Laying the foundation for a developmental evaluation of the Omidyar Fellows Program, cohort I

Abstract

The Omidyar Fellows Program's theory of change envisioned the creation of a community of leaders through which innovative and adaptive interventions are implemented in dynamic, interconnected island environments, and transform the State of Hawaiʻi. Pre-developmental or formative evaluation activities provided feedback on this system change initiative to enable adaptation and change. Evaluation data in two major groups, program and cohort impact, were collected and analyzed over the course of the 15-month program and six month post program periods. Consistent with the developmental evaluation approach, the evaluator took on the perspective, lens and context of an "insider" despite Fellow perceptions as a 3rd party. Two primarily utilitarian work products were produced: (a) a formative evaluation of the program near term impacts on Cohort I, including analyses of program design elements and activities and impacts of such program design on Cohort I; and (b) a program formative evaluation framework in which subsequent program, including cohort, data can be collected and analyzed for short (by cohort), mid (three to five years) and long term (five plus years) developmental evaluative learning and adaptation. The foundation laying or predevelopmental evaluation approach and work products supported program leadership's evaluative learning in responding to program posed key questions; assessed program alignment and the fidelity of implementing program design elements and activities; developed adaptive considerations in support of transformative, social innovation; and implemented adaptive program and initiative management.