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Session Title: If Stakeholders Matter, Which Stakeholders do We Listen to First?
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Panel Session 885 to be held in Oceanside on Saturday, Nov 5, 9:50 AM to 11:20 AM
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Sponsored by the AEA Conference Committee
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| Chair(s): |
| Sanjeev Sridharan, University of Toronto, sridharans@smh.ca
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| Abstract:
While working with different stakeholders across evaluations, there are consistent questions about evaluation use driving the discussion regarding the value of the product and to the stakeholders:
- To whom should evaluations be useful?
- How do we get evaluations that meet the needs of all audiences?
- Is this evaluation to be useful for learning, accountability or both?
While responses differ, evaluators worldwide are united in their exploration of these challenges. In Canada, within the context of a renewed federal evaluation policy, preliminary research with representatives from a cross-section of departments suggests a disconnect between evaluation criteria and stakeholder beliefs.
In this panel, we will explore the legitimacy of different stakeholder viewpoints in making judgments of quality, merit or worth of an initiative. A combination of realistic evaluation and contribution analysis offer stakeholders an option by which to explore "what works for whom in what context under what conditions?"
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A Canadian Federal Government Evaluator Perspective
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| Mary Kay Lamarche, Natural Resources Canada, mklamarche@rogers.com
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As a member of the panel, Mary Kay Lamarche provides the perspective of evaluation from a Canadian federal government perspective.
Mary Kay Lamarche is an Evaluation Manager with Natural Resources Canada (NRCan). Having first learned evaluation on the job with Performance Management Network (PMN), she has now been involved with evaluation, performance measurement, strategic/results-based planning in both the public and private sectors for nearly ten years (seven with the public sector). In October 2008, Mary Kay was part of the first cohort graduating from the Graduate Certificate in Program Evaluation at the University of Ottawa, where her research often focused on realist synthesis.
Mary Kay is a member of the Canadian Evaluation Society-National Capital Chapter (CES-NCC) Board and serves as this Chapter's representative on the CES National Council. She is also a member of the American Evaluation Association.
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A Pacific Coast, Independent Consultant Perspective
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| Lisa O'Reilly, Independent Consultant, enquiries@lisaoreilly.ca
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As a member of the panel, Lisa O'Reilly provides the perspective of evaluation from a west coast, independent consultant perspective.
Lisa O'Reilly has worked in public sector policy analysis, strategic planning and evaluation for ten years. Lisa's clients include federal government departments, not-profit organizations and international donor organizations - all with their own language and context. Lisa completed her Masters in Public Administration this year with research on evaluation practices of a minority language group in a peace precarious area.
Lisa O'Reilly has been a member of the CES BC and Yukon Chapter executive for four years. Currently, she is the BC and Yukon representative to CES National Council. Lisa is also a member of the European Evaluation Society and the American Evaluation Association.
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An Academia Perspective
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| Sanjeev Sridharan, University of Toronto, sridharans@smh.ca
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Panel member Sanjeev Sridharan provides international and academic perspectives on evaluation.
He is Director of St Michael's Hospital, Research Scientist at the Centre for Research on Inner City Health Evaluation Centre (Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute) and Associate Professor (Management and Evaluation) at the Department of Health Policy, University of Toronto. Previously, Sanjeev was the Head of the Evaluation Programme and Senior Research Fellow at the Medical School of the University of Edinburgh.
Sanjeev has a strongly interdisciplinary background with a Doctorate in Social Ecology from the University of California at Irvine, Master's in Public Policy from Purdue University, and a Bachelor of Technology degree in Civil Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology. His evaluation projects include health improvement, delinquency prevention initiatives, substance abuse treatment programmes, and justice systems reform interventions. He is on the Board of the Canadian Journal of Program Evaluation and the Evaluation and Program Planning.
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An Internationally Educated Independent Consultant Perspective
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| Jane Whynot, Whynot & Associates, jwhynot@magma.ca
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As a member of the panel, Jane Whynot provides the perspective of an internationally educated, independent evaluation consultant perspective, based in central Canada,
Miss Whynot is a consultant specializing in performance with a background spanning over a decade in independent management for both the public and private sectors. Miss Whynot was an inaugural class member of the graduate diploma in Policy and Program Evaluation at Carleton University. She has continued her evaluation studies at the University of Melbourne in Australia in their Masters of Assessment and Evaluation program with an expected convocation date of December 2010.
Miss Whynot is one of the founding members of the Ottawa area Lunch and Learn for Evaluators in addition to a core member of the Mentoring Working Group. She is also an active volunteer member of the Annual Learning Event Planning Committee of the National Capital Chapter of the CES.
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