The International Organization for Cooperation in Evaluation (IOCE) joins current co-leaders, UNFPA Independent Evaluation Office, EvalYouth Global Network, and the Global Parliamentarians Forum for Evaluation as a co-leader of Eval4Action.  IOCE has been representing national and regional voluntary organizations for professional evaluation (VOPEs) for 25 years, strengthening international collaboration for influential evaluation through the exchange of evaluation methods, theories and practice around the world. With many shared VOPE partners among Eval4Action and IOCE, this collaboration promises to unite the evaluation community even further and extend our collective reach on a global scale.  This new partnership comes at a pivotal time for Eval4Action, as it gets ready for the upcoming Summit for the future of Evaluation ,  marking the 5th year of the campaign.

Read updates on the campaign activities and news from partners around the world. If you would like to receive the newsletter directly in your inbox, sign up to receive Eval4Action updates here . As an individual advocate or a partner network, if you have news or information to share with the Eval4Action community, please write to contact@eval4action.org .

By Alex Nordman-Becker and Steve Mumford University of New Orleans Intergenerational collaboration in evaluation creates space for young and emerging evaluators to help shape the evaluation field. While experienced evaluators bring years of knowledge and training to evaluations, young and emerging evaluators hold potential to challenge norms and find innovative approaches guided by their lived experiences. This blog explores the reflections of a New Orleans-based evaluation team navigating the benefits, challenges, and lessons learned as a multigenerational team. Learning through community partners Alex met Steve through her doctorate programme because of her interest in community-based evaluations. Steve became her advisor and engaged her as a graduate research assistant supporting his evaluation work. Together, we worked on a year-long evaluation for the New Orleans Youth Master Plan (YMP). The New Orleans YMP is a 10-year plan created through the New Orleans Children and Youth Planning Board (CYPB), a planning board made up of community members and staff who work to drive change that improves outcomes for children and youth in Orleans Parish from birth to 24 years old. Throughout this evaluation, we benefitted from the youth-centered values of the client and programme, which constantly reminded our team to listen to youth voices and respect their expertise. Our intergenerational evaluation experience Alex: Finding my voice as an emerging evaluator As a young and emerging evaluator working on my first evaluation project, I felt thrown into deep water and I had not yet learned to swim. I was fortunate to have in Steve a mentor who created space for me to discover my own rhythm. Mentorship is an important piece to intergenerational collaboration but must be intentional as it can reinforce unequal dynamics where mentors hold knowledge to impart to the mentee and the mentee is to learn and absorb the teaching. This model of mentorship dismisses the experiences and expertise that the mentee could bring to the relationship. In contrast, youth mentorship in evaluation is a shared journey where values transcend knowledge transferred and that focuses on the growth, support, and relationships built. Mentorship also has the potential to be transformative where the mentor and mentee learn and gain new experiences from each other. My experience with Steve and the YMP evaluation embodied what transformational mentorship can look like. Receiving a master’s in clinical mental health counseling focusing on children and youth, I found I had skills that applied to evaluation like building rapport and facilitating groups. Steve showed genuine respect and interest in my experiences in counseling and being a young person. I felt comfortable challenging Steve at times to consider the deeper incorporation of youth, driven by my counseling experiences. A challenge I experienced while working on our multigenerational team was feeling limited at times to only speak to the youth pieces of the evaluation. A challenge I experienced while working on our multigenerational team was feeling limited at times to only speak to the youth pieces of the evaluation. For example, I lead the youth focus group, but Steve took the lead for adult interviews. Although we were a multigenerational team, intergenerational collaboration was limited by primarily working