Sharing And Shifting Powers

Learnings

I have been trying to include a more holistic approach to my work for the past 10 years. As a social entrepreneur, I was eager to understand how the systems in which our program evolved worked, their failures, disconnections, and the possible bridges. Through the SFU Evaluation For Social Change program, I had the opportunity to be more introspective. I can see more clearly how our professional practices are still predominantly led by hierarchical values and how positivism, patriarchal perspectives affect the relevance of our work.

Developmental evaluation transforms how we define the roles of stakeholders by fostering mutual and equal beneficial contributions toward social change.

Struggles

These past 10 months of learning have been pondered by moments of creativity and vulnerability. COVID 19 transformed our daily lives by taking away some of our basic freedom such as embracing or spending time with our loved ones. In the midst of radical professional and personal changes and grief, I sometimes struggled to find the confidence and courage that I needed to express my thoughts, to follow-up on some of the meaningful comments that my classmates shared, or to simply post my final assignments on time. I also found it challenging to balance family, work and study. I missed carefree evenings that my husband used to have after our kids' bedtime. Finally, I realized how much more I needed to learn and practice to fully grasps the complexity of transformative concepts.

Aspirations

While Studying Evaluation for Social Change and Transformation Learning I contemplated the idea of implementing an evaluative project that will assess Transformative Advocacy Campaigns’ capacity to nudge influencers (i.e policymakers, corporations, advocates, etc.). This project could include an analysis of systems psychology and Political behavior.

Our communities worldwide are living a pivotal moment: well established western worldviews are failing to address the need for a sustainable, inclusive, and fair society. In most professional fields, there is a desire to find more meaning and "ease" at work. I'm excited to join collective actions that help change how our organizations, businesses and even societies (at a political level) are led by promoting less exploitative leaderships that are more mindful and collaborative.