Tag Archives: professionalization

Inspiration from Marrakesh by Sarah Farina

The well-organized and visionary Francophone evaluation network (RFE) conference in Marrakesh was an inspiration for me as Co-Chair of this year’s Canadian Evaluation Society Conference.  I had the good fortune to connect with the President of host organization Moroccan Evaluation Association, Jamal Ramdane, Jean-Marie Loncle from the Francophone evaluation network, and Program Coordinator Mouna el Ghormli from the Moroccan Evaluation Association, who gracefully shared their insights on organizing a successful conference with me.  Continue reading

The Evolution of Evaluation as a Community and Profession By Sarah Farina

I’m delighted to be Co-chairing the 2017 CES conference with Chris Lovato.  My first introduction to CES was at the 2010 conference in Victoria. I’d been working in evaluation for many years, including conducting training in monitoring and evaluation.  At that time, though, I wasn’t familiar with evaluation as a discipline.

What struck me most about the conference was how collegial attendees were, and how curious they were to learn.  I enjoyed the sessions I attended, and more than that, I savoured the open and exploratory conversations that took place throughout the event.  Almost every session made me feel like I’d finally come home. People were friendly, used a language I understood, and talked about topics I cared about.  I felt from that time that I was joining a community of people working in the same realm, though the boundaries were still being worked out. Continue reading