The Learning Conference 2013

Tanya Beer is the Associate Director for the Center for Evaluation Innovation in Washington, D.C., which aims is to build the field of evaluation in areas that are challenging to measure. In addition to publishing on emerging trends in the evaluation of innovative social change efforts, Tanya works with foundations, nonprofits and evaluators to develop new evaluation tools, methods, and learning processes. She also serves as co-director of the Evaluation Roundtable, a network of foundation evaluation leaders that seeks to improve how foundations learn about the results of their grantmaking and increase the impact of their work.

Julia Coffman is director and founder of the Center for Evaluation Innovation. She has more than 20 years of experience as an evaluator, and specializes in evaluation that supports strategic learning, particularly for advocacy, public policy, and systems change efforts. For 15 years Julia worked with the Harvard Family Research Project (HFRP), a research and evaluation organization at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Julia led HFRP’s evaluation work for over a decade, which included evaluating foundation and nonprofit initiatives and publishing The Evaluation Exchange, a nationally renowned periodical on emerging evaluation strategies and issues.

Roberto Cremonini is the founder of Cremonini Consulting Network, helping foundations improve performance through efficient processes, organizational learning, and innovative technology tools. Formerly, Roberto was Chief Knowledge & Learning Officer at the Barr Foundation, where he oversaw evaluation, grants management, and Information Technology and built systems that seamlessly integrate data and documents with the foundation’s processes. Roberto is a former trustee of Grantmakers for Effective Organizations (GEO). In addition to an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management, he received his MS in electrical engineering, summa cum laude and is PhD in computer science from the University of Bologna.

Joshua Joseph is an Officer in Planning & Evaluation at The Pew Charitable Trusts. For 15 years, he’s worked with organization leaders and program staff to design distinctive studies, create change models and implement evaluation plans. He also leads logic modeling workshops and facilitates team off-sites to further support learning and build capacity. Before joining Pew in 2012, Josh was a Sr. program manager at Partnership for Public Service, focusing on people and performance issues – leadership development, performance management, onboarding – in Federal agencies. Past roles include managing BNA’s surveys unit and consulting on business conduct issues at Ethics Resource Center.

Veronica Olazabal manages evaluation and learning activities at the MasterCard Foundation. She has more than 15 years of evaluation and research experience in the philanthropic, non-profit and academic sectors that spans Africa, Asia, Latin America and North America. Prior to joining the Foundation, she spearheaded the monitoring and evaluation efforts of The United Methodists Committee on Relief (UMCOR),as well as co-chaired InterAction's Working Group for Evaluation and Program Effectiveness. She holds a BA in Communications, a Master’s in Urban Policy and Planning from Rutgers University, and is on her way to acquiring her MA in Anthropology from Columbia University.

Dan Wilson is a Credentialed Evaluator and the Manager of Policy, Research and Evaluation with the Ontario Trillium Foundation. His team also leads the Foundation’s Knowledge Management and learning strategy. Dan is especially interested in Developmental Evaluation and evaluation that makes a difference. Dan’s background includes community development, capacity building, and health promotion. He has also spent some time as a Program Manager with the Foundation. An avid music lover, Dan sings in a choir that performs world folk music in its original language. He has recently learned to play the bagpipes, much to the chagrin of his neighbours.