Jamaican Diaspora Stakeholder Engagement for National M & E System

With Jamaica’s Independence celebration coming up six days from today, we believe it is important to focus on building capacities for sustainable development at home and in the diaspora.

We also believe presenting this opportunity for diasporans to contribute the the development of Jamaica’s National Monitoring and Evaluation Systems in partnership with the Co-leaders of the UN Decade of Evaluation for Action, Jan V and the Jamaica Diaspora North East, USA will help to catalyze change.

But we will need you and your commitment to drive the sustainable development of Jamaica and to secure a better future for us at home and in our host cities.

Will you join us?

Meet our guest speakers and session facilitators

 

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Khalil Bitar

Khalil Bitar is the Chair of EvalYouth Global Network; Founder of the Palestinian Evaluation Association (PEA); Co-Founder and Co-Chair of the EvalYouth MENA Chapter; and co-leader of the Eval4Action Campaign.  Khalil is also a leader of the EvalMENA Network and serve as a member of the EvalPartners Coordination Committee (and previously EvalPartners Management Group).

Khalil has worked an internal and external evaluator and researcher for several governmental institutions and local and international NGOs in the MENA region and Europe. Throughout his experience, he evaluated numerous projects and programs covering a wide range of sectors, including: education, refugee response, economic empowerment, youth, gender, women empowerment, local governance, corporate social responsibility, and training.

He is now completing his doctoral research (Willy Brandt School of Public Policy at Erfurt University – Germany)  focusing on investigating the impact of M&E systems on policymaking and governance in conflict-affected and fragile states. He holds an Advanced Master’s degree in Development Evaluation and Management (Institute of Development Policy and Management at Antwerp University – Belgium) and Bachelor degree in International Politics and Sociology (City University London – UK).  He is also an International Program for Development Evaluation Training (IPDET) graduate.

Khalil has published articles in the New Directions for Evaluation Journal and Journal of Multidisciplinary Evaluation, and he has been a speaker in several evaluation community conferences and other events.

His research interests include evaluation in conflict-affected and fragile states, national evaluation systems, policy evaluation, evaluation in the MENA region, activism in evaluation, and social justice, equity-focused, and youth participatory evaluation.

 

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Johannes (Jan) VOORDOUW

Johannes (Jan) VOORDOUW is a well-rounded development professional who has worked in the Wider Caribbean region for over 30 years.  He is a dual national Jamaica/Netherlands, multi-lingual and an ecologist by training.  Since 2015 as an independent consultant, Jan Voordouw specializes on project and programme evaluation, institutional development, community participation and media development.  He previously worked with the relief and development social enterprise Cordaid as Haiti director, the regional communication for development organization Panos Caribbean as Executive Director and Director of Programmes, and UNEP’s Caribbean Environment Programme as Programme Officer).

During past years, he conducted various designs of M&E frameworks, regarding forestry management and justice reform.  Currently, he is designing the M&E framework and plan of Vision 2030 Jamaica-National Development Plan, including the SDGs.  Further, Jan Voordouw is regularly involved in strategic planning activities at local community, national and regional levels.  Jan Voordouw has a M.Sc. from the Agricultural University of Wageningen, Netherlands.  Currently he serves on the Boards of Caribbean Evaluators International as Marketing and Communication Director and the Alliance française de la Jamaïque as Treasurer.

 

Andrea Wright

Andrea Wright is a Guidance Counsellor at Charlemont High School, Linstead, Jamaica. She has worked at Dinthill Technical and Vere Technical High. The Parenting Speaker and Actress is popularly known as Delcita, a popular Jamaican comedian.

Andrea excels at working with parents for ensuring they understand the connection between a nurturing home and academic achievement. She helps teachers with coping strategies for behavioural challenges. Her proven track record of success includes helping Departmental Heads to deliver various school projects. In 2015, Andrea organized and successfully launched the Vere Technical High School’s first Children’s Day Celebration. In 2015 she was selected as the advocate for the United States Embassy Youth Ambassadors from Clarendon.

Andrea is solid in her belief that the quality of a country’s labour force rests on its investment in its children. Hence, in May 2020, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, she heralded a campaign to send external exam students back into the high schools for a few weeks of face to face teaching and also strongly advocated that the Ministry of Education allow the students to sit their CSEC and CAPE exams at the same time as the other Caribbean countries.

She is a well sought after Guest Presenter and recently addressed the Bank of Jamaica retirees on coping skills and strategies. Besides theatre, her event development experience includes staff development workshops addressed by executives such as the Chief of the Office of Children’s Registry (OCR).

She has appeared in many theatrical productions as well as Jamaica’s first AIDS Awareness Documentary written by Trevor Rhone. Her stage plays include De Driva, Money Worries, Granny Del, Honeymoon and her true story, Court House Drama.

