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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...
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EvaluAdder program in the spotlight – Jasper Odgers and Ingrid Willenberg
Following a successful pilot program the previous year, your NSW AES Regional Network Committee ran a second EvaluAdder program in 2023. We spoke with EvaluAdder (mentor) Jasper Odgers and Buddy (mentee) Ingrid Willenberg about their experience in 2023, as we lead into the launch of the 2024 program.
EvaluAdder Jasper and Buddy Ingrid
"It's a good opportunity to step back from the busy-ness of your work and take some time to reflect on what you're doing."
EvaluAdder Jasper was motivated to give back to the evaluation community. He had seen first-hand the benefits that mentoring can bring, and he hoped to pass on some of the things he'd learned from his own mentors in the past.
Ingrid and Jasper embraced a non-traditional mentoring relationship, with EvaluAdder Jasper rising to the challenge of sharing his evaluation expertise with the highly experienced (but new to evaluation) Ingrid.
"On the face of things, we were a fairly unlikely match, but, because we didn't let that get in the way, we were able to have really rich conversations."
Buddy Ingrid's top tip for a productive EvaluAdder interaction is to jot down evaluation-related questions as they occur to you, so you can then bring them to the conversation. In their own words, "we would then riff from there". Jasper was great at responding to the questions and then broadening the conversation.
Both Ingrid and Jasper feel that the key to their great EvaluAdder experience is to have an open mind and enjoy learning from each other's experiences and expertise. Mentoring isn't a one-way exchange and both parties offer experiences to the conversation.
"I'd encourage people to sign-up and to be open-minded. I believe there is a lesson to be learned in every situation or interaction."
Both feel they've benefit from the program and highly recommend it to others.
We are about to launch the program in 2024!
To find out more, attend our program launch via Zoom on Thursday 1 August 12.00-12.30pm.
Expression of Interest applications should be submitted to Talya Gundogan