Strengthening Evaluation Capacity Building Practice Through Competition: The Max Bell School of Public Policy’s Evaluation Capacity Case Challenge

Abstract

Despite the attention evaluation capacity building (ECB) has received over the past several decades, surprisingly few opportunities for learning about ECB exist. In response to this need, the Max Bell School of Public Policy at McGill University, in collaboration with ECB scholars across Canada, created a case competition focused exclusively on ECB—the Evaluation Capacity Case Challenge (EC3). Twenty individuals interested in learning about ECB and one organization (case site) interested in enhancing their existing evaluation capacity were selected to participate through a competitive application process. Participants attended a series of online workshops and engaged with an ECB coach to hone their skills and then took part in a two-day hybrid case challenge event where they had 24 hours to craft an ECB plan in response to a specific case challenge question presented by case site representatives. In this article, the authors describe EC3 in detail and share some key reflections from the inaugural year.