Why Action + Evaluation + Collaborative?
AEC was founded to address a need for the effective development of purposeful knowledge through evaluation. Over the years, clients have told us about their experiences with external consultants who did not fully grasp the context, reality, and dynamics of their organization’s work. Often evaluators would came in, collect some data, and then leave to write a report about the success or failure of an initiative. Yet, despite a significant investment of resources, the “findings” produced rarely made their way into the discussions and decision-making that could have potentially strengthen how organizations were functioning and how work was happening.
We see the value of collaborating with multiple and diverse stakeholders to activate knowledge to help groups tell their story about the impact their work is having on people/communities while surfacing the changes that need to be made in order to strengthen organizational practices.
After many years of leading and practicing with various professional organizations, we chose a flexible, collaborative structure. We feel strongly that this balanced approach provides organizations with the dedicated support they need, while minimizing the investment of time and financial resources. We think the scope of work and fee structure should reflect the organization’s guiding evaluation questions and audience. We understand that smaller groups couldn’t afford to pay evaluators the going rate. Our collaborative approach gives us the opportunity to bring together the most appropriate team of consultants to support social change organizations.
