Donna Mertens’ Top Tips for YEEs. Youthful Energy Contribution to the Pursuit of Transformative Evaluation

<p>**8 min read**</p>

The final session of the 2018 American Evaluation Association meeting was devoted to engaging with youth in evaluation; the wonderful surprise was that the panelists were all youth who had worked as evaluators on projects in which they explored strategies for meaningful engagement. The session was chaired by Katie Richards-Schuster and Bianca Montrose-Moorhead; the panelists were Celia C. Soto, Ana Amaya, Jordan Scrimger, Abhijay Kumar, and Qudratullah Jahid. They described the importance of having a theoretical framework to enhance their exploration of authentic engagement and they cited the transformative paradigm as one framework that they found to be useful.

As I authored the book Transformative Research and Evaluation (2009) to which they referred, I felt gratified that my work was viewed as being useful and also excited that the concept of transformation is a part of the youth evaluation agenda.

Transformation is a term that is now being used widely, especially within the international development evaluation community, as a part of the process for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The goals are lofty, including addressing poverty reduction and increase in prosperity, decreasing inequality, supporting positive climate change and environmental improvement, and enhancing peace and justice.

Top Tip 1. Think carefully about how your role as evaluator can support achievement of the SDGs.

As we contemplate the role of evaluators in supporting the achievement of the SDGs, we need to consider some important questions.

What is the meaning of transformation for each of the SDGs in the eyes of the full range of stakeholders?

What are the relevant contextual factors that will impact the world's ability to make progress towards these goals?

What is the nature of the power structure within the evaluation context and how can we respectfully and meaningfully engage with the full range of stakeholders?

What are the cultural values, beliefs, and practices that will serve to support achievement of the goals and those that will impede progress?

How can we collect data about the context and cultural factors in ways that illuminate the experience of those who are most impacted by the lack of progress in these areas (we might call these the marginalized communities)?

How can the data from the contextual and cultural factors be shared with the full range of stakeholders in ways that lead to interventions that are culturally responsive and increase the potential for transformative change?

What are the evaluation strategies that can be used to be inclusive and supportive of all voices in the evaluation context?

How can we use the information from evaluation to improve development and implementation of interventions to support the desired transformative change?

What data collection strategies will allow us to look at the intended and unintended consequences of interventions?

How do we integrate utilization of the evaluation data and findings throughout the evaluation process to support transformative change?

Top Tip 2. Make sure that your work contributes to transformative change, cognizant of different contexts.

I regularly ask the stakeholders that I work with about their vision of transformation. What would transformation look like if we are to improve quality on the basis of gender or disability? The discussions that ensue provide interesting insights and often lead to identification of values and cultural beliefs that can impede or support the enhancement of rights for members of marginalized communities.

For example, Indigenous communities often describe transformation in terms of sovereignty and recognition of their land rights. People with disabilities often describe transformation in terms of respect and supportive access to societal resources and opportunities. Environmental activists often describe transformation in terms of finding harmony between social, environmental and economic justice.

Evaluators have a role to play by building relationships that are culturally responsive and inclusive that allow them to provide data throughout the course of development activities related to achievement of the SDGs.

I am calling upon the evaluation community, old and young alike, to advocate for evaluation approaches that incorporate contextual and cultural analysis as groundwork for decisions about interventions. This expanded role, I argue, increases our potential to contribute to a pathway for constructive action that is transformative.