning as a Professor at the University of Guelph. Harry is a Past President of the Canadian Evaluation Society with its 1700 members nationwide.
Session: Communities of Practice Networking: Connecting students and new practitioners with established evaluators
Tanya Darisi is co-founder of Openly, a certified B-Corp™ company that exists to fuel the hearts and work of changemakers everywhere. As the Mistress of Measurement, Tanya is known for bringing methodological expertise, thoughtful analysis, and disruptive lines of questioning to her clients’ pursuit of meaningful social impact. Tanya is a volunteer Board member and one of the founding partners of RhyzeVentures, a national program designed to support women entrepreneurs, where she continues to mentor other social purpose leaders.
Session: Advancements and Innovations in Evaluation: Leading in Times of Uncertainty & Complexity
Fine Tanya online at Openly.
Dr. Paul Favaro has taught numerous courses in curriculum design, research methodology, organizational behavior, and program/policy evaluation. He also conducts numerous professional training workshops and conference presentations in program evaluation, performance measurement, and organizational development. The main focus of his consulting and teaching approach is on putting theory and research into practice. Throughout his career, he has worked as an organizational and research consultant to a wide variety of government ministries, educational and health organizations, charitable foundations, and community-based programs. He has a fellowship in the Canadian Evaluation Society and is a Credentialed Evaluator.
Sessions: Methods Masterclass: Performance Measurement: From Theory to Practice to Transformation; Communities of Practice Networking: Community-Based Participatory Evaluation
Stephanie Gee is an applied researcher, specializing in program development and evaluation. Driven by a deep commitment to social justice, her work has focused on addressing social inequality and inequity. Employing participatory methodologies and processes, Stephanie has worked with diverse communities and organizations to develop, implement, evaluate, and improve programs and services aimed at creating meaningful and positive change. Since 2017, Stephanie has worked at the Region of Peel – Public Health as a Program Evaluation Advisor. In collaboration with her colleagues, she seeks to enhance effective public health practice through building individual and organizational capacity for program planning and evaluation.
Session: Community of Practice: How a Community of Practice Supported Public Health Evaluators During COVID-19
Rachel Harris is an evaluator, facilitator, and educator who is passionate about community-based and participatory research methods, meaningful knowledge exchange, and health equity. Her favourite days consist of brainstorming research/evaluation design, building relationships, facilitating large groups, getting out into the field, and making people laugh. Since November, Rachel has been a Program Evaluation Coordinator at the City of Hamilton Public Health Services.
Session: Community of Practice: How a Community of Practice Supported Public Health Evaluators During COVID-19
Marisha Holmberg works in the public sector and aims to develop strong evaluation practices with her team and professional network. With an interest in strategic planning and storytelling with data Marisha supports evidence-informed planning and continuous improvements and most recently is expanding her skills to include emergency management. Marisha is also a member of the CES-ON Board of Directors and Co-Chair of the PD Committee.
Session: Communities of Practice Networking: Connecting students and new practitioners with established evaluators
Donna Howard is a Non-Profit Director, international educator and government policy advisor, specializing in program management, stakeholder relations and evaluation. Donna began her career as a teacher, working in a remote community 1000km from her birth city of Perth, Western Australia (WA). She went on to gain her Masters’ in Education from Perth and University of Maine in the US. Donna’s career moved from education to health promotion, policy development and research. Donna successfully developed and led program teams, with both Toronto Public Health, and Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport. Donna led the $13.5 Million Provincial After School Program, servicing over 20,000 children and youth at 320 sites. The success of this program, along with its in-depth evaluation- resulted in Donna and her team, receiving the Amethyst Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Public Service. In 2015 Donna became a credentialed evaluator.
Dr. Gillian Kerr is an organizational psychologist and cofounder of Logical Outcomes, a Canadian non-profit that develops shared measurement systems for funders and non-profit organizations. Gillian is systems architect for SIS (the Service Information System), the evaluation platform used by the Ontario Trillium Foundation to track grants results across Ontario. She is currently developing open source applications for evaluation and case management using the Nonprofit Common Data Model on Power Apps.
Session: Evaluation Today and Future Opportunities
Find Gillian online at Logical Outcomes.
Alecia Korkowski identifies as a white cis woman. She has been the Manager, Community Investment with United Way Halton & Hamilton for going on five years. Previous to that, she volunteered with a number of Hamilton-based non-profits doing everything from fundraising to serving food at a men’s shelter. She is very fond of any form of artistic expression and loves a good comedy podcast.