with participants that reflected our age groups. This generational divide was also reflected in our evaluation findings, where both youth and adult YMP members noted that they also wished for more intentional intergenerational collaboration within the organization such as joint youth and adult board meetings. Steve: How I learned from Alex    I’ve been working in the evaluation field for more than 15 years and have conducted a wide variety of evaluations in different teams. However, prior to evaluating the YMP, I had never considered how to intentionally collaborate across generations within evaluation. As an educator, I believe strongly in nurturing and supporting emerging evaluators. But I also slip into my role as a professor and the power dynamics that carries with it, engaging young people in a more instructional manner as opposed to on equal footing. The YMP’s emphasis on honoring youth voices, and my experience working with Alex, changed all that. Throughout the YMP evaluation, I saw first-hand how Alex’s positionality as a young person and emerging evaluator benefitted our team. For instance, Alex was able to more quickly build rapport with the youth participants in our evaluation and encourage candor, as she did when conducting a focus group with youth leaders. Alex’s contributions extended beyond our team’s interactions with youth, though, and offered a fresh perspective on all aspects of the evaluation. The collaboration became a trusting two-way relationship that provided constructive feedback, benefitting both of us. At the same time, our team contended with a constant gravitational pull towards deference to age and experience, in part because of our location within a university. I was addressed as Dr. Mumford, even by Alex, while she was addressed by her first name. When we presented our findings, despite our careful efforts to divide sections between us, I found myself talking over her at times to reiterate points I thought needed emphasis. I had to reflect on these experiences and acknowledge where I had fallen short, and Alex helped me do that. The collaboration became a trusting two-way relationship that provided constructive feedback, benefitting both of us. At the final YMP evaluation presentation, Alex and Steve present their findings to youth and adult members of the Children and Youth Planning Board (CYPB). (Photo courtesy of New Orleans CYPB and Lavonte Lucas) A lesson in intentionality and balance Multigenerational teams face the challenge of not falling into the old patterns of adultism that shape our society. There needs to be a more equal and fair division of labour but also support and learning opportunities for the emerging evaluator. Intergenerational collaboration requires a careful balance that is easier said than done within all of the contextual constraints. To young and emerging evaluators, be confident in knowing you have experiences that add value to evaluations. Communicate your needs to mentors and team members, from leading interviews to adding your own knowledge based on lived experiences. To older evaluators, realize that your younger colleagues have important perspectives to offer if you step back and listen. Intergenerational collaboration allows for two-way mentoring, where the mentor can learn from the mentee in return. Evaluations face challenging constraints, such as pressures around time, resources, and client expectations. These pressures can have the side effect of privileging expertise and professional experience and deemphasizing opportunities for two-way mentorship and intergenerational collaboration. However, if we make space for younger colleagues to shine, supporting them along the way, we become a stronger team. Alex Nordman-Becker is a young and emerging evaluator from New Orleans, LA. Alex is currently pursuing her PhD in Justice Studies at the University of New Orleans with a focus on youth-focused evaluations and Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR). She also serves as the data manager/lead analyst for the New Orleans Children and Youth Planning Board. Connect with Alex on LinkedIn . Steve Mumford, PhD, is a tenured Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of New Orleans, where he directs the Master of Public Administration (MPA) program and served as founding Coordinator of the PhD in Justice Studies. He recently co-edited the Research Handbook on Program Evaluation with Kathryn Newcomer. Disclaimer: The content of the blog is the responsibility of the author(s) and does not necessarily reflect the views of Eval4Action co-leaders and partners.

