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Context Monitoring
TRAINING
Social Impact is a global leader in performance and strategy-related training. We provide innovative monitoring and evaluation training programs to multiple United States government agencies, foundations, and NGOs. We tailor the training to meet client needs and pair it with effective adult learning techniques. Some of the training courses include:
- Carter Center Project Planning and Results-Based Management Training
- Collaborating, Learning and Adapting (CLA) Training
- Data Quality Assessment Training
- Integrating Gender in Project Design
- Managing for Efficiency and Effectiveness Training
- Millennium Challenge Corporation Training for Millennium Challenge Account countries
- Performance Monitoring and Evaluation Training
- Process Documentation Workshops
- Project Lifecycle training for NGOs and CSOs
- Results-Oriented Management Practices Training
- US Department of State Evaluation Training
- USAID 205 Gender Training
- USAID Global Health Professional and Organizational Development Training
- USAID Performance Management Plan Toolkit and Training
- USAID Performance Monitoring & Evaluation (PME) Training – including PME Essentials, Applied PME, and PME Advanced Topics
SECTORS
OUR APPROACH
We work in close consultation with our clients to understand their needs. At the same time, we exercise disciplined independence to maintain objectivity, methodological rigor, support for compliance, and accountability. Our approach is participatory and adaptive to changing operating environments. We use cutting-edge technology to deliver cost-effective solutions. We emphasize providing information that is useful to and used by the client to increase the ownership and sustainability of our work.
Our experience spans a broad array of sectors in nearly every corner of the globe. We have a proven ability to operate in diverse settings, including fragile states and post-conflict zones.
What sets us apart is our commitment to:
Impact tracing: SI is committed to demonstrating that our work is making development more effective at improving people’s lives. We engage with current and past clients to measure the impact of our support, and we use these findings to strengthen our own programs.
Utilization: SI is focused on ensuring that all of our services and our evaluations are useful to our clients, inform policy and management decisions, and when possible, are available for use by the broader development community.
Evaluation Quality, Use, and Impact. EQUI is SI’s proprietary system for managing evaluations to achieve impact. Through this proven process, we deliver cost-effective evaluations and practical recommendations to advance the impact of global development.
We follow up with clients after our evaluations to understand how the results were used and how positive change happened.
Local capacity: We are building the capacity of our local partners. We conduct evaluations that foster local participation, learning, and empowerment among a range of stakeholder groups. We build organizational skills, incentives, and systems to be able to to achieve their goals. We share tools and resources and where possible, facilitate opportunities for hands-on practical experience in their use.
We employ USAID’s Human and Institutional Capacity Development (HICD) approach to help governments and civil society organizations achieve performance excellence and responsibly meet the needs of their countries and constituents.
As an independent organization focused on monitoring and evaluation, the credibility and utility of our evaluations and performance management engagements adhere to the highest standards of professional excellence.
The use of quantitative and qualitative methods ensures our findings are an accurate representation of program performance and impact.
Our Data Collection Toolkit for impact evaluations leverages best practices in social science research. This toolkit contains checklists, templates, and guidelines, including a specialized Stata module, for monitoring data quality. The customized materials cover all activities in the life cycle of an evaluation from start up to analysis and reporting. Using these resources, SI ensures that the highest quality data are used in our evaluations. This enables us to produce empirically sound conclusions that are credible and useful to our clients.
The SI Institutional Review Board (IRB) reviews and certifies relevant data collection plans and instruments to ensure adequate protection and ethical treatment of human research subjects.
Our strategy and monitoring work reflects the views of those who are part of the process, while protecting their anonymity. SI’s professional and organizational development work, including one-on-one coaching, respect our client’s privacy and confidentiality.
We employ a variety of innovative approaches and designs including randomized response, social network analysis, outcome mapping, and developmental evaluation. We are innovators in using big data and data science approaches. We collect data through participatory approaches, and use mobile technology and social media. We conduct remote and complexity-aware monitoring. Additionally, we use sensors to improve the accuracy of our measurement.
We develop news tools for scenario-based planning and results-measurement. We identify opportunities for feedback loops so that lessons learned support better programs. We have done award-winning work helping USAID implement the latest in collaborating, learning, and adapting (CLA) approaches.
Through our coaching, training, and professional development services, we help our clients to innovate and succeed as development professionals.
GUIDING PRINCIPLES TO OUR APPROACH
PROMOTE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND SOCIAL CHANGE
We expand the capabilities of individuals and organizations to affect positive differences in the lives of people in the long-run.
BUILD UPON LOCAL KNOWLEDGE, TRADITIONS, AND RESOURCES
We work with local experts to promote more appropriate and enduring solutions.
EMPOWER INDIVIDUALS AND ORGANIZATIONS
We build their strength, confidence, and collective vision to work for positive change in people’s lives. We work to provide a stronger voice to marginalized groups.
DELIVER CUSTOMIZED, RESULTS-ORIENTED SOLUTIONS
By learning the context of the issues at hand, we develop customized, practical, and cost-effective solutions leading to measurable results.
LEVERAGE MULTI-DISCIPLINARY APPROACHES
This allows us to solve complex and multifaceted development challenges.
BALANCE THE DOUBLE
BOTTOM LINE
We gauge our success through a double bottom line-creating measurable social benefits and maintaining a profitable enterprise.