The Gleaner’s Youth Link named her actress of the year 2012 and Your View Awards named her Jamaican Actress of the year 2017-2018.
She attended Shortwood Teachers’ College and holds a BSc., Degree in Guidance and Counselling from Northern Caribbean University. In addition, she is an A+ Certified Technician (Microsoft, International Professional Certification), and is trained in Psychosocial Training for Grade 7-9 Teachers.

Her mantra: Challenges are Intersections – Stay on Course
Andrea is available for speaking engagements including keynote, guest speaker, motivational talks and Guest speaking, motivational talks and theatrical skits.

Dr. Karren Dunkley

Dr. Karren Dunkley is an Educator, Transformational Leader, and Social Advocate. She is the Representative of the Jamaican Diaspora, Northeast USA. Dr. Dunkley is a Proven Performer, who has earned the respect and recommendation of others who have seen her work first hand. Currently, Dr. Dunkley is one of the most successful educators in the United States, and one of the most internationally recognized Jamaican-born educators. As a former high school principal and deputy superintendent, Dr. Dunkley is known for her transformational leadership and her inspiring relationships with the young people whom she has mentored in Jamaica, New York, and Pennsylvania.

She holds a doctorate in Urban Education with a concentration in Organization and Leadership from Teachers College, Columbia University; Masters degrees in Political Science and Education Leadership from St. John’s University, and Columbia University, respectively, and a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science with a minor in Education from St. John’s University. She is the principal/CEO of KND Consulting, LLC, and the co-proprietor of Spiritz of Montego Bay.

She is the recipient of the Tuskegee University Education Advocacy Award, Omega Psi Phi Education Achievement Award, Philadelphia OIC’s Impact Award, and the Team Jamaica Bickle Community Educator Award.

The Marathoner

Meegan Scott

Meegan Scott, is a Strategic Management Consultant and Principal at Magate Wildhorse Consulting. For almost two decades, She has helped organizational leaders across industries and geographical borders to get better results from their strategy development, planning, and execution processes.  Meegan is the founder and owner of Magate Wildhorse Ltd, Toronto and Magate Wildhorse Inc, New York. Her most recent in Caribbean engagements includes Climate Finance Strategy Planning, The First Ever Outsource to the Caribbean Conference (2017), business incubation, and  corporate strategy planner to the National Environment and Planning Agency of Jamaica. Meegan is also the founder of both Caribbean Evaluators International; BIDEM International Caribbean Diaspora Conference and Trade Show; The Community of Practice of Practice for Caribbean Immigrant Entrepreneurs, author of The Marathoner, a self-syndicated business column as well as the Chief Editor and Producer of The Noësis, Strategy and Performance Magazine/Journal. Meegan had the privilege of compiling the first edition of Jamaica’s Compendium of Sustainable Development Indicators in 2003 while serving as Corporate Strategy Planner to the National Environment and Planning Agency of Jamaica (NEPA).

Meegan is committed to partnering for and delivering influential evaluations, as well as facilitating the use and demand for evaluation within and beyond the Jamaican diaspora, host countries and the Caribbean.

 

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Dania Sammott

Dania Sammott, is an experienced Retail Merchandizer and Travel Counsellor. Her experience include serving in the hypermarket sub-sector as well as in retail, pharmacy, food and household departments.  She is the Director, Public Relations for the Manchester High Alumni, Toronto, Chapter.

Dania will serve in the role of time keeper for today’s event.

Event Flyer                               Event Programme

Resources added post event on July 31, 2020 courtesy of Jan Voordouw.

In addition to the SDG related links in the event programme at the link above Jan is pleased to share the following with you.

https://dashboards.sdgindex.org/rankings?utm_sq=gghcxpkail

https://dashboards.sdgindex.org/downloads

SDGs and COVID-19


We partner

Dialogue : The Entrepreneurial Ecosystem ― Caribbean Diasporic Markets

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Coming soon!

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Call for Papers & Review Board Members

Noesis Cover Winter 2020

Call for Reviewers & Editors — Magazine/Journal 2020

The Noësis: MWildhorse Strategy and Performance Magazine (two issues per year) is committed to publishing non-technical as well as technical information in the fields of Business and International Development. With a focus on strategy, marketing, trade, performance management and measurement, intellectual property and the creative industries—the publication aims to provide a complete and reliable source of information, how-to and in field applications on the aforementioned topics.  It will facilitate the growth of grey literature in strategy, marketing and performance management unique to Caribbean-Canadian and Caribbean organizations. By Caribbean we refer to the Caribbean and its diaspora markets.  We are devoted to publishing high quality articles and stories that are easily accessible and sold at an inclusive price.

