Center for Evaluation Innovation

Center for Evaluation Innovation
Name	Center for Evaluation Innovation
Type	Nonprofit research organization
Founded	2009
Founder	Anonymous group of evaluation practitioners
Headquarters	Washington, D.C.
Focus	Evaluation practice, monitoring, learning, research synthesis

Center for Evaluation Innovation The Center for Evaluation Innovation is an independent nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., focused on advancing evaluation practice and evidence use across the social sector. It serves as a bridge among practitioners at American Evaluation Association, policymakers at United States Congress, funders such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and implementers including Teach For America, providing convening, synthesis, and capacity building. The Center works with international agencies like United Nations entities and bilateral donors such as the United States Agency for International Development to improve evaluation design, reporting, and uptake.

History

Founded in 2009 amid shifting funding priorities and increased demand for accountability following initiatives like the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness and the Obama administration emphasis on evidence-based policy, the organization emerged from a network of evaluators associated with International Initiative for Impact Evaluation, Independent Evaluation Group (World Bank), and leading university centers such as Harvard Kennedy School, Stanford University and University of California, Berkeley. Early activities responded to calls from philanthropic leaders including the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and public agencies like United States Agency for International Development for improved impact measurement. Over time it convened practitioners from Global Partnership for Education, The World Bank, UNICEF, and regional development banks to address methodological challenges revealed by programs run by OXFAM, CARE International, and Save the Children.

Mission and Activities

The Center's mission emphasizes strengthening evaluation quality, cultivating practical innovation, and promoting evidence use among funders such as Ford Foundation and Carnegie Corporation of New York, implementers including Catholic Relief Services and Mercy Corps, and policy audiences at European Commission directorates. Core activities include convenings with stakeholders from Rockefeller Foundation, workshops with academic partners at Columbia University and London School of Economics, and technical assistance for initiatives led by Global Affairs Canada and Gates Foundation. It also supports practitioner networks that include members from Evaluation Cooperation Group and regional evaluation associations like African Evaluation Association and Latin American and Caribbean Evaluation Network.

Research and Methodologies

The Center promotes methodological plurality, engaging with quasi-experimental methods popularized by Angrist and Pischke and randomized controlled trial designs associated with Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo, and Michael Kremer, while also emphasizing qualitative approaches linked to scholars from University of Michigan and Yale University. It examines innovations such as difference-in-differences applications in development projects funded by Inter-American Development Bank, mixed-methods synthesis used by RAND Corporation, and contribution analysis influenced by Michael Quinn Patton. The Center has explored adaptive management paradigms championed in Global Development Network forums and participatory evaluation techniques practiced by International Rescue Committee and World Vision. It convenes methodological working groups with experts from National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and links to standards advocated by International Organization for Standardization and OECD evaluation guidelines.

Partnerships and Funding

Partnerships span philanthropic foundations including Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Ford Foundation, and William and Flora Hewlett Foundation; international financial institutions such as World Bank and African Development Bank; and academic collaborators at Georgetown University, Princeton University, and University of Oxford. Funding has come from a mix of foundations, bilateral donors like UK Department for International Development and corporate sponsors aligned with Skoll Foundation objectives. The Center has worked with program implementers including BRAC and Partners In Health and supported cross-sector initiatives led by Clinton Foundation and Global Partnership for Education, while maintaining a governance model that seeks to avoid conflicts of interest common to sector actors like Philanthropy Roundtable.

Publications and Resources

The Center produces practical guidance, white papers, and toolkits in collaboration with think tanks such as Brookings Institution and Center for Global Development, and academic presses at Oxford University Press. Resources address topics ranging from outcome harvesting for use by CARE International to cost-effectiveness reporting relevant to United States Agency for International Development evaluations. It curates annotated bibliographies and maintains repositories influenced by the practices of Campbell Collaboration and 3ie (International Initiative for Impact Evaluation), publishes case studies featuring work with PATH and GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance, and issues landscape analyses used by funders like Annenberg Foundation.

Impact and Notable Evaluations

The Center has influenced evaluation practice through convenings that shaped evaluation frameworks adopted by UNICEF country offices and methodological guidance referenced by World Health Organization program evaluators. Notable engagements include technical support to large-scale education evaluations involving USAID and Global Partnership for Education, methodological contributions to health interventions evaluated in partnership with GAVI and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and synthesis work informing policy deliberations at the European Commission and United States Department of State. Its impact is evident in improved reporting standards used by Catholic Relief Services, strengthened monitoring systems at UNHCR, and enhanced learning practices embedded in programs run by Mercy Corps and Save the Children.

Category:Non-profit organizations based in Washington, D.C.