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AES Blog

Welcome to the AES Blog

Australasia has some excellent evaluators. More than that, we have an evaluation community full of ideas and a willingness to share. The AES has long provided a place for us to come together, at regional events and the annual conference, to develop our community together. Now we’re taking it online! The new AES blog will be a space for AES members – both new and experienced – to share their perspectives, reflecting on their theory... If you have an idea, please contact us on blog@aes.asn.au. Please also view our blog guidelines.

In conversation with AES Fellow Nan Wehipeihana

by Anthea Rutter

Members who have made a long-term and wide-ranging contribution to the AES and the field of evaluation are recognised through a special category of membership called 'Fellow of the AES'.

Nan was made a Fellow in 2021. She has been in the evaluation profession since the late 1980s. For more than 20 years Nan has run an independent evaluation company in Wellington New Zealand. Nan builds evaluation teams on a project-by-project basis. She brings together evaluators with a broad mix of skills and experience tailored to meet the evaluation, whether that is in a government, community, or tribal context. Nan comes to evaluation with business, retail management, market research and social policy experience. She decided to set up an evaluation company because of the highly variable quality of evaluations she was managing and because she wanted to make a difference for Māori. Nan has been a member of the AES since the late 80s. As well as being co-opted onto the AES Board she was part of the Wellington Chapter and has been involved in the NZ conferences and running workshops for the AES. 

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In conversation with AES Fellow Amohia Boulton

by Anthea Rutter Members who have made a long-term and wide-ranging contribution to the AES and the field of evaluation are recognised through a special category of membership called 'Fellow of the AES'. Amohia Boulton was made a Fellow in 2022, having been in and contributing to the evaluation profession since th...

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In conversation with AES Fellow Dorothy Lucks

by Anthea Rutter

Members who have made a long-term and wide-ranging contribution to the AES and the field of evaluation are recognised through a special category of membership called 'Fellow of the AES'.
 
Dorothy Lucks was made a Fellow in 2021, having been in and contributing to the evaluation profession since the 1990s. Dorothy is the Managing Director of a WA based company, SDF Global, and specialises in the field of sustainable development. A long-time member of the local WA branch of the AES, Dorothy was also a member of the International Relations Committee for the AES Board.
 
In this blog, Dorothy speaks with Anthea Rutter (Research Fellow, Centre for Program Evaluation) about her time in evaluation, her long association with the AES, and what drives her in her work.

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Colin Sharp: A long association with the AES


by Anthea Rutter Colin has held a number of roles within the field of evaluation for over 37 years. He has managed evaluations across the Commonwealth Government and has been a private consultant as well as an educator in evaluation. He has worked with a dozen universities, including long associations with the Flinders...

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Alan Woodward: Applying knowledge to improve service delivery and community outcomes

by Anthea Rutter

Alan has worked in evaluation for a number of years. He works in mental health and suicide prevention as a policy adviser, program developer and researcher/evaluator. He has held senior executive positions at Lifeline Australia, including the establishment of the Lifeline Research Foundation. He is a part-time Commissioner with the National Mental Health Commission.

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The AES Fellows: More than the sum of their individual contributions

Anthea

by Anthea Rutter

Over the past two years I have written a monthly blog on our AES Fellows, including Jenny Neale who we sadly lost in 2019.

Looking at the demographics we are a good mix of men and women (with nine male and 11 female Fellows) and cover most states in Australia. However, there are still some gaps in our representation – with no current Fellows from Queensland and the Northern Territory and no Indigenous Fellows.

The process of becoming a Fellow in the AES is very thorough. Apart from needing to be nominated by two people, prospective Fellows have to demonstrate knowledge and experience in a number of areas, including practical evaluation, teaching as well as holding office in the AES. For myself, I regard being a Fellow as an honour as well as a responsibility.

As a group the Fellows, have amassed an abundance of skills and expertise. I felt it was a real privilege to interview them to understand their hopes and their disappointments, as well as their career highlights. This final piece on our Fellows sums up their insights and my own. As professionals in their field, they have honed their craft and have given back to their profession in spades

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Jerome Winston: 45 years of Evaluation Insights

by Anthea Rutter

Jerome Winston’s career spans over 45 years. He has fascinating insights into how evaluation was viewed in the 70s, which reminded me that back then, evaluation was not viewed as a separate profession, but as part of other disciplines.

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Zita Unger: an evaluator’s journey

by Anthea Rutter

Zita has been in the evaluation profession for over 26 years and has taken a number of roles over that period. She has been an evaluation lead, consultant and lecturer in evaluation. Zita was introduced as a Fellow in 2013 at the International Evaluation Conference held in Brisbane.

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An insightful conversation with Scott Bayley

by Anthea Rutter

The question of what brings a person into the field of evaluation is always an interesting question to ask, particularly as you are never sure of the answer. In this case I did not expect the answer I got.

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Reflections from a seasoned evaluator, Chris Milne

by Anthea Rutter

Chris Milne was an early pioneer in the use of program logic.  As a founding partner of ARTD Consultants, he has designed and delivered numerous evaluations across diverse sectors and built the evaluation capacity of government and non-government organisations. In recent years, he worked with another AES Fellow, Patricia Rogers, on the NSW Government evaluation toolkit.

I enjoyed speaking with Chris. He struck me as a man with a high degree of humility, as well as someone who considers his answers in a balanced way. He is obviously committed to the environment and the world in which we live, and passionate about making it a good place for the generations that follow.

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