We conduct participatory organisational assessments and increase performance with effective knowledge management, and by supporting more equitable, diverse and inclusive practice.
We do so by assessing where in the equitable, diverse and inclusive (EDI) journey organisations are and supporting change in communications, governance, leadership, funding and programme design and implementation. Moreover, we are a certified organisational assessment partner to the Ford Foundation and use a participatory approach to identify and prioritise areas of strength and growth for organisations across all functions.
We also develop data functions, professional capabilities, processes and a culture of learning and continuous improvement. We find ways to embed research, evaluation and learning into key business functions for sustained effectiveness and better knowledge management practice.
We support the professionalisation of functions, teams and analytical roles in four main ways. Together, the whole package offers a holistic professional development approach:
- Our approach to training is to have a good balance between theory and practice. It is an effective way of increasing knowledge and the foundation for its application in real work situations.
- In our experience, one needs to coach and mentor staff as they apply new tools, methods or approaches. The focus is on helping them think through practical issues and providing quality assurance if needed.
- Guidance, toolkits and templates further support the consistent application of a particular tool, method or approach.
- Communities of practice are good for peer-learning, sharing good practice and involving external guest speakers for continued development.
Examples
The Ford Foundation appointed us to support a new global gender initiative. Our role is to facilitate connections and cross-movement building, support learning and evaluation and to provide technical assistance for institutional strengthening.
We provided training to City Bridge’s funding committee (their executive group) and to their fund managers on systems thinking/practice, with a strong EDI lens. The trainings improved funding assessment process and supported new ways of working.
Hired to lead on Events & Training at the UK Evaluation Society for 6 months. During that time we created a strategy and implemented a plan that diversified the portfolio of professional courses on offer, increasing the value for its members and revenue streams for the organisation. Members include researchers and evaluators from national and local government, academia, consultancy organisations and the voluntary sector.
Hired to conduct a highly participatory organisational assessment that helped this independent media international NGO implement its new strategy. The process helped identify top priorities for organisational development and change and relevant action plans.
The Health Foundation hired us to develop a tailored training for their research team to help them better track and demonstrate their impact, to prepare for corporate-level assessment and to improve funding and big evaluations.
The UK Collaborative on Development Research (UKCDR) hired us to provide intermediate to advanced training on how to facilitate focus groups discussions for research and development issues, focusing on low and middle-income countries’ practices. They also engaged our services to deliver an intermediate course on qualitative data analysis and reporting.
Testimonials
“We have worked with Jessica, the Director of Nexus Evaluation, to assess the areas of strength of our organisation, and to identify areas for growth and development. Jessica was incredible to work with: to the point in her analysis, emotionally intelligent and accommodating regarding our needs in terms of timeline, staff consultation and methodology. She also understood the complexities of our organisation immediately and was fun to work with.”
Julia Ehrt, Executive Director at The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA).
“Nexus’s Director and I worked together when she was contracted to support the UK Evaluation Society Events strategy and training pipeline, and she was absolutely phenomenal to work with. It is rare to work with someone who is equally technically adept, emotionally intelligent, and fun to work with and she is absolutely all three. She sees the wood for the trees and always has a solution to a problem, and regularly goes above and beyond to implement that solution once agreed. I would whole-heartedly recommend working with her to anyone.”
Niki Wood, Director, Chemonics International
“Really great session on team and corporate impact design and measurement run by Nexus. Built the training bespoke for the team. Clear and thought provoking sessions that opened up lots of avenue to explore that we wouldn’t have considered.”
Shaun Leamon, Research Manager, the Health Foundation
“Nexus Evaluation created an engaging, in-depth session for our team that first provided a strong foundation of theory which was built upon by an afternoon of dynamic exercises for applied learning. We were very pleased with the course and will certainly call upon their expertise for future training needs.”
Rachel Miles, Programme Manager, UK Collaborative Research
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