Date and time: Monday 24 August, 12.00pm - 1.00pm AEST
Topic: A discussion on the current downturn in evaluation consulting
Location: online, via Zoom. Details will be emailed to registrants just prior to the start time
Presenters: Judy Gold, Emma Thomas, Kristy Hornby, Lauren Siegmann and Shani Rajenda
Register online by: 23 August 2026

Event description:

An informal lunchtime seminar for evaluation consultants to share their experiences in the current consulting climate. The session will focus on understanding changes in the evaluation context, considerations for evaluation commissioners, sharing business development strategies and wellbeing tips for getting through lean times.

This seminar will not be recorded.

Presenter details:

Emma Thomas and Judy Gold are the co-founders and co-directors of Cultivating Change, a MEL consultancy working across a range of health and social topics in Australia and internationally. While they primarily lead their own projects, they also subcontract to larger organisations and work in partnership with other consultants.
Kristy Hornby is a seasoned evaluator with experience across state and Commonwealth government contexts. She brings supplier and adviser perspectives on effective commissioning, with a practical focus on improving market capability, evaluation quality and governance.
Shani Rajendra is a Lead Principal Consultant and Business Group Leader of Clear Horizon’s Social Impact team. She has extensive experience in community-led initiatives, organisational strategy and social enterprise, and specialises in applying design thinking to evaluation. Shani is committed to collaborative, community-led change and supporting people to shift the systems they work within.
Lauren Siegmann is a monitoring and evaluation consultant at String Theory, based in Melbourne. Over the past 20 years, she has delivered over 80 monitoring and evaluation projects across more than 10 countries. Her interest is in participatory and collaborative practices that connect and unite diverse voices and creative methods that bring meaning and joy into the experience. Her business partner is a dog named George.
Jill Thomas is Director of Jill Thomas Evaluation, a collaborative consultancy supporting social good through effective evaluation systems, projects and products. She has extensive experience across international development, health care, community and higher education, specialising in monitoring and evaluation frameworks, projects and organisational systems that support credible decision-making, governance and capacity building. Jill is an AES Board member, chair of the Pathways Committee and based in eastern Victoria.

This event is organised & hosted by AES members. Our seminar series provides an opportunity for you to meet with AES members and others in the evaluation community and to share and learn from the experiences of fellow evaluators.

Seminar start times:

VIC, ACT, NSW, TAS, QLD: 12.00pm

SA, NT: 11.30am

WA: 10.00am

New Zealand: 2.00pm

For other time zones please go to https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html

Please ensure you have access to your email address just prior to the start time to access Zoom details. Please also check your email address is correct on your registration form before submitting. Thanks.