Experience of being a member of Gender and Evaluation Community

[Monika Banerjee]

Dear All,

I am Monika Banerjee working as a Research Fellow at the Institute of Social Studies Trust (ISST), New Delhi. I am currently trying to compile the Annual Report of ISST for the year 2020-21.

As you know that this online platform on Gender and Evaluation is being hosted by ISST since 2013 and we at ISST are extremely happy to see the way your participation is constantly strengthening this platform year after year.

This year for the annual report, we thought of including some reflections on the experiences of being part of this large family. It will also give us an understanding of areas where gains are visible and those where more work is required. Therefore, I request you to kindly help us in posting some of your reflections in terms of your experiences of being a member of this gender and eval online community.

We would like to know what has been your experience till date of being a member of this online community and in what way has it helped your work and career.

Hoping to hear from you all soon.

warm regards,

Monika

[Leigh Dowsett]

There are really excellent webinars held regularly on this platform... hearing real life experiences....

[Elisabetta Micaro]

Dear All, 

I am an M&E practitioner, currently working with AWID and previously with Universalia Management Group (2006-2015) (sharing this info in case helpful to 'contextualize' responses). I really enjoy the community as an information & knowledge sharing platform. I have used it so far mostly for webinars - very informative - and training opportunities.

In terms of areas for improvement in this area I am more familiar with, if possible at all, to support more coordination among the numerous webinar/training events as there are periods where many events are at the same time/same day/same week and it becomes overwhelming. I am wondering whether there is something like a shared online calendar where organisers (at least those who more frequently organise online events) can indicate when their session will happen so that others know and, if possible, try to schedule their event at a different moment. 

I hope this is helpful feedback

Warm regards,

Elisabetta

[Jolanda]

Hi Monika, I join the previous exchanges. It is a platform offering access to new methodologies, observe trends, learn about new opportunities.  

Warm regards, Jolanda

[Sonia Jemmotte]

Dear Monika

Hello from Brussels

Many thanks for asking. I really appreciate that your community facilitates being connected with evaluators and even better, gender evaluators around the world. It is challenging to make it to events and I am new to the network.

I support my DG's evidence based policy development, which means broadly designing and contracting out research and evaluation projects. However, I also do private consulting on equality issues.

I am interested in evaluation methods but also evaluation findings. I am very much looking forward to being an active member of your community.

For suggestions, it would be great if seminars and events were recorded and links to the recordings and materials shared (reports, powerpoint presentations) were posted on your website. If this already exists then ignore this advice. I would add keep up the great work. 

Kind Regards

Sonia

[Nite Tanzarn]

Hi Monika,

This is one of the most consistent online community of practice that is not only informative but also shares work opportunities. The platform has become even more relevant during the COVID-19 pandemic and the need for remote working, organizing, collaborating etc.

Thank you

Nite 

[Silva Ferretti]

Hello! This is a very important community. In the last few months I did not have much time to participate to discussions and events. But even the prompt received from you are important! The occasional email about events  are a reminder to keep the concerns you (we!) advocate for always in my mind. :-) Thanks also for the great facilitation, this is really a lively community.  And thanks to the ISST to support such an important resources. It is really great to see institutions working for  the common good, and in the long term.

[Prince Devison Nze]

I joined the gender and evaluation community some few years ago and since then have benefited a lot from the informed and resources shared by other network members especially in the area of gender evaluation methodologies, impact assessment and research works.

Regards,

Prince Devison 

[Vennila Thevarajah]

This is a great platform to learn more about Gender and Evaluation. I follow most of the webinars and training facilitated through this platform. These are good opportunities for networking with professionals with same interests. Thank you for positing and notifying about the events.

[Fabiola Amariles]

Dear Monika,

This is a very strong network that I joined in 2015, during the creation of EvalGender+ of EvalPartners. Since then, the community has been a very valuable meeting point with colleagues around the world who share their experiences and knowledge to grow as professionals.

Our gatherings at international evaluation meetings, both face-to-face and virtual, have also been wonderful! I feel like this has been my home and school for gender and evaluation knowledge all these years.

Thanks to Rituu for connecting us and for always being there, ready to support all our initiatives.

A hug for everyone, wherever you are.

Fabiola Amariles, Learning for Impact, Corp., Miami, FL, USA & Cali, Colombia

[Carmel Marock]

This platform has been one that i really value - both because of its regular communication about events and seminars taking place and directs us to resources that are useful.

I also really appreciate the extent to which even though we are on line there is effort to connect us and even wish us well and make us feel personally connected.

I look forward to being part of this network going forward.

[Sunita Singh]

Experience

Although I am not a very active member, it is a blessing to be connected with the experts. Rituu is prompt in her response. Highly expert and focused group. It is good to read emails and learn about new ideas and insights. Thanks for all your continued endless efforts 

Best wishes 

Sunita 

[Rex Joshua]

Initiatives like this wither off, over time. But it is to the credit of ISST, Rituu and others in the team that this has survived and thrived for so long. I read most of the posts that appear through this link. I have even attended a few. 

Apart from this, care is also taken to ensure that the correct contact details are updated for members in the forum. These things do not happen automatically and require time and resources. Thanks to the team. 

My only suggestion is that a link could be used to immediately find the timings of the webinar in our timezone quickly. A minor ask, but otherwise grateful for this resource built over the years. 

Rex