Session: Advancements and Innovations in Evaluation: Co-Creating Impact with Non Profits: United Way Halton & Hamilton Investment Framework Case Study
Find the United Way Halton & Hamilton online.
Dr. Keiko Kuji-Shikatani, C.E., OCT, as an intentional evaluator, sees it as our responsibility to be cognizant that evaluators are change agents who needs to start from a place of caring surfacing voices and issues, so equity is not just a concept but a reality in a good way. The pandemic is showing us that individuals matter and systems matter, as the decisions made by both individuals and systems are having real consequences for everyone. Grounded as an internal evaluator in the public service, Keiko tries to embed evaluative thinking in collaborative teams to build sector capacity for the use of evidence to inform decisions and practice. An expert on evaluation capacity building, evaluator competencies & professionalization, she was instrumental in the development, operationalization of the CES CE & documented in CJPE for the use of VOPEs around the world. She is also a Credentialing Board Member.
Rachel Laxer is an Evaluation Specialist in Health Promotion, Chronic Disease and Injury Prevention at Public Health Ontario. For her graduate work, Rachel focused on identifying ways to improve child and youth health behaviours, employing mostly quantitative research methods. After competing in the Canadian Evaluation Society’s National Student Case Competition (and coming in second) while pursuing her PhD, Rachel realized her affinity for evaluation and sought out opportunities to enhance her evaluation skills through consultant and volunteer roles. Rachel is passionate about building relationships and making connections to enhance evaluation practice among public health units in Ontario.
Session: Community of Practice: How a Community of Practice Supported Public Health Evaluators During COVID-19
Magda Montagnese is a Funder and Principal Director at Seaqit Consulting.
Varsha Naik is the Executive Director with the Regional Diversity Roundtable of Peel. She is an experienced Community Liaison with a demonstrated history of working in the primary/secondary education industry. She is a strong community and social services professional skilled in Nonprofit Organizations, Youth Development, Coaching, Program Evaluation, and Case Management.
Cameron Norman is a credentialed evaluator with more than 25 years experience working with innovation and evaluation. He is the Principal and President of Cense Ltd. and serves as an educator, evaluator, and design professional working with clients mostly in the healthcare, non-profit, and government sectors. He’s based in Toronto.
Session: Methods Masterclass: Visual Methods for Developmental Evaluation and Learning
Find Cameron online on Twitter, LinkedIn, on his blog Censemaking, and at Cense Ltd.
Betty Onyura is an evaluation scientist-practitioner, primarily based at the Centre for Faculty Development, at Unity Health Toronto. She is also a member of the CES-ON Board of Directors.
Vanessa Parlette is a Senior Associate at Social Impact Advisors, where she builds processes and pathways to guide organizations to define the social impact they aim to achieve and build the strategies to get them there. She is also the outgoing Program Director of the Data Policy Coalition at Powered by Data, where she worked with 40+ nonprofit advocacy groups, service providers, and funders to advance a collective nonprofit voice on data policy. She brings 15 years of experience working across community and government sectors in developing, implementing, and evaluating evidence-based and community-driven strategies towards health and social equity alongside diverse partners from grassroots to senior leadership.
Session: Advancements and Innovations in Evaluation: Ontario’s Data Strategy: Questions and Opportunities for Evaluators
Find Vanessa online on Twitter, LinkedIn and at Social Impact Advisors.
Chris Penrose joined Lay-Up as Program Director in November of 2019. Having worked in roles in the non-profit sector and media for close to 20 years, Chris brings a unique perspective to the ways that creativity and culture intersect with the lived realities in communities across the GTA. System-thinking is at the core of his approach to youth programming, having completed a Masters Diploma in Social Innovation at the University of Waterloo. Chris understands life through basketball analogies and sees sport as a gateway to positive impact in every area of life. He is also a writer and creative producer working across the creative industries, including founding the CONVENE conversation series and podcast and exhibiting his first photography installation, PORTRAIT OF A STREET, which was a part of Nuit Blanche in 2018 inside of Scarborough Town Centre.
Session: Evaluation Today and Future Opportunities
Find Lay-Up Youth Basketball online on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, and at Lay-Up.
