Dovetail Consulting Ltd

Dovetail set aside our mahi earlier this week to attend the biannual Aotearoa New Zealand Evaluation Association (ANZEA) Conference in Ellerslie Tāmaki Makaurau.  The conference was a welcome opportunity to connect with our collaborators and our wider professional network of evaluators, both new and established from across the motu. It is a time for us to share and reflect together on the challenges and opportunities within our mahi, and for Dovetail to offer our own expertise through talanoa – ngā mihi nui Adrian Field, Emily Garden and Georgia Parslow as well as our collaborators Julian King and Michelle Moss for your generous insights. We were delighted to sponsor a keynote speaker, Professor Regina Scheyvens. This year's theme was the mana-enhancing role of evaluation, celebrating the wisdom from evaluative practice across Oceania. We heard from a diverse range of speakers about their approach to evaluative practice including:  • The tanoa – acknowledging our roots in our ways of working in a way that is mana-enhancing by incorporating Western and Indigenous approaches and tools.   • The kava – mixing together our ideas and approaches both old and new to address the needs of our people and places and of course, the demands of our profession.  • The Talanoa – the sharing of ideas, formation of community and connections and generating a powerful influence through our work – together.    We look forward to sharing our thoughts with you over the coming weeks, including reflections on our own presentations for those who were unable to attend the conference this year. Arohanui to our ANZEA network and the conference committee for organising such an insightful wānanga.

Our latest blog picks up on recent presentations by Adrian Field and Julian King at the #AES24 (Melbourne) and #AEA2024 (Portland, Oregon) conferences. We explore the challenges and opportunities presented by evaluations that are commissioned to be delivered remotely, while ensuring depth and integrity in the approach. We applied the Value for Investment framework, working alongside our Brazilian evaluation partner, Thomaz K. Chianca. Together, we worked with programme leads in Jundiaí, Brazil to evaluate the Urban95 initiative that seeks to transform cities for young children and their caregivers by considering urban spaces from the height of a three-year-old: 95cm. Working in English and Portugues, and spanning three time zones – Aotearoa, Brazil and the Netherlands – Adrian and Julian reflect on their process of engaging across continents, and the effort we took to avoid the consultancy challenge of ‘parachuting in’. The post also explores our collaborative processes in developing a theory of value creation and evaluation rubrics, which underpinned the evaluation approach. Our thanks to the Van Leer Foundation who commissioned the evaluation, and to all participants in the evaluation. https://lnkd.in/gbrs22pH

Dovetail is in Portland! Adrian Field presented on developing rubrics with integrity across continents and cultures at the AEA2024 conference this week. It's always a treasure to connect with our evaluation colleagues across the globe.

Have you noticed Dovetail has a new byline? While we still deliver insights for action and change we have refined our byline to better represent our evolving practice and unique offering. If you want to know more about what makes us the sense makers and get a glimpse into our hallmark sense making process head over to our latest blog. https://lnkd.in/g9n7AxMs

Earlier this year, Julian King and Adrian Field co-authored a reflection on their experiences of establishing and growing a consulting practice. With the ongoing upheaval in the New Zealand public sector, we're re-posting this to give food for thought for those going through change and considering a consulting pathway. This is a really challenging time for many, and we hope this can inform thinking on future career directions. https://lnkd.in/djW-Z67h

Amanda Hunter, one of our Dovetail senior consultants, led a learning and insights review of the Elder Abuse Prevention Fund (EAPF) on behalf of the Office for Seniors earlier this year. Last week, Amanda presented the report findings at the New Zealand Association of Gerontology’s Navigating Aging Conference in Wellington. This review wove together practice-based insights to shed light on the scale and prevalence of abuse of older people in New Zealand and capture the successes and challenges of participating initiatives to inform future work in this space. We would like to thank the Office for Seniors and the New Zealand Association of Gerontology for the opportunity to carry out and share this work as well as the co-authors of this review Rachael Butler and Kellie Spee. If you missed her presentation, Amanda has published key learning and insights from the review on our website. You can read further here: https://lnkd.in/gajgQVQ4

A warm welcome to A. M. Leal Rodriguez who has joined our team as a Consultant. Leal brings a rich background in sociology research and cultural frameworks. We're also delighted Leal brings a Wellington presence to our operations. Welcome Leal!

We've been privileged to partner with Hapai Hapori in Department of Internal Affairs across a range of initiatives. Our most recent work explored four case studies of impact in the Community-led Development Programme. Community-led development is never a linear process, but these case studies highlight the value of supporting communities to catalyse their own potential. Our grateful thanks to all who participated so thoughtfully. https://lnkd.in/g38DUFaf

We've turned 10! Our director, Adrian Field, offers his reflections on the growth and development of the company so far. We look forward to more exciting projects and collaborations in the future. https://lnkd.in/gqkaiQ9M

Our growing impact and work programme means a growing team! A warm welcome to Olivia Gregg and Dr Alicia Crocket, who have joined our team in recent months, and are working across our portfolios. Olivia joins as a Research Assistant and has recently completed conjoint degrees in Conjoint degrees in psychology and criminology, and global studies. Alicia is a longstanding collaborator who has joined our in-house team as a Senior Consultant. Kia ora!