Date: May 16\, 2024
\
nTime: \;12pm \;to 1:30pm ET
\nForma
t: \;Online via Zoom - REGISTE
R NOW
\nCost: Free for CES members and
non-members
\nLanguage: English
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping the landscape of evaluation practice for i ndependent consultants (ICs). \;In this webinar\, we offer guiding pri nciples\, insights\, and practice uses for ICs.
\n\nDrawing on our p ractical experiences\, we explore how ICs can leverage AI to improve the q uality and efficiency of our work. Our journey will begin with a review of foundational principles that should underpin IC&rsquo\;s use of AI to ens ure ethical\, effective\, and equitable outcomes. Next\, as colleagues\, w e share practical ways that we have learned to leverage AI in our IC pract ice\, from the proposal development process through to report writing and even extending into business management practices. Our presentation will c onclude with a discussion of the broader impact of AI on the evaluation co nsulting landscape.
\n\nWhile tailored for ICs\, this presentation p romises relevance for evaluators across diverse contexts. Join us as we na vigate the possibilities of AI in evaluation that are shaping the future o f our profession.
\n\nLearning Objectives
\n\n1. Reflective practice
\n2. Technical practice
\n3. Management
practice
About the Presenters
\n\nCaroly
n Hoessler\, PhD\, CE
\nCarolyn is a national award-winning
leader\, and experienced facilitator consulting nationally with profession
al associations and post-secondary institutions on evaluation and assessme
nt of learning outcomes. Navigating complex systems to achieve change\, Ca
rolyn facilitates integrative and engaging decision-making and co-created
adaptive approaches to strategic change and emergent trends like AI. As an
educator\, Carolyn has offered over 30 international/national workshops a
nd graduate courses as an Adjunct Professor with the University of Saskatc
hewan School of Environment and Sustainability including statistics\, rapp
ort-building\, creating space for more voices and qualitative methods. Car
olyn is the treasurer for CES-SK\, and a member of the new Independent Con
sulting Community of Interest (ICCI) Working Group.
Clai
re Reynolds\, PhD
\nAfter a decade as an educator\, Claire d
iscovered her love for evaluation during her graduate work. She is now an
emerging evaluator with experience conducting evaluations in various educa
tional and workplace settings. With ambitions to become an independent con
sultant\, she joined the new Independent Consulting Community of Interest
(ICCI) Working Group to learn about the industry. Claire&rsquo\;s interest
in AI started when she realized its potential as a writing assistant and
now uses it in diverse ways\, including helping with data analysis.
Gail Vallance Barrington\, PhD\, CE
\nGail is a
certified teacher\, CES Fellow\, and long-time independent consultant. Boo
ks include Consulting Start-up and Management (SAGE\, 2012) and Evaluation
Time (co-author B. Triana-Tremain\, SAGE\, 2022). She won the CES Contrib
ution to Evaluation in Canada Award in 2008 and the AEA Alva and Gunnar My
rdal Award for Evaluation Practice in 2016. Gail is also co-chair of the n
ew Independent Consulting Community of Interest (ICCI) Working Group. She
currently enjoys mentoring
\nCE applicants and is learning to write f
iction. Her latest project is an eco-adventure novel for young adults.
Harry Cummings\, Phd\, RPP\, CE
\nHarry Cummi
ngs is a Credentialed Evaluator\, director of Harry Cummings and Associate
s Inc. a retired professor\, and past president of CES. He is involved in
10-20 evaluations a year in Canada and internationally. His evaluation exp
erience is diverse\, covering not for profits and all levels of government
. He has used AI extensively in his evaluation work\, developing instrumen
ts\, summarizing agency experience\, summarizing reports\, summarizing the
merits of methodology and other tasks. He finds it to be an effective too
l for speeding up the writing process. A cardinal rule that he follows is
that all material generated is verified as representing Harry before it&nb
sp\;goes out.
Susan M. Wolfe\, PhD
\nSusan
has been working in communities\, and evaluating for over 38 years across
a variety of settings. Since 2009 she has been an independent consultant
with Susan Wolfe and Associates\, LLC\, where she evaluates programs\, eng
ages in strategic planning\, and coaches and evaluates with community coal
itions. All of her work is conducted through an equity and liberatory lens
and she is an outspoken anti-racism advocate. She uses ChatGPT as another
personal assistant
\nand is still exploring the possibilities to sup
port her independent consulting practice. She is also a wife\, mother\, ch
ihuahua mom\, grandmother\, great grandmother\, Baha&rsquo\;i\, lifelong l
earner\, mentor\, and facilitator.
Ted Weicker\, MBA\, C
MC\, CE
\nTed Weicker is a co-founder and President of the Q
atalyst Research Group\, a leader in evaluation in Canada. He has complete
d more than 400 evaluations with all levels of governments and non-profits
across Canada. With a staff of more than 20 professionals and an active n
etwork of more than 200 largely consultants\, Qatalyst works across virtua
lly all disciplines from health\, justice\, environment\, natural resource
s\, immigration and education to science\, technology\, social finance and
economic development. Qatalyst differs from many other firms in that it p
laces a high priority on incorporating leading-edge technology into our pr
actice. Since the beginning of 2023\, it has made increasingly significant
investments in the development\, testing and integration of a wide range
of proprietary and commercial AI-based tools. Qatalyst works closely with
several software firms in the further development of new tools and is work
ing with clients in testing new approaches in evaluation that are becoming
possible because of AI. At the same time\, Qatalyst has provided strategi
c advice to the federal and provincial governments in Canada related to th
eir development strategies and investments in artificial \; intelligen
ce.
Vanessa Anastasopoulos\, PhD\, CE
\nVa
nessa has been an equity-driven evaluator for 25 years and an independent
consultant for the last 6 of these. Recognizing the need for a forum throu
gh which consultants can learn from and support one another\, she teamed u
p with Gail Barrington in the summer of 2023 to launch and co-chair the ne
w Independent Consulting Community of Interest (ICCI) Working Group for Ca
nadian evaluation practice. Around the same time\, Vanesssa delved into AI
when faced with the challenge of
\nanalyzing an unexpectedly large v
olume of qualitative survey data within tight project constraints. This ex
perience marked a turning point by revealing AI&rsquo\;s potential as a to
ol for enhancing the quality of her evaluation practice.
Contact Support
\n\nIf you have any questio ns or concerns\, please contact admin@evaluationcanada.ca and CC professionallearning@evaluationcanada.ca.
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