On August 18th at 10:00 am EST, Search for Common Ground’s Rebecca Herrington hosted the M&E Thursday Talk series on The Monitoring & Evaluation of Participatory Theater for Change.
M&E Thursday Talk – The Monitoring & Evaluation of Participatory Theater for Change from DME for Peace on Vimeo.
Participatory Theater for Change is a creative approach used to encourage positive social transformation by motivating communities to critically analyse their own situation, develop and perform artistic and cultural content that reflects their reality, and actively engage participants in dialogue, analysis, planning, and action. Although Participatory Theater for Change programming has made a significant contribution to empowering social and behavioral change for decades, the data is sparse, and it remains difficult to determine where, how, and when Participatory Theatre for Change programming works best.
Discussing a recent module on the topic, created by UNICEF & Search for Common Ground, Rebecca Herrington will outline specific considerations for utilizing relevant aspects of design and incorporating M&E from the beginning of the Participatory Theater for Change process. This module offers practical guidance and tool suggestions for implementing monitoring and evaluation in Participatory Theater for Change programs, or programs that involve Participatory Theater for Change as one activity.
About the speaker:
Rebecca Herrington is the Institutional Learning Team (ILT) Program Manager at Search for Common Ground, managing and providing technical expertise for all externally-facing design, monitoring, and evaluation (DM&E) projects; including three USAID R&D awards, an expanded UNICEF partnership, and further development of ILT fundraising. Rebecca works on emerging DM&E to test new approaches and ensure monitoring and evaluation serve to strengthen programming and support adaptive program management. Over the past year, she worked with 14 countries to provide technical DM&E support to UNICEF’s 150 million-Euro Peacebuilding, Education, and Advocacy program, including publication of the Emerging Practices Guide. She has been working for over nine years in conflict program management and DM&E, with a focus on program design and conflict sensitivity. Prior to her work at Search for Common Ground, Rebecca developed a strong governance specialization centered on fragile states, technical options development for dialogue, and strategies for shared societies captured through her chapter on Governance in Mari Fitzduff’s Public Policies for Shared Societies book. Before Heller, Rebecca worked as the Community Economic Development Program Manager at Nuru International in Kenya, supported by her previous working experience in micro-finance and local business development in Central America. She has worked throughout Central America, MENA, and East Africa, building lessons learned through living and working abroad in rural, conflict-affected and transitional communities. Rebecca holds dual Masters degrees in International Development and Conflict Management from Brandeis University.