MAE invites you to Read, Reflect, and Relate (virtually) with your fellow colleagues as we embark on an opportunity to learn from from each other. Each year, we will choose an evaluation topic from a critical lens.  

The topic for 2022 will be announced soon!  To receive updates, please sign up by completing this R3 Participation Interest Form.

Past R3 Initiatives

In 2021, we kicked-off MAE’s initiative to read, reflect, and relate (R3) with each other on critical evaluation topics. In this inaugural year, we invited and learned from two top scholars in the area of Indigenous-led evaluation and Decolonization work (Feb and Mar), followed by a members-only session in April. The goals of the 2021 R3 sessions were to:

• Understand the importance of being mindful in our use of language when speaking about Indigenous evaluation and Indigenous-led evaluation.
• Understand what it means to personally unpack white privilege in evaluation spaces. 
• Connect with peers who work, or want to work, in support of, Indigenous communities and decolonization efforts.

In January, participants read and reflected on the following scholarly works: 

1. White privilege and the decolonization work needed in evaluation to support Indigenous sovereignty and self-determination (McKegg, K. 2019)

2. Increasing cultural competence in support of Indigenous-led evaluation: A necessary step toward Indigenous-led evaluation (Wehipeihana, N. 2019). 

Readers then attended a presentation from each of the authors—Kate McKegg (Feb 1) and Nan Wehipeihana (Mar 29).

For a final session in April, MAE members participated in a safe and informal debrief of what was learned in the scholars’ presentations.  We shared with each other ones’ thoughts or experiences working with, and in support of, Indigenous communities and decolonization efforts, and in particular, as an “outsider” or “bilagáana.”

R³ Session #1

Date: February 1, 2022

Time: 3:00PM - 4:00PM EST (Wednesday, Feb 2, 9-10AM NZ)

Title: White Privilege and the Decolonization Work Needed in Evaluation to Support Indigenous Sovereignty and Self-Determination

Author: Kate McKegg, The Knowledge Institute

Abstract

This paper builds on a keynote paper presented at the 2018 Canadian Evaluation Society annual conference by Kate McKegg, a Pākehā, non-Indigenous evaluator from Aotearoa, New Zealand. Kate reflects on the concept and implications for Indigenous people of white privilege in colonized Western nations. She discusses some of the ways in which white privilege and its consequences play out in the field of evaluation, perpetuating colonial sentiments and practices that maintain and reinforce inequities and injustice and potentially threaten the social justice aspirations of the field. Kate argues that those with white privilege have much work to do, unpacking and understanding their privilege if they are to have any chance of playing a role in deconstructing and dismantling the power structures that hold colonizing systems in place. She suggests that for evaluators to be effective allies for Indigenous sovereignty and self-determination, they must undertake ideological, cultural, emotional, and constitutional work. This work will be tough and scary and is not for the faint hearted. But it is vital to unlocking the potential transformation that can come from just and peaceful relationships that affirm and validate Indigenous peoples’ ways of knowing and being. 

Biography

Kate McKegg is an independent evaluation consultant with over 25 years’ evaluation experience. She is the director of The Knowledge Institute Ltda New Zealand based Evaluation Consultancy. The Knowledge Institute specializes in evaluation, evaluative thinking and practice, evaluation capacity building, research, policy and public sector management (www.knowledgeinstitute.co.nz). Kate is also co-founder of the Developmental Evaluation Institute (https://developmental-evaluation. org), and a member of the Kinnect Group (www.kinnect.co.nz) and the Tuakana Teina Collective. Kate is a founding member and past convenor of the Aotearoa New Zealand Evaluation Association (www.anzea.org.nz). She is co-editor of New Zealand’s only evaluation text, Evaluating Policy and Practice: A New Zealand Reader (2003), and co-editor (along with Michael Quinn Patton and Nan Wehipeihana) of the book Developmental Evaluation: Real World Applications, Adapted Tools, Questions Answered, Emergent Issues, Lessons Learned, and Essential Principles (Guilford Press, 2015).

Reference

McKegg, K. (2019). White privilege and the decolonization work needed in evaluation to support Indigenous sovereignty and self-determination. Canadian Journal of Evaluation, 34(2), 357-367. https://doi.org/10.3138/cjpe.67978  

R³ Session #2

Date: March 29th, 2022

Time: 3:00PM-4:00PM (Wednesday, Mar 30 from 9-10AM NZ).

Title: Increasing Cultural Competence in Support of Indigenous-Led Evaluation: A Necessary Step toward Indigenous-Led Evaluation

Author: Nan Wehipeihana, Research Evaluation Consultancy Limited

Abstract

This paper builds on a keynote paper presented at the 2018 Canadian Evaluation Society annual conference by Nan Wehipeihana, an Indigenous (Māori) evaluator from Aotearoa New Zealand. Nan defines Indigenous evaluation as evaluation that is led by Indigenous peoples; has clear benefits for Indigenous peoples; has Indigenous people comprising most of the evaluation team; is responsive to tribal and community contexts; and is guided and underpinned by Indigenous principles, practices, and knowledge. She argues for Indigenous led as a key criterion for Indigenous evaluation, with no assumed or automatic role for non-Indigenous peoples unless by invitation. She outlines a range of tactics to support the development of Indigenous evaluators and Indigenous evaluation and presents a model for non-Indigenous evaluators to assess their practice and explore how power is shared or not shared in evaluation with Indigenous peoples, as a necessary precursor to increasing control of evaluation by Indigenous peoples.

Biography

Nan Wehipeihana is an independent evaluation consultant, based in Wellington New Zealand. Nan has more than 20 years evaluation experience and specializes in evaluation and research with a focus on Māori (the Indigenous people of New Zealand). Nan established Research Evaluation Consultancy in 1997 and is a member of the Kinnect Group. Nan is a former board member of the Aotearoa New Zealand Evaluation Association (ANZEA) and a former appointed executive member of the Australasian Evaluation Society (AES). Nan’s iwi (tribal) affiliations are to Ngāti Porou and Te Whānau-ā-Apanui on the East Coast of New Zealand and Ngāti Tukorehe and Ngāti Raukawa, north of Wellington, New Zealand.

Reference

Wehipeihana, N. (2019). Increasing cultural competence in support of Indigenous-led evaluation: A necessary step toward Indigenous-led evaluation. Canadian Journal of Evaluation, 34(2), 368-384. https://doi.org/10.3138/cjpe.68444 

R³ Session #3

Date: April 15th, 2022

Time: 2:00PM-3:00PM EST

Title: Evaluation with Indigenous communities: Decolonizing approaches and practices

Description: Let's continue the conversation! MAE members are encouraged to share their thoughts, feelings, hopes, desires, questions, and experiences working with, and in support of, Indigenous communities and decolonization efforts, and in particular, as an “outsider” or “bilagáana. This session is an opportunity to "relate" to each other on tough topics in a safe space.

Co-Facilitators: Lana Hamilton, MA, MPH started on the path to support Indigenous communities just over twenty years ago and seeks to expand learning and connection in this area with fellow Michiganders. Miles McNall, PhD has a strong comm​itment to culturally responsive and equitable approaches to evaluation and seeks ways to advance justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion in evaluation spaces. Krystin Martens, PhD, has observed a number of ways other countries support Indigenous communities and decolonization efforts due to her evaluation work with Indigenous communities in Guatemala, Tanzania, and Uganda, and other experiences living outside of the U.S. She seeks to support Indigenous communities by engaging in and promoting reflective practice.