Universalia regularly hosts Lunch & Learn sessions which provide a space for the Universalia team to share learnings from our work in a collaborative team setting.
Universalia Speaker Series
The Universalia Speaker Series, a sub-project of the Lunch & Learn initiative, hosts Speakers with a wide range of expertise to share their knowledge and skills across the firm, and with our wider community. Speakers include members of the Universalia team, Associate Consultants, and external experts and collaborators with whom we have established relationships. The Speaker Series focuses on cutting-edge topics that drive forward excellence and innovation in our field.
If you are interested in being a Speaker, please contact our Speaker Series Coordinators, Maria Fustic and Beement Alemayehu.
Highlighted Presentations
Elisabetta Micaro, Reflections from the 2024 European Evaluation Society Conference, January 2025
Elisabetta Micaro is a Senior Associate Consultant with Universalia and former internal staff member. She specializes in evaluations concerning women's rights, disability inclusion, gender equity and capacity development. In 2024, Universalia supported her participation in the EES Conference, from which she shared three key themes to discuss during this Lunch and Learn session:
- The Emergence of Generative AI Tools in Evaluation Methodologies
- Strategies for Youth Participation and Engaging Youth as Evaluators
- Enablers and Inhibitors to North-South partnerships in Evaluation
Her presentation generated fruitful discussion in how Universalia can push forward on some of these approaches that are gaining traction within the larger evaluation ecosystem.
Edoé Djimitri Agbodjan, Capacity building for evaluators in Francophone Africa, December 2024
Edoé Djimitri Agbodjan is coordinator of the Centre for Learning on Evaluation and Results in Francophone Africa (CLEAR FA)
Based in Dakar, CLEAR FA, based at the Centre Africain d’Etudes Supérieures en Gestion (CESAG), is a research centre committed to strengthening national monitoring and evaluation systems and empowering African evaluators. Organized in the context of CLEAR FA’s partnership with Universalia, the session provided a platform to exchange best practices in enhancing the skills of African evaluators.
Mr. Agbodjan presented recent initiatives undertaken by CLEAR FA, which operates throughout Francophone Africa:
- Empowering African Evaluators: The Center has developed various monitoring and evaluation training programs tailored to young evaluators.
- Strengthening national monitoring and evaluation systems: CLEAR FA also works to enhance the capacities of African States by supporting them in establishing regulatory frameworks, policies, and guidelines that promote evaluation practices, based on assessments of national monitoring and evaluation capabilities.
- Raising awareness: The Centre also aims to inform public sector actors about the role of evaluation in public policy monitoring, which can improve transparency, governance, and the effectiveness of development programs.
The session inspired an exchange on the need to "decolonize" evaluation to address power imbalances within the development aid sector, as well as the challenges associated with fostering North-South partnerships.
François Dumaine and Vanessa Anastasopoulus, Gender Based Analysis Plus (GBA+) in Evaluation, November 2024
François Dumaine, a partner at PRA Inc, et Vanessa Anastasopoulus, director of the consulting firm VANASTAS, are senior evaluators and members of the Canadian Evaluation Society. There is wide recognition that the principles of equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) should guide the development of programs and policies to ensure that all intended beneficiaries can access and benefit from these initiatives. Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA+) has been developed by the federal government to support this process, both during the program design and implementation, but also during its evaluation. This lunch and learn provided an opportunity for participants to enhance their understanding of how GBA+ considerations can strengthen the evaluation process. Using both theory and practical examples, the session better equipped participants to integrate GBA+ in their ongoing evaluation practice.
Dr. Anette Wenderoth, Using AI in Evaluations, July 2024
Dr. Anette Wenderoth is a Senior Associate Consultant with Universalia. Thematically, her work focuses on education, gender equality and women’s rights, as well as on exploring the concepts of 'capacity development' and 'partnerships' in the context of international development assistance. During this Lunch and Learn, Anette shared examples of how artificial intelligence (AI) is helping her think and write as part of her work. She also opened a space for discussion about how others have been experimenting with AI, to jointly explore related questions and concerns. Key topics covered by the session included:
- Using AI to help with brainstorming and learning
- Using AI for proposal writing
- Using AI for data collection, analysis, and reporting
Kaia Ambrose and Zachariah Su, Outcome Harvesting, June 2024
Kaia Ambrose, an evaluation specialist with over 20 years of experience, and Zachariah Su, a Consultant in Universalia’s Organization and Partnership Practice, presented this Lunch and Learn to share their reflections and lessons learned on the Universalia-led pilot of ‘applying the Outcome Harvesting methodology to assess the performance of WFP’s Country Capacity Strengthening (CCS) interventions’, which took them to conduct country visits in Uganda and the Dominican Republic. Kaia and Zachariah presented and discussed topics such as:
- What is Outcome Harvesting? And how is it different (or not) from other M&E methodologies? What does it ‘look like’?
- Utilization-focused evaluation, participatory approaches – how was this Outcome Harvesting assignment different?
- Project Management and Client Relations – some quick reflections from the experience of this assignment
- How would you like to use Outcome Harvesting in the future? What aspects of Outcome Harvesting do you find interesting/useful? What would you like to learn more about?
EnSeCT, Environmental Peacebuilding, March 2022
This Lunch and Learn was presented by the Environment, Security, and Peacebuilding Practice at Universalia, including Eric Abitbol, Aurelie Ieroncig, Rennie Jordan, Natalie Martin, and Shaida Mahmoud. The presentation shares the practice’s insights regarding the Environmental Peacebuilding Conference held by the Environmental Peacebuilding Association in February 2022. The presentation shares reflection from;
- Rennie Jordan regarding “Climate Change, Security Risks, and Action in Africa as well as Disaster Risk Reduction and Peacebuilding.”
- Aurelie Ieroncig regarding “Climate Change, FCV, and Forced Displacement.”
- Natalie Martin regarding “Gender and Environmental Peacebuilding.”
- Shaida Mahmoud regarding “Community-Based Approaches.”
- Eric Abitbol regarding “Systems Change Evaluation: Is Environmental Peacebuilding Ready?”
Maria Fustic, Global Social Economy Forum, October 2021
This Lunch and Learn was presented by Maria Fustic, Consultant with the Organizations and Partnerships Practice and Gender Equity and Inclusion Practice. Maria attended the Global Social Economy Forum (GSEF) in October 2021 to present her research. The GSEF is a multilateral international gathering for the promotion of Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) to achieve sustainable development. It was launched in Seoul in 2014, and has since taken place in Bilbao, Montreal, and this year in Mexico City. Maria’s presentation included;
- A brief introduction to the forum and the concept of SSE,
- The contents and findings of her Master’s research which she presented at the forum and which focused on the SSE of food in Montreal,
- A discussion about the relevance of SSE in the context of international development evaluation.