This monitoring and evaluation (M&E) talk looks at the theoretical frameworks useful for a conservation-focused M&E system. The presenter will explain the choices that The Nature Conservancy’s (TNC) Africa Program made on theory of change elements, monitoring focus, evaluation approaches, and shared indicators across projects. In the present, real numbers are given on the indicators per project and what the ecological and socioeconomic baselines cost in Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia. TNC is working to roll up the project-level data into a regional cloud-based M&E system using open-source software.

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Featured Speaker:

Craig Leisher is the Director of Monitoring and Evaluations for The Nature Conservancy’s Africa Region, where his work focuses on measuring the benefits to people and nature from conservation initiatives. Prior to joining TNC’s Africa Region, he spent five years as the Senior Social Scientist on TNC’s Central Science team focusing on gender-conservation links and measuring human well-being; two years as a stay-at-home parent working part-time in TNC’s International Government Relations group; and three years in TNC’s Asia Pacific region as the Senior Policy Advisor for China and Indonesia. Before TNC, Craig spent six years in Vietnam where he was the Program Director for WWF Indochina and the Environment Advisor for the UN Development Program. Prior to Vietnam, Craig worked for the World Bank in the environment sector of Latin America and the former Soviet Union for five years. He has more than 60 publications and holds an MA in International Relations from the American University and a BA in Russian History from the University of New Mexico. He is an avid scuba diver and discovered a new species of cavefish in Vietnam.