Micaella Riche joined Lay-Up as Basketball Operations Manager in February 2020. She brings playing experience at the provincial and national level, as well as in the NCAA at the University of Minnesota where she completed her Bachelor’s Degree in Kinesiology. She went on to Kansas State University to complete her Master’s in Counseling and Student Development while coaching and assisting in recruiting operations with the Wildcats. Since then, she played professionally overseas and has worked as a National Scout identifying elite talent across Canada.
Session: Evaluation Today and Future Opportunities
Find Lay-Up Youth Basketball online on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, and at Lay-Up.
John Roberts is the Chief Privacy Officer, Archivist of Ontario, and acting Chief Information Security Officer at Ontario’s Ministry of Government and Consumer Services. He has over 30 years of experience ranging from operational, policy, and senior leadership roles to government information management and digital government initiatives. His extensive knowledge of information management and privacy protection has contributed to his numerous achievements in policy, strategy, and legislative modernization to support data and information practice in government. Since arriving in Ontario in 2015 he has overseen the development of the OPS Recordkeeping, Access and Privacy Transformation Strategy, the Archives of Ontario’s successful Ontario 150 commemoration program, and been part of multi-ministry leadership on enterprise data integration work.
Session: Advancements and Innovations in Evaluation: Ontario’s Data Strategy: Questions and Opportunities for Evaluators
Find John online on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Marshal Rodrigues is a Principal Associate at Blueprint-ADE where she excels at providing evaluation support and capacity building to organizations across Canada. Her driving purpose is to see her clients increase the validity and rigour of their own evaluation capacity. Marshal believes that maximizing participation through innovative and user-friendly methodology is key to best outcomes. Marshal is viewed as a trusted conduit for participants to share their stories and experiences enabling them to be transformed into actionable recommendations and meaningful change.
Session: Methods Masterclass: Expanding Online Data Collection Beyond Surveys
Find Marshal online on LinkedIn and at Blueprint ADE.
Heidi Schaeffer is the founder of Advancing Change Together (ACT) consulting. ACT focuses on aligning groups, organizations and networks for better outcomes. She is an Outcome Mapping and Outcome Harvesting practitioner and trainer with experience designing, monitoring and evaluating community health and wellbeing interventions. She has a Master’s in transformative adult learning and over 15 years of experience facilitating inclusion and equity focused strategy, organizational learning, innovation and community-governance with health care, public health and social service organizations. Heidi is the former chair (2014- 2020) and currently a steward of the global Outcome Mapping Learning Community.
Session: Methods Masterclass: Learning Outcome Harvesting (OH) Experientially
Find Heidi online on LinkedIn, Twitter and at Advancing Change Together (ACT).
Elaine Stavnitzky co-leads the Water-Well Eval Café. She has experience leading and implementing a wide range of complex strategic, programmatic and quality assurance processes to support leadership, staff, communities and children in international development and humanitarian aid programs since 2002. To date her expertise has covered on-going learning and improvement in 30 countries across 15 sectors, including gender equality and youth. Elaine is passionate about developing systems that ensure people have right-sized information to trigger change making decisions. She gets a high from experiencing with others the “a-ha” moment that tip the balance for transformation at the individual, community and/or systems level.
Session: Communities of Practice: Re-Imagining Evaluation Café Ontario
Find Elaine on LinkedIn.
Vivien Underdown (she/her) has worked with United Way Halton & Hamilton for over two years leading strategic initiatives and capacity building efforts in support of community impact. Part of her work includes supporting the organization and other non-profits to strengthen impact evaluation. Vivien is also an avid gardener and has 54 houseplants to make life a little greener.
Session: Advancements and Innovations in Evaluation: Co-Creating Impact with Non Profits: United Way Halton & Hamilton Investment Framework Case Study
Find the United Way Halton & Hamilton online.
Hema Vyas dreams big and draws roadmaps to get there. As a program evaluator, she believes in measuring performance to goals and working to ensure programs are strengthening the communities served. Her favourite jobs include the one that she has now in quality assurance at Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. She gets to ask questions, follow her curiosity, work with a team to build a plan to examine whether and how goals are reached efficiently, and share what she learns. She has worked on programs with budgets from $5000 into the billions to build practical performance measurement systems that people can rely on to measure effectiveness, efficiency and growth towards purpose. Experience includes quality assurance, program evaluation, performance metrics in private consulting, government and non-profit sectors. Work and research experience in Japan, India and Canada.