The Summit for the Future of Evaluation will be held on 29-30 May 2025 in Colombo, Sri Lanka as a featured event at the Evaluation Conclave 2025. 29-30 May 2025 | Colombo, Sri Lanka Overview Evaluation Conclave 2025 Register Day 1 Day 2 Friday May 30, 2025 9:00 AM - 9:45 AM GMT+5:30 Hybrid event Register online From young and emerging evaluators to international leaders: Youth in evaluation stars About the event Chair Marco Segone (Director, UNFPA Independent Evaluation Office) Names of speakers will be announced at the session Friday May 30, 2025 9:45 AM - 10:30 AM GMT+5:30 Hybrid event Register online The future of EvalYouth and Eval4Action: From EvalYouth+10 and Eval4Action+5 to EvalYouth+20 and Eval4Action+15 About the event Moderator Gabriela Renteria Flores (Former Chair, EvalYouth Global Network) Speakers EvalYouth regional and global representatives Eval4Action campaign partners across stakeholder groups Friday May 30, 2025 11:00 AM - 12:00 AM GMT+5:30 In-person event Add to calendar Multi-stakeholder and intergenerational partnership to shape thefuture of evaluation About the event Moderator Michael Quinn Patton, Former President, American Evaluation Association Speakers Nino Chckheli (Management Group Member, EvalYouth) Ada Ocampo (President, International Development Evaluation Association) Natalia Nikitenko (Member, Global Parliamentarians Forum for Evaluation) Kai Brand-Jacobsen (Senior Advisor, Independent Evaluation Department, Norwegian Development Cooperation) Ruchi Kaushik (Lady Irwin College, India) Daniel Alonso Valckx (Evaluation Specialist, UNICEF) Friday May 30, 2025 12:00 PM - 13:30 PM GMT+5:30 In-person event Add to calendar Joint closing of the Evaluation Conclave and Summit for the Future of Evaluation About the event Details coming soon Day 1

The Decade of Evaluation for Action, also known as the #Eval4Action campaign, to accelerate progress on the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. influential evaluation. better decisions. better results. better policies. get involved Registrations open! Get ready for the most exciting event in the evaluation space! Learn more A featured event at the Evaluation Conclave 2025 29-30 May 2025 | Colombo, Sri Lanka Your special delivery is here! Find resources to initiate and enhance meaningful youth engagement in evaluation Unbox your toolbox Standards for enhancing meaningful engagement of youth in evaluation 2024-2025 Tailored standards for academia, governments, international organizations, the private sector, VOPEs/EvalYouth chapters and youth organizations learn more latest 1000 signatories Sign the manifesto IOCE is now a partner of #Eval4Action #Eval4Action March Newsletter Subscribe Achieving balance within intergenerational programme evaluation By Alex Nordman-Becker and Steve Mumford #Eval4Action is a SDG Good Practice events tracker Datawrapper

The Summit for the Future of Evaluation will be held on 29-30 May 2025 in Colombo, Sri Lanka as a featured event at the Evaluation Conclave 2025. 29-30 May 2025 | Colombo, Sri Lanka Overview Evaluation Conclave 2025 Register Day 1 Day 2 Thursday May 29, 2025 2:00 PM - 2:45 PM GMT+5:30 Hybrid event Register online The significance of the United Nations Pact for the Future for the future of evaluation About the event Moderator Khalil Bitar (President, International Organization for Cooperation in Evaluation) Opening Remarks Natalia Kanem (Executive Director, UNFPA) Felipe Paullier (Assistant Secretary-General for Youth Affairs, United Nations) Talk show Marco Segone (Director, UNFPA Independent Evaluation Office) Ana Erika Lareza (Chair, EvalYouth Global Network) Kabir Hashim (Chair, Global Parliamentarians Forum for Evaluation) Rajib Nandi (Chairperson, Community of Evaluators –South Asia) Thursday May 29, 2025 2:45 PM - 3:30 PM GMT+5:30 Hybrid event Register online 2025 Youth in Evaluation Champions Awards About the event Moderator EvalYouth Executive Committee Thursday May 29, 2025 4:00 PM - 5:30 PM GMT+5:30 In-person event Add to calendar Roundtable: Shaping the future of evaluation with AI and youth About the event Moderator and Lead Presentation Neha Karkara (Team Lead, Communications, Knowledge Management and AI, UNFPA Independent Evaluation Office; Co-convenor UNEG Working Group on AI) Experts & co-faciliators Arshee Rizvi (Lead, AI and ML, Data Intelligence Unit, India) Zach Tilton (Tech-enabled Evaluation Specialist, MerlTech, USA) Day 2