Charting a path towards local capacity strengthening: Systems and tools for mapping and planning Watch in English Listen in French On September 6, 2023, Data for Impact (D4I) and MOMENTUM’s Monitoring, Evaluation, Innovation, and Learning (ME/IL) Working Group hosted a webinar panel and discussion about tools that catalyze local capacity strengthening, as outlined in USAID’s Local Capacity Strengthening Policy. The webinar was presented in English with simultaneous interpretation to French. Both MOMENTUM Knowledge Accelerator and D4I have developed and implemented tools to assess and monitor organizational-level capacity strengthening. MOMENTUM Knowledge Accelerator discussed the forthcoming Capacity Mapping and Monitoring System (CMMS). Nigerian-based Data Research and Mapping Consult, Ltd. (DRMC) highlighted their experience using D4I’s capacity planning tool, Research and Evaluation Capacity Assessment Tool and Resource Package (RECAP). Based on MOMENTUM’s Enhanced Framework on Organizational Capacity, the CMMS presents a new approach to planning and monitoring performance improvement. This integrated, systems-oriented package enables a partner organization to map their assets, challenges, and the internal drivers that either support or limit their performance. The CMMS generates real-time data and offers a monitoring process to make course corrections. It is designed to foster improvements in organizational performance, user ownership of the improvement process, and an in-depth understanding of performance determinants. D4I’s RECAP tool was developed to support local organizations to assess their organizational capacity for research and evaluation, plan for institutional strengthening, and review progress over time. D4I has partnered with DRMC to support implementation of the USAID Nigeria Health, Population, and Nutrition Multi-Activity Evaluation. At the onset of the partnership, D4I’s RECAP tool was implemented with DRMC. RECAP helped DRMC to identify and advocate for the specific capacity areas in which they desired strengthening. Watch the recording in English and download the presentation slides, or listen in French and access the French presentation. Speakers Barbara Rawlins, MPH – USAID Bureau for Global Health, Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition OfficeBarbara Rawlins is a Senior Implementation Research Advisor in USAID’s Global Bureau of Health, Office of Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition, Division of Research and Policy. Ms. Rawlins has more than 20 years of management and implementation experience related to conducting monitoring, evaluation, research and learning (MERL) activities for reproductive, maternal, newborn, child health (RMNCH) programs. Technical focus areas include developing improved metrics, data collection tools and approaches for measuring service coverage, quality and equity, research to inform program design and scale up, strengthening RMNCH components of national health management information systems and capacity building in use of data to improve service delivery quality and health system functioning. Meg Kinghorn, MA – MOMENTUM Knowledge Accelerator Consultant Meg Kinghorn is an independent consultant with 35 years of professional experience working in civil society development and NGO and network capacity strengthening. She has collaborated with organizations ranging from INGOs, to UN organizations, and local NGOs in over 75 countries across diverse sectoral areas. Her work focuses on designing programs, learning processes, and evaluations that facilitate local learning and continuous performance improvement. She has extensive experience in conducting capacity assessment process, designing assessment tools, and teaching courses on capacity assessment. Beryl Levinger, MA, PhD – MOMENTUM Knowledge Accelerator ConsultantBeryl Levinger is Managing Director of BLTeam, a consulting group that supports governments and nongovernmental organizations in strategy development, learning through evaluation, and capacity strengthening. She is also Chief Learning Officer at Root Change. A winner of numerous international awards including two Fulbright grants, Beryl has been a leader in rethinking how organizations can leverage learning for sustainable impact. She has authored numerous capacity measurement tools and has facilitated capacity development sessions for over 150 different NGOs and civil society organizations. Her career includes senior leadership positions in several major NGOs. Until 2020, Beryl served as Distinguished Professor and Program Chair for the Development Practice and Policy Program at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies where she taught courses on evaluation, NGO leadership, and capacity development. Samson B. Adebayo, MSc, PhD – Data Research and Mapping Consult, Ltd. (DRMC) Samson B. Adebayo’s specialization is biostatistics with an interest in sexual and reproductive health, maternal and child health and nutrition, family planning, and statistical modelling from a geostatistical point of view. His career has spanned academia, WHO, consultancies, and seasoned public health research. He joined DRMC in 2022 and is currently the Project Director for the USAID Nigeria HPN Multi-Activity Evaluation with D4I.
