Evaluation that changes decisions, not just closes projects.
Four evaluations where the method was chosen to fit the decision.
A comparison set — the question, the design, the decision it informed.
Founder experience · Independent evaluation consultancies · 2022–2025
The question
Did integrated AGYW services improve access?
The design
Baseline → endline + Scorecard
Mangochi
The question
Is cervical-cancer screening reaching women?
The design
Midline: KIIs, FGDs, surveys
Sondra Smalley
The question
What should the next youth strategy be?
The design
4-country theory-based, 32 KIIs
Commuters for Health
The question
Do community health committees work?
The design
Governance + access review
Zambia
Four evaluations — each method chosen to fit the decision.
The problem
Most evaluations arrive late and answer the wrong question — built around donor reporting rather than the decision a client actually faces.
Why it was hard
Different decisions need different designs, often under data and time constraints and real political sensitivity. The craft is matching method to question.
The approach
- 1
AGYW HIV/SRH integration, Mangochi (World Education) — baseline then endline; redesigned and validated the Ministry of Health Youth-Friendly Health Services Scorecard; assessed referral systems, access, service quality and partner coordination.
- 2
Sondra Smalley midline (mothers2mothers) — policy and health-systems analysis for cervical-cancer screening; key-informant interviews, focus groups and surveys with Mentor Mothers.
- 3
Commuters for Health endline (Health Equity Access) — a four-country, theory-based mixed-method evaluation with 32 key-informant interviews, shaping the next youth-engagement strategy.
- 4
Community health systems effectiveness (On Call Africa, Zambia) — governance of Neighbourhood Health Committees and access to services.
What was created
The redesigned Youth-Friendly Health Services Scorecard
Theory-based evaluation designs and Theories of Change
Evaluation reports with prioritised, decision-ready recommendations
What changed
Findings fed programme-expansion and youth-strategy decisions for the commissioning organisations.
Frameworks & methods
What this demonstrates