We firmly believe that monitoring should be useful, doable, and appropriate to the organisation's context. We work in partnership with organisations to fully appreciate their information needs and realize that monitoring frameworks and systems are often required to meet multiple demands that range from staff’s management needs to donor’s accountability requests. We do not offer templates; we provide individually developed approaches that meet your special requirements.
OtherWISE emphasizes that programme evaluation should have a clear use for intended users and provides for an evaluation process that is as useful as the evaluation’s findings. In order to do this, we employ a wide range of evaluation methodologies and tailor each evaluation to our clients’ specific needs.
We ask questions and we listen. We focus on understanding the situational context and our clients' needs, organisational culture and values, and past evaluation experiences. For evaluations we provide feedback in a manner that is most useful to our clients: easy to read, well-constructed reports, powerpoint slide shows, oral presentations, pictures, or a combination thereof.
Our depth and breadth of real-world experience combined with theoretical and academic training has proven successful. We believe in practical, useful, and empowering processes. Dedicated to strengthening organisations and their interventions, we are passionate in our belief that sustainable development is rooted in effective and efficient project planning, monitoring, and evaluation.
Whether we are facilitating organisational development interventions, conducting M&E training, providing technical assistance, or implementing an evaluation, we strongly believe in practical and useful approaches.
Whether contracted to implement a monitoring and evaluation training, design a monitoring system, or implement an evaluation, OtherWISE engages with clients to ensure that a full range of choices are understood. We provide services in:
- Monitoring
- Evaluation
- Research
- Training
- Facilitation of group processes
- Strategic planning
- Project design and development
OtherWISE observes both the African Evaluation Ethical Standards and the American Evaluation Standards. OtherWISE is a member of the South African Monitoring and Evaluation Association (SAMEA), the American Evaluation Association (AEA) and supports the African Evaluation Association (AFREA).
Donna Podems PhD, founder and director of OtherWISE, brings both academic and practical experience in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the United States. Dr. Podems holds a doctorate in interdisciplinary studies focused on Program Evaluation and Organizational Development, and a Masters degree in Public Administration. She has worked at grassroots, government (policy), nongovernmental and donor levels. Dr. Podems currently lives in South Africa.
She has vast experience in training, facilitation, developing M&E frameworks and systems, and conducting evaluations for projects in various social development sectors. Dr. Podems has researched and presented technical papers on donor-funded monitoring and evaluation and its impacts on nonprofits' programmes, training and capacity building, feminist evaluation, and various other evaluation issues.
Dr. Podems is a SAMEA Board Member, an AEA International Committee Member,
and past Chair of the Feminist TIG for AEA.
Dr. Donna Podems' CV