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People's actions are driven or influenced by their values and beliefs. These, in turn, are formed over time through a person's upbringing, culture, and life experience. Until we really know someone, we can't really know exactly why someone is acting they way the do or believes what they do. That said, at a systems level, I do believe race, religion, and culture have a particularly strong influence on how we see, experience, and understand the world. This is why diversity in an evaluation team and in the methods we use is so important; otherwise, the sometimes invisible biases and assumptions we carry will make for a less rigorous evaluation at best, and create harm for participants, at the worst.

The Ford Foundation has concerns that we do not have such as harm to its reputation which could harm its ability to work in different countries. This makes it risk averse (e.g. steering away from using "revolution").
However, it also does not want to be seen as hypocritical by claiming to disrupt inequality and not applying a critical eye to itself.

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Acknowledging power dynamics and postionality when joining calls with Fellows. Fellows do not distinguish between IREX and Ford, the whole FGF team is Ford Foundation which many see as a bastion of power and privilege. Likewise, many may have had negative past experiences with evaluators and researchers - especially those from the Global North - as extractive and as privileging the goals/interests of the donor.

Recognize that many ideas around what qualifies as valid or objective knowledge are based on Western values and beliefs. Strong objectivity should always include many perspectives and prioritize in particular those closest to the issue we are studying (i.e. Fellows).

We can show respect in how we ask questions, in how the informed consent process is done, by respecting Fellows' time, by making the evaluation experience meaningful and relevant, by allowing Fellows to opt-out.

First, as a team, we can engage in more reflection like this, individually or as a group, in all steps of the evaluation process from how we design it to how we share results. Second, we can align our values by creating a safe and brave space for everyone to be vulnerable, to admit mistakes, ask for help, and share their unique perspectives and opinions.

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Respect and humility are important values of mine. To me, respect means valuing others expertise and perspectives even when you disagree. It is about believing that every person is deserving of human dignity. And it is lived out through humility, by seeking to understand first and be understood second, by building trust over time, and by interrogating my own assumptions and biases.

I practice respect and humility by leaving or creating space in group conversations for everyone to share their perspective or opinion, by sharing ownership and leadership over different pieces of the work, by asking what others need from me or the team rather assume that I know. Lastly, I practice humility by acknowledging my mistakes, inviting feedback, and not pretending like I always know exactly what to do next.

I experience dissonance between my values and practice most often when I am stressed, overwhelmed, and/or feel under pressure. In those situations, I am generally more directive and less collaborative, and create less room for discussion and disagreement.

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Organizational Principles: Our team works for an organization with set principles that might not be similar to the others. Also, the level of skills and expertise differs, which determines how others involved in evaluation will approach challenges posed.

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The suggested readings on "Reflection" provided relatable suggestions on how to align our values with our L&E practices. Some of my thoughts are;

Giving others the benefit of doubt and asking clarifying questions where there is a misunderstanding. Holding space for others when the need arises. Setting realistic expectations and allowing for self-expression with tolerance.

1.  Affirming and commending people when they deliver on a particular task or goal. Communicating our ideas with empathy, tolerance for dissenting views, and arriving at a unified approach on urgent deliverables to help tackle challenges that come up in our client's t(ask).

In addition to testing out new processes that allow us to organize our work. Other areas include

reflection

Providing honest feedback

Collaboration and

responsible handling of Data

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I have Clarity, Care, Curiosity, Creativity, and Collaboration as my core values. Each value holds a subset of other ideas that form my principles. For example, " I have empathy and kindness as a principle that I use to navigate my work and in teams. And under "Clarity" I have honesty and discipline as a principle.
Although these principles are beneficial, without balance, they can create dissonance. For example, I can get curious about other projects unrelated to my task, which can slow down my deliverables. Also, I thrive when there is clarity- and although that might be good for innovation, it is easy to slip off course and work on an adjacent task. Related to "Clarity," I can spend more time ensuring an idea is properly understood, before allowing people to run with it, which can impact the speed needed to accomplish a particular task.

Grace

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will do things (including evaluation) differently than me because they have their own experiences and worldviews that inform their judgements and actions. Acknowledging this difference and encouraging this diversity of approach is beneficial as it leads to challenges and compromise that can take a project or program further than a consensus.

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prioritizing the perspectives of our clients and those effected the most by our learning and evaluation equally. Being an advocate for the data and genuinely wanting to create change through learning and evaluation are steps we can take as well. Lastly, being reflexive and inviting feedback ( with their own interpretation and reflection) are practices we can continue to use to experiment and prioritize the best learning and evaluation techniques and activities.

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Introspection, inclusion, openness, wisdom, curiosity, creativity, innovation, peace, flexibility, grace, equity, and non-traditional ways of being in the world.

I practice introspection and curiosity by thinking inwardly. I acknowledge the wisdom of my colleagues and remain open to their feedback and suggestions.

There is not a big dissonance between the work and these values but my values being embedded in an insatiable yearning for radical change and working within the structural limits of our organization and client's needs requires us to uphold standards and methods that limit the pace of this radical change I desire.

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I appreciate this space for us to think beyond our tasks. Even when we are planning big picture stuff, it could feel very result-driven. And these kinds of questions can help to bring other perspectives in, and restructure our perceptions according to our priorities, and move beyond the unidimensional image that we often build of others.

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I think there are countless reasons by which people act. Each one of us has spent decades building an understanding of the world, our friends, our social circles, our family, our religion, our education, our goals, principles, “horizon of action”, desires, dreams, states of mind, and so on. All of these are just a small sample of the kinds of considerations that could influence someone´s actions. And sometimes, I think, even the most comprehensive list of motives won´t be enough because people are not always “rational” or predictable to our eyes. But the good thing is, I think, that we don´t need to understand everything in order to live together and care for each other. Otherwise, we couldn´t have pets.

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The positive aspect is that our kind of work constantly highlights people´s core values. What is tough is that our lack of alignment with what we say we believe, becomes all the more evident when is not present. And it is important to have concrete steps to try and keep our actions in check. Nonviolent communication, for example – and no, it’s not paid sponsorship - , has four components that can be useful.

·        Observe without judging

·        Express feelings

·        Express and clarify your needs

·        Express specific requests based on your feelings and needs

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Nonviolence

Solidarity

Justice

Empathy

I consider these to be horizons of action rather than principles. The key distinction is that a principle implies, for me, a kind of coherence that I don´t see fit for ethical considerations. Horizons, on the other hand, imply a quest that is not certain, no matter how hard you try (it doesn´t matter how much you chase it, you´ll never reach the horizon).

Nonviolence has a lot of ramifications. One of which is nonviolent communication that is a practical approach to communication. This is an example of the way I try to bring these horizons of action into my life and my work. I try to have empathy with my coworkers´ priorities, times, and efforts while being fully aware that it is only by their empathy towards mine that the relationship functions and grows.

There might be a lot of dissonance between my “principles” and my actions. Quotidian demands make it hard to keep the eyes on the horizon. But people change and can overcome obstacles. And for this reason, reflection is important: to bring focus back.