Presenter:
Heather Britt, Principal Research Scientist, NORC at the University of Chicago

Description:
Outcome Harvesting's increased use and popularity is largely because the method can provide rigorous and actionable information about programs operating in dynamic settings. Evaluators and stakeholders collect evidence of what has changed and, then, working backwards, determine whether and how a program contributed to these changes. This course will help participants plan for a successful Outcome Harvest, either internal or external. After covering the method’s basic steps and guiding principles, participants will learn practical tips for drafting a terms of reference, recruiting an evaluator, preparing the program team, and managing the harvest to ensure useful findings. Participants will learn ways to strengthen organizational readiness for complexity-aware approaches, such as Outcome Harvesting, as well as tips on harvesting outcomes remotely.

Learning Outcomes:
Participants will learn

• When and why Outcome Harvesting can be useful
• Outcome Harvesting’s basic steps and guiding principles
• Tips for planning a harvest as an evaluation commissioner, external consultant, or internal evaluator
• Ways to strengthen organizational readiness for Outcome Harvesting

How is the workshop is aligned to AEA's Competencies and Guiding Principles:
This professional development offering will offer attendees the opportunity to increase/expand their competence (Guiding Principle B and Evaluator Competency Domain 1) to undertake systematic inquiry (Guiding Principle A) through a specific method – outcome harvesting. Outcome harvesting honors a range of perspectives on social change and the contributions of programing (Evaluator Competency 5.2, Guiding Principle D). The e-study sessions will touch on key points of all five competency domains and extoll evaluators to act with integrity (Guiding Principle C) and for the purpose of Common Good and Equity (Guiding Principle E).

Bio:
Heather Britt has more than 20 years of experience in evaluation, technical assistance, capacity building and project management. Heather is a leader in the design and implementation of innovative solutions to monitoring and evaluation (M&E) challenges. She co-authored the 2011 brief on Outcome Harvesting with Ricardo Wilson-Grau and supported efforts to pilot Outcome Harvesting in USAID-funded programming. Heather has extensive experience building organizational capacity in innovative M&E approaches. Her special interests include complexity-aware approaches that inform adaptive management of uncertain, emergent, contested, and dynamic aspects of programming. She authored USAID’s Complexity-Aware Monitoring Discussion Note and co-authored a brief on Causal Link Monitoring. Heather is an active member of the American Evaluation Association. As Co-Chair of the AEA Systems in Evaluation, she led a collaborative process to define core principles for systems-informed evaluation.

Primary Audience:
Evaluators or other program stakeholders charged with capturing and learning about program outcomes in a complex and dynamically changing program setting. This course will be useful to with a variety of roles, including those charged with commissioning, managing or conducting internal or external evaluations.

Dates:
February 12, 2021 & February 19, 2021 at 12:00 pm (EST) - 1:30 pm (EST)

Note:
Once you purchase the eStudy you must register for each session. Recordings will be made available to registrants unable to attend sessions live. Recordings will be made available to all registrants for 90 days.