Last Thursday 19 September 2024, I was announced as the winner of the Australian Evaluation Society’s Awards for Excellence in Evaluation – Emerging New Talent award for 2024!
I was absolutely stoked to win this award.
The award recognising someone who has made an outstanding contribution to the field but has been working as an evaluator for less than 5 years. The judges said they were impressed with my use of evaluation theory and approaches, and the wide range of things I’ve worked on, and they flagged the positive feedback I got on my Intro to Qualitative Methods in Evaluation workshop (running again this month!!). They also noted that I’ve been a very active member of the Australian Evaluation Society (AES), including as a member of a working group, speaking at conferences, facilitating workshops, and helping to deliver next year’s AES conference in Canberra.
As a self-employed person, it can be hard to find community and colleagues within work, especially those who are a few steps further along the career ladder who can offer insight and advice and be role models as we grow. AES has given me the community I needed to find my feet and thrive as an evaluator. Career changes can be challenging, but the AES has given me so many opportunities to help me step into this work in the past 3-4 years. And it’s so wonderful to have my achievements in doing this work recognised!
If you’ve been following me for a while, you’ll know me more as a grant writer than an evaluator. But, I’ve been working to build this new, additional skillset for a few years now. I think my skillset in grants makes me a better evaluator – and vice versa.
Applying for an award is an interesting experience. The process is to be nominated by someone – but, as I don’t have an employer (who would usually be the nominator in this category) or really anyone else who fully knows all the things I do, the process was fully driven by me. I felt like I met the criteria – but also, I felt worried that saying “I think I deserve an award” was big-headed or grandiose or bragging. To stand up and say “I think I might be the best new talent in evaluation this year – and here’s why” was very nerve-wracking. But, everyone I spoke with encouraged me to go for it. And the process of putting together the application was good. It was useful to reflect on what I’ve done in the past few years – where my strengths lie, and where I might find some gaps to continue to fill.
I was also delighted to share the award this year with another emerging evaluator, Carla Pozo Jeria. The judges said they couldn’t split us, and decided to make two awards this year. Carla and I have become quick friends, and are excited to have many more nerdy evaluation chats and find new ways to work together and support each other into the future.
The awards were presented at the Gala Dinner at the AES International Evaluation Conference at Federation Square. Getting up on the stage was exciting and I was very nervous!! As my name was read out, I thrust my phone with the camera app loaded at my friend Emma who was seated beside me, hoping she would get the message!! She did, and took some great pics for me!!! I don’t know what I said up there – I hope it was ok! But it was so wonderful hearing the applause and cheers for me. We evaluators (and grant writers!) do work that sits behind the scenes, and often goes unrecognised. But I can hold those cheers with me, knowing that I have a supportive community of colleagues who know this kind of work matters, who knows it’s hard and who are there to celebrate the wins.
