Project developed in partnership with Collaborative Impact
The Evaluation & Learning Cohort – New Economy (ELC) provides a structured space and process for a small, time-bound Cohort of New Economy organisations to voluntarily have their individual work independently evaluated.
Outside of the large NGOs like Oxfam, an EPSI review of New Economy websites (forthcoming) could not find published evaluation and learning reports regarding organisations’ own work. Bilateral exchanges with staff and leadership of New Economy organisations confirmed that, beyond donor-driven project evaluations, opportunities for structured evaluation and learning at the organisational level are limited.
In addition to the value of structured reflection to individual organisations, the Cohort model allows for the ongoing sharing of lessons learned and reflections among peers.
Collective Cohort-level reflections will be published and shared with the broader field; the publication of individual evaluation reports is encouraged but not required. Evaluation teams will also capture and publish learnings regarding the application of structured evaluation methods in the New Economy field.
Outcomes include:
- Individual organisations make a specific, self-defined strategic choice or organisational adaptation as a result of the learning and evaluation process
- A Cohort synthesis report captures common patterns and differences among participating organisations (without forcing consensus)
- Increased understanding of evaluation requirements particular to the New Economy field.
The first Cohort aims to launch as a pilot in Q1 2027. Organisations with potential interest are invited to contact Max on mheywood@eps.institute for an introductory call and presentation with the project leads.