Team & Clients

Since 2013 Valuing Voices team’s focus has been on creating a research, design, M&E and post-project sustained and emerging impacts evaluation firm. This includes writing and speaking about international development programming, designing processes and doing fieldwork to build knowledge, and building a network of engaged partners.

Our focus is Appreciative, finding out and building on what participants, partners and organizations do well already, and promoting what we can do better with such knowledge. Much can be learned from what continues locally, and how to design anew.

Our network includes evaluators, advocates, and ICT4D experts in the US, Africa, and Asia.

Leadership

Jindra Cekan/ova, PhD is the Founder and Catalyst of Valuing Voices at Cekan Consulting LLC. An international political economist, she has 35-years of experience in listening to those we ostensibly serve. Dr. Cekan/ova is an evaluator, speaker, and writer about Sustained and Emerging Impacts, including funding, strategic planning, designing, implementing,  monitoring & evaluating to foster sustainability.

Working with many stakeholders, Dr. Cekan/ova aims to raise up national voices for country-led sustainable development and long-term outcomes impacts long after projects close. Lessons from (post-project) sustained and emerging impacts and final evaluations are invaluable to shape funding, design, implementation, M&E, and learning and inform SDGs and Impact investment strategies.  She has consulted to multilateral such as the Adaptation Fund (at IBRD), non-profits such as CRS, CARE, Mercy Corps, the Red Cross/ Red Crescent), Foundations (the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Aga Khan Foundation), and for-profits (Price Waterhouse/ Coopers & Lybrand, Salomon Brothers).

Dr. Cekan/ova has also co-founded ImpactGuild.org, fostering (I)NGO collaborations with impact investors.  She is a dual US/Czech citizen and has taught at The Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy/Tufts, at Harvard and was a research fellow at the University of Cambridge (UK). She is also a mother, a Buddhist, and loves giraffes.

Jindra’s CVs
Čekan/ova Full CV 2022,  Čekanova EUROPASS (Illustrative, through ’20)

Network

ADVISORS

Cindy Clapp Wincek: Consultant, former head of USAID’s Policy Planning and Learning, Learning, Evaluation and Research Bureau (USA)

Scott Bayley: Principal Specialist in Australia’s DFAT Aid Management and Performance Branch (Australia)

COLLABORATIONS

We have a strong collaboration with BetterEvaluation.orgon Sustained and Emerging Impacts Evaluation, featured in 2017 as a new thematic area: http://betterevaluation.org/en/themes/SEIE

EVALUATOR EXPERTS

Musiho Abdala: with over 15 years’ experience of applied research, project monitoring & evaluation especially on livelihood and education projects.  Country experience is in 6 Africa countries plus Afghanistan (Uganda)

CV – Abdala (Uganda)

Abu Ala Hasan: Researcher and development professional, with academic background in social sciences, and 13 years of experience in the NGO sector in programme management, M&E, advocacy, research and human rights and livelihoods.

CV – Hasan (Bangladesh)

Rutere Kagendo: President, Ronto Research Company has M&E operations in 15 African countries doing baselines, mid-and end-line evaluations and impact assessments (Kenya)

CV – Rutere Kagendo (Kenya)

Peter Kimeu: co-founder of KUSARD and Decent Living  local Kenyan NGOs and 30-year head of Peace and Justice for Africa for Catholic Relief Services (Kenya)

CV – Kimeu (Kenya)

Rituu Nanda: Participation and gender evaluator, extensive UN and NGO work since 2010 (India)

CV – Nanda (India)

Kate Robins: Advisor and consultant in design, monitoring and evaluation with non-governmental agencies, bi-laterals and the UN system for over 35 years (USA)

CV – Robins (USA)

Thenjiwe Sisimayi: Owner, Psychosocial Support, Research and Training Centre. Over 25 years mixed-method M&E and statistical analysis (Zimbabwe)

CV – T Sisimayi (Zimbabwe)

Chenjerai Sisimayi: Owner, Psychosocial Support, Research and Training Centre. Over 25 years mixed-method M&E and statistical analysis (Zimbabwe)

CV – C Sisimayi (Zimbabwe)

Laurie Zivetz: Four decades of international development experience which includes innovation, evaluation, research, mentoring, training, strategy and program design in sub Saharan Africa and South and Southeast Asia (USA/ Australia).

CV – Zivetz (USA/ Australia)

Mohamed Cherif Diarra: Malian expert in education, extensive experience w/foreign aid evaluations

CV – M Cherif Diarra

Consulting Clients & Grants

Clients

Our sustained and emerging impacts evaluation and sustained exit clients include:

Ex-post (Sustained and Emerging Impacts) Evaluations

  • Adaptation Fund at the World Bank, 3-5 years ex-post, Task Team Lead, Ex-post Evaluation Consultant, sustainability and resilience to climate change evaluations in Samoa, Ecuador, and elsewhere (2021-date)

 

  • USAID/ Mali 7-9 year ex-post evaluation of USAID/Mali Out of School Youth Project, also known as PAJE-NIETA (Project d’Appui aux Jeunes Entrepreneurs) (2022), expected final in Jan 2023.

 

 

 

  • Catholic Relief Services Zimbabwe 2 years ex-post Rehabilitation/ Livelihoods “ex–post” project Sustained and Emerging Impacts evaluation (2016)

 

 

 

  • Lutheran World Relief/ Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Niger Projected sustainability 6 months “ex–post” project drought rehabilitation evaluation (2006)

 

Fostering Sustained Exit

  • Results in Health Netherlands headquarters, Trainings in Exit & Ex-Post Evaluation (2021)

 

  • Sambodhi India/ The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Consultant on Sustainability: “A Learning System for Multiple PAC Investments” (2020)

 

  • American Red Cross “Transition, Graduation and Sustainability Planning” Consultant (2018-19)

 

  • Terre des Hommes Italia,  “Exit and Sustainability Planning for Jukta Hoe Mukta’ in Bangladesh” (2018-19)

 

Our other international development and monitoring & evaluation clients include:

We have also worked with Salomon Brothers, Price Waterhouse and Coopers & Lybrand as well as with other clients. D&B #: 036800901

Research Grants

Valuing Voices received a Faster Forward Fund research grant for sustained impact evaluation by expert evaluator Michael Scriven through the Marin Community Foundation (2017).

A review of eight projects with end-of-project and post project evaluation reports suggest that post project evaluations can contribute to better understanding of the sustainability of project impacts and identify unexpected and emerging outcomes years after project close.

The review highlights some of the methodological issues that are unique to post project (as opposed to end of project) evaluation, and point to the advantages of planning for sustainability measurement from the outset of the project. If not, what planning is needed at project end. 

Organizations that fund post project evaluations offer a range of reasons for doing so: to learn, to promote a success, to inform replication or scale, to provide justification for future funding, to promote accountability.