Deadline: June 15,  2020

Email at: magatewildhorse@gmail.com

More at: https://magatewildhorse.ca/call-for-reviewers-editors-magazinejournal-2/

Call for Papers – Summer Edition

Deadline: July 15,  2020

Deadline for final submissions: July 25, 2020

Special opportunity for publishing the best 2000-3000 words from your Masters thesis or PhD dissertation available.

Word limit for magazine styled pieces [580 to 1200]

Double-blind Peer Review

Please click the link above to ensure your submissions are compliant with the double-blind peer review process applicable to all submissions.

To submit your proposal, article, or query, please contact Meegan Scott by

Email at: magatewildhorse@gmail.com

Entrepreneurs and consultants here is your chance to put your expertise on parade and boost your COVID 19 recovery results.

We look forward to articles, case studies, cartoon and art related to COVID 19 and Evaluation and or for driving the Sustainable Development Goals.

As partners in delivering the Decade of Evaluation for Action we will dedicate a space in the forthcoming edition for related issues.

Visibility and simplicity―do you know an entrepreneur, a consultant, or business that could do without one or the other?

We didn’t think so.  So, we strive to give organizations and entrepreneurs the best of both.

In today’s world where the language of business expands almost daily and growth-related concepts can be tough to understand, The Noësis aims to bring understanding and simplicity —disambiguation.

Its content will facilitate understanding of tough business and development concepts― while accelerating the learning of industry language and how-to.

And by so doing help organizations and entrepreneurs get more out of their investment in consulting solutions. Practitioners and consultants can expect content that will help them to improve their craft.

Find out more at: 

Chief Editor and Publisher, Meegan Scott

Recent addition:

We are pleased to welcome Dr. Mythili Kolluru as academic editor to our review board.  Dr. Mythili Kolluru is an Assistant Professor in the Professional Studies and Undergraduate department of the College of Banking and Financial Studies, Oman.

We are pleased to welcome Dr. Kiran Nair as academic and business editor to our review board. Dr. Nair is Program Director, Master of Science in Leadership and Organizational Development, Abu Dhabi School of Management, United Arab Emirates.

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Meegan Scott and Magate Wildhorse Consulting Commit to Influential Evaluation

Evaluation Committment Quote Meegan Scott

This year and throughout the “Decade of Evaluation for Action”  we will continue to deliver corporate strategy planning solutions that are built with evaluation in mind.  Both strategy and plans that make the next phases of the strategy continuum easy and more impactful.

The coronavirus pandemic has and will erase some of the progress made towards realizing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), on top of the risk of failure to meet the targets that existed before COVID 19.

As such we look forward to facilitating the use of evaluation and organizational assessments in order to help drive impact.

Of special interest for us are planning that supports evaluation, evaluation, and organizational assessments in the following areas:

  • Market systems development programmes,
  • Caribbean immigrant community serving not-for-profits,
  • International development programmes and projects related to trade, climate finance, Environment, private sector development,
  • Economic development clusters, and areas where geographical indicators is being used to protect intellectual property and hopefully equitable benefit from local resources, culture, and traditional practice as well as
  • diaspora development events and programmes.

Join 1 web siteWe will continue to integrate research, training, evaluation how-s and whys into our Outride: COVID 19 Business Threat Seminar series which is grounded in risk intelligence.  Monitoring, evaluation, assessment, and improvement are crucial to building risk intelligence and risk intelligence competence in our diaspora and mainstream organizations.  During series 9, which will be held on June 11, 2020 we will shift the focus on evaluation and organizational assessments to communication.

And more so the risks of growing or maintaining a culture that embraces pseudo-evaluations, ideological marketing, deception; and the frustrations that comes from a solo focus on funder driven transparency and accountability focused evaluations to the neglect of organizational strategy, mission, vision, growth and innovation.  We will be helping our attendees in the non-profit sector in particular to look at the opportunity for integrating the GCS framework in the communications component of their programmes.

It is our hope that by taking this approach the thirst for truth, impact, innovation or innovative, relevance and improvement will be a part of what they do from the start.

If you operate a Caribbean diaspora organization join us along with our entrepreneurs on June 11, 2020 for the next series with something powerful for you when it comes to performance and improvement.

To our entrepreneurs, no need to worry as you’ve seen before  we will have your piece of the pie ready for you as usual. This time around the focus will be on financial evaluation for credit.

We commit to building partnerships on evaluation.   We could go on and on about the benefits of partnership from different perspectives including ownership, democracy, learning, as well as in relation to consulting partnerships who partner. But why not check in for a chat on that one.

Mark your calendars for the #Eval4Action Global Marathon of Engagement.

Campaign launch & opening remarks by UNFPA Executive Director @Atayeshe and @UNYouthEnvoy @jayathmadw

10 June 2020, 1-3pm GMT, 9-11am ET Everyone can join! Register: bit.ly/3dn10ss

https://youtu.be/HZrC_s8bAP8

Won’t you join us?

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