Pragmatica Director Judy Oakden has recently started leading a 2023-2024 mentoring group focussing on complexity in evaluation as part of the mentoring programme for Australian Evaluation Society (AES) members.  

The AES Group Mentoring Program is an innovative online mentoring programme in which seasoned evaluators guide small groups of emerging and mid-career evaluators through their professional journey. The mentoring program is offered to members of the Australian Evaluation Society (AES) by experienced evaluators who wish to support the progression of emerging and mid-career evaluators by sharing their knowledge, skills and experience through mentoring.

This is the second year Judy has been a mentor for AES. For the AES programme, Judy builds on her consulting experience mentoring other evaluators on managing evaluation in complexity as part of the services she offers clients. 

 This year’s discussion focuses on managing complexity in evaluation: linking theory and practice Topics considered include:

• Talking past one another: Why is understanding different worldviews and how we create knowledge important? 

• Whose perspectives count, and how do we include diverse perspectives? Who are we not including?

• Reflection and reflexivity: Why is it important? How can we use it more?

• How to use standard evaluation tools more effectively when taking a complexity-informed approach

Mentees benefit from facilitated monthly discussion calls with Judy and colleague Kara Scally-Irvine over twelve months.