As part of our commitment to supporting the healthy development of children and youth, the Lawson Foundation is pleased to share a new resource designed specifically for young leaders who strive to make an impact in their communities.
Developed with input and feedback from young environmental leaders that we’ve engaged through our Youth Action & The Environment initiatives, Navigating Program Evaluation: A Practical Guide for Youth Leaders is a new free resource to help users develop program evaluation plans and execute them.
While informed by projects and initiatives in the climate and environmental action space, the resources, tips and worksheets designed with input from youth leaders are applicable to a broad range of initiatives.
Why focus on evaluation?
This guide was developed at the request of young leaders that we’ve had the opportunity to collaborate with to advance critical environmental and climate action projects in their communities across Canada – including urban, suburban, rural and remote communities. These leaders specifically identified evaluation as an important skill and capacity for them to develop to have greater impact. They need to be able to evaluate their work for many reasons, not least of which is so that they may better tell everyone – colleagues, funders and peers – about the impact that they are making. Providing opportunities for youth leaders to learn by doing was a key consideration in the development of the guide and the companion worksheets.
The user-friendly guide can help them develop an evaluation plan and execute it. Each chapter in the guide is supported by a worksheet, and when compiled together, they can help users create and articulate an overall evaluation plan. The guide also includes supporting information, tips and resources to help put that plan into action.
Words of thanks and appreciation
We would like to offer a special thank you to the youth leaders who provided constructive feedback and input on the guide including Kat Cadungog (The Youth Harbour at Foundation for Environmental Stewardship), Jasveen Brar (Youth Climate Lab), Blake Bunting (Goparity Canada), Jacqueline Lee-Tam (The Climate Justice Organizing Hub), and Sarah Syed (Founder of You Are the Change) for your contributions and expertise
We are also grateful for the early reviews and contributions by Mark Cabaj (Here to There Consulting), Andrea L.K. Johnston (Johnston Research Inc.) and Tesicca Truong (Simon Fraser University).
We would also like to acknowledge the Ontario Nonprofit Network, Youth RX and BetterEvaluation.Org for commissioning and making publicly available tools and resources to support youth evaluation.
Amanda Mayer