OUR FOCUS

Making it easier for organizations to plan, monitor, and report on their impact

Organizational Impact Evaluation Frameworks

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Comprehensive frameworks were developed for three not-for-profit organizations (social purpose, arts and culture, and green transportation sectors), including:

  • strategic planning, stakeholder interviews, staff training

  • development of evaluation tools and manuals

  • processes, data collection, and reporting

Program Evaluations and Research

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  • Third-party evaluations and research studies have been conducted across Canada for a range of clients in the settlement sector, for labour, and in adult and literacy education.

  • Program and project evaluations were conducted with a social purpose organization to describe the seven-year impact of Indigenous ways of working on families, communities, systems, and the social innovation sector.

  • Social Impact Studies were prepared for a faith-based loan guarantor to encourage investment by demonstrating the financial and social benefits of its loan guarantee program on social enterprises.

  • A Social Return on Investment (SROI) report highlighted the powerful financial benefits of a breakfast/walk-to-school program in a housing development.

Online and In-Person Training

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  • Looking for the Ripple Effect, a ten-module, federally funded online learning program about outcomes-based evaluation, was developed and has been delivered to over 500 participants in the settlement sector since 2020.

  • A nationally certified, online EAL instructor training program was developed for university participants who wanted to become TESL-certified EAL instructors. Ten modules were written for each of four courses, complete with learner guides, instructional content, online videos and audio, readings, and assessment activities.

  • An Essential Skills assessment and training program was developed for a provincial Apprenticeship Branch.

  • Delivery of diverse presentations and workshops for national and provincial conferences, sector groups, community-based organizations, northern communities, unions, literacy organizations, colleges, and provincial and federal
    government committees.

Joint Program Development 

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  • Pathways between two post-secondary institutions were developed for two faculties - one from each institution. Teaching staff from the two faculties were brought together for a two-day strategic planning session to brainstorm innovative new programming ideas, and to analyze and map out program content to see where natural bridging may occur. Working groups were formed to dovetail admissions requirements and processes, to manage financial aspects of the project, to ensure consistent communication internal and external to the institutions, and to market the new program. 

  • Strategic planning in China for institutional partnership between Red River College and Shenyang Institute

Coordination / Leadership

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  • Management of a large college EAL program operating with IRCC funding and reporting requirements (55 staff, 1000 learners annually).

  • Management of the college's academic support and assessment department (5 staff, 30 tutors, 500 students annually).

  • A national work-based certification process was established for production workers in the manufacturing sector. Labour and sector stakeholders collaborated to establish skills assessment and certification for skills recognition. Evidence (workplace documents, testimonials, interviews, photos, and training certificates) was assembled into portfolios that reflected nationally developed standards and were assessed by trained assessors who had also created portfolios.