Principles-Focused Approaches to Evaluation & Interest Holder Engagement

According to Michael Quinn Patton, guiding principles are statements that offer “guidance about how to think or behave toward some desired result.” Principles position us to put our values intoaction. Principles are especially useful for complex programs, such as networks,partnerships,and communities when:

• there is no appropriate programmatic manual to follow,
• navigating uncharted territory,
• circumstances are uncertain and evolving.

This presentation builds on Jennifer Jewiss' AEA365 blog post and features examples from evaluation capacity-building efforts that centered principles-focused approaches. A small group activity and Q&A will invite interaction throughout the session.