International and Cross Cultural Evaluation
Irene Guijt, PhD
Head of Evidence and Strategic Learning
Oxfam Great Britain, England, United Kingdom
Kimberly Pfeifer, PhD
Director, Knowledge for Impact
Oxfam US, United States
Jorge Romero Leon, MA (he/him/his)
Learning, Innovation and Knowledge Manager
Oxfam Netherlands
Den Haag, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands
Velina Petrova, PhD (she/her/hers)
Knowledge for Impact Director
Oxfam International
Washington, District of Columbia, United States
Location: Grand Ballroom 9
Abstract Information: How do we understand progress towards system change? The unprecedented challenges of our time require us to fundamentally rethink the economic, political and social systems that underpin our consumption patterns, our values, and our relationships to one another and to nature. But organizations seeking game changing impacts find themselves ill-equipped to understand and share the progress made towards systems changes. Traditional approaches to design, track, synthesize and share change– grounded in measuring progress toward achieving distinct indicators – fail to capture the interconnectedness and nuance associated with systems change. Stories help us grapple with complexity, the long time periods, the multiple interactions that occur, and the various, sometimes even chaotic, changes in the contexts in which we seek to contribute to and study such transformative system change. This panel will share the story of how Oxfam’s shift towards systems change and decolonizing its work has forced it to create a fundamentally different approach to understanding and narrating change processes. It is a journey that has required building an approach aligned with this intent: creating trust at senior levels, being clear about what systems change looks like, changing who defines what positive change looks like, and finding methods that can bring this to life. This is a story of the nested dolls of unpacking change – methods, frameworks, organizational buy-in. The panelists will share this journey and what story they are now able to tell that helps the organization and teams capture the multiple dimensions of change. Panelists from Oxfam International, Oxfam America, Oxfam Great Britain, and Oxfam Novib will explore the power of story for assessing progress towards an ambitious vision for a just and equal society. Guided by Oxfam’s strategic framework outlining a commitment to intentionally rebalancing power, panelists will share their own story of navigating internal organizational change processes over the last three years, to create institutions that embody the change they aim to achieve in the world. The panel will discuss how they are dealing with challenges encountered, such as: Who gets to define what positive social change looks like, and what constitutes progress toward it? Whose story is it and who does the telling? How do stories from different points in time and space come together to paint a larger narrative? And why is narrative useful for informing systemic change?
Relevance Statement: The fields of international development and social justice have changed significantly in the last decade with a growing emphasis on shifting power from the global north to the global south and a recognition of the interdependence not only geographically but of our economic, political and social systems. Debates on the polycrisis have highlighted the difficulty with – but urgency of – dealing with such interdependence. In the same vein, there is a growing movement to address the root causes of inequality, poverty, climate change, and human rights abuses through changes in policy, narratives and actions that underpin destructive social and economic models. Central to this is the recognition that the egregious power inequalities due to structural racism, misogyny, homophobia and other systems of discrimination require intentional redesign of who defined and is allowed to describe change. As a field, we are grappling with different questions about social change, different ways of relating and sharing with those who support our agenda and work, questions around whose knowledge about social change are being valued, and sensibilities even around the value we add as social change agents. On this journey, we are thus challenged to critically examine how we know change is happening and how we can tell its story. This panel examines how intentionally creating an organizational story of systems change that shifts power can help the field of evaluation evolve to become fit-for-purpose in a changing reality. It will highlight significant gaps in current approaches and point to key questions that need considering for others embarking on this journey. Oxfam will offer its own experiences as a contribution to the fields of social justice and international development, as well as evaluation and organizational learning. This panel will share recent lessons from Oxfam’s own journey, an organization whose core mission is to address root causes of poverty through system change. It will also discuss what difference these new approaches are making in Oxfam and its relationships.
Presenter: Irene Guijt, PhD – Oxfam Great Britain
Presenter: Kimberly Pfeifer, PhD – Oxfam US
Presenter: Velina Petrova, PhD (she/her/hers) – Oxfam International
Presenter: Jorge Romero Leon, MA (he/him/his) – Oxfam Netherlands