Independent Consulting
Jennica Nichols, MPH, CE (she/her/hers)
Director & Senior Consultant
AND implementation
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Maya Lefkowich, PhD (she/her/hers)
Director & Senior Consultant
AND implementation
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Location: White River Ballroom H
Abstract Information: Some of the best stories, ideas, and solutions start with two small words. What if? As evaluators, we thrive when we are imaginative. But, we don’t always invest time in building up our imagination muscles. As a result, we tend to prioritize “what is”, instead of “what if.” From teaching and practicing creative techniques for evaluation, we have had the opportunity to see where evaluators tend to struggle with, squirm through, and side-step imaginative practice. And, we want to help! Anchored in practical applications for data collection and reflexive practice, this light-hearted panel explores two opportunities for evaluators to build imaginative stamina. First, methodologist and story nerd Maya Lefkowich explores “imaginative interviewing.” With illustrative examples and step-by-step strategies, she discusses her experience of adapting research techniques from narrative inquiry to suit evaluation projects. Then, evaluator and knowledge mobilization enthusiast Jennica Nichols offers a narrative-based reflexive practice strategy for “failing forward.” She demonstrates what evaluators can do to transform their own mistakes into useful and cathartic stories of humility and growth. This panel will appeal to evaluators at all levels of experience (and with all levels of comfort with imagination and creativity) who are looking for exciting ways to practice evaluation. Evaluators who are new to, or skeptical of, creative techniques are very welcome!
Relevance Statement: This session embraces the theme of storytelling in evaluation with two practice applications of narrative techniques in evaluation: in data collection and reflexive practice. For data collection, Maya Lefkowich will explore examples from her practice where she adapted key techniques from narrative inquiry research and fiction-writing to develop imaginative interviewing tools to elicit rich narrative data and craft effective evaluation stories. Then, Jennica Nichols will demonstrate how stories of personal and practice-based failures can be transformed into lessons learned and practical strategies through a narrative process of reflective practice. Evaluators will benefit from an introduction to two different approaches to using stories in practice with a focus on practical strategies and examples from real-world evaluations. Further, as Maya comes from the arts and Jennica comes from the sciences, evaluators will benefit from the panelists’ light-hearted interdisciplinary banter that embraces the diversity of ways in which evaluators practice. Whether audience members are comfortable playing in their imagination, like Maya, or want clear steps and boundaries, like Jennica, there will be something for everyone in this session. This panel contributes important insights that support evaluator competencies (1.1, 1.3, 2.4, 2.10, 2.12, 3.1, 3.2, 5.1, 5.2, 5.7)
Presenter: Maya Lefkowich, PhD (she/her/hers) – AND implementation
Presenter: Jennica Nichols, MPH, CE (she/her/hers) – AND implementation