After completing 20 trainings with over 160 participants since its launch in 2009, PAN decided it was time to explore the impacts of the Positive Leadership Development Institute (PLDI) in BC. The purpose of evaluating the PLDI program was to determine whether it is meeting the short, intermediate, and long-term objectives of the program and to get some concrete data about PLDI participants’ experiences since and as a result of the training, including data about PLDI participants’ leadership activities in their communities and across the province. This evaluation was also an opportunity to determine what can be done to improve and grow the program.
In the spring of 2016, PAN established a Steering Committee and initiated a peer-led, participatory impact evaluation with the support of the Public Health Agency of Canada and REACH 2.0. A team of four Peer Evaluators (Darcy, Candice, Martin and Paul) were hired, trained, and supported to conduct the evaluation. Two of the Peer Evaluators had participated in the PLDI program and two had not.
The impact evaluation wrapped up in April 2017 and PAN is now working to disseminate its findings and learning from the process in reports to funders, participants, and stakeholders. The results will also be used to improve BC’s PLDI program and to develop materials to promote the program.
Evaluation and Training Resources:
Participatory Evaluation Primer: This primer will provide you with background knowledge about what the purposes evaluations can serve, and how to improve program/intervention support and the usability of evaluation results through participatory evaluation approaches.
Impact Evaluation Primer – This primer will provide you with background knowledge about what impact evaluations are, the purposes they serve, and their benefits.
Peer Evaluator Training Manual — This 10-module manual was produced to train the Peer Evaluators. It provides an overview of evaluation approaches and methods as well as exercises for building an evaluation plan, developing and implementing data collection tools, conducting data analysis, and sharing evaluation findings. The References and Resources document provides links and more information on the topics covered in each module of the training manual.
PLDI Evaluation Meta-Evaluation – PAN contracted Catalyst Consulting to conduct a meta-evaluation of the PLDI Impact Evaluation process (i.e. an assessment of the evaluation process itself) in effort to document their successes, challenges and lessons learned in using a highly-engaged participatory approach to evaluation.
PLDI Impact Evaluation Reports, Summaries, and Findings:
PAN Ignite 2016 – Peer Evaluators from PANBC on Vimeo.
- PLDI Impact Evaluation – CAHR 2017 Poster
- PLDI Impact Evaluation – Canadian Evaluation Society Presentation
- PLDI Impact Evaluation – PHAC Report
- PLDI Impact Evaluation – Evaluation Summary
- PLDI Impact Evaluation — KnowledgeConnect Webinar sharing PLDI Impact Evaluation Findings
PLDI Impact Evaluation from PANBC on Vimeo.