Reimagining Evaluation for a Better Future—Reflections on Trust, Truth, and Transformation

Patrizia Cocca leads the Communications and Knowledge Management Team at GEI.

Earlier this week, I had the privilege of moderating the opening session of Glocal Evaluation Week 2025. Titled “Evaluation for a Better Future: Harnessing Evidence to Bridge Divides,” this vibrant session brought together voices from journalism, international organizations, civil society, and evaluation associations. It was a candid, and deeply hopeful conversation—one that reaffirmed everything we at the Global Evaluation Initiative (GEI) believe about the power of evaluation to drive meaningful, inclusive change. 

For years, in my role at GEI and in my broader work in international development at the intersection of communication, knowledge sharing and behavior change, I’ve been drawn to the human side of stories. I’ve seen that interventions—including evaluations—only create change when people trust them, understand them, and feel connected to their purpose. This week’s panelists echoed that truth in powerful ways. 
 

From Misinformation to Meaning: Truth in a Post-Truth World 
 

Keynote speaker David Hayward, a media consultant and former reporter, producer and senior editor at the BBC, spoke passionately about the erosion of trust in journalism and its implications for democratic discourse. His warnings about toxic narratives, misinformation, and disinformation struck a chord with those of us in the evaluation space. 

False or misleading information doesn’t just affect elections—it can erode trust in public systems, institutions, and yes, evaluations and the systems that support them. I explored this in my blog post on 7 Strategies for Building Trust in Evaluation Findings. Some key lessons? Be transparent. Explain your methods clearly. Show your evidence trail. And above all, meet your audience where they already are. 

After all, evaluations are more than technical reports—they are a public good, and we must steward them as such. So how do we do that in practice? Here are four key takeaways from our speakers to help translate evaluation recommendations into action. 
 

1. Evidence Alone Isn’t Enough—Empathy Matters 
 

One of my favorite moments came from Anna Gueraggio, of the UNDP Independent Evaluation Office, who challenged the idea that independence requires evaluators to be aloof or confrontational. “Getting an honest answer to a hard question requires trust,” she said. “And trust comes from humility.” 

It reminded me of my colleague Graham Holliday’s piece, “When Empathy Amplifies Data”, where he highlighted how empathy isn’t at odds with rigor—it deepens it. Whether GEI has been co-facilitating a Monitoring and Evaluation Systems Analysis (MESA) with national monitoring and evaluation (M&E) units in the Solomon Islands or supporting young evaluators, it’s always the human moments—the space to listen, laugh, even be vulnerable—that spark the most transformation.
 

2. Human-Centered AI: A New Frontier for Evaluation
 

Heriberto Tapia, from UNDP’s Human Development Report Office, showcased how new technologies, including AI and satellite data, can enable us to disaggregate data down to the neighborhood or even street level. 

His insights brought to mind GEI’s work supporting localized M&E systems and helping countries visualize inequality in new, more actionable like the work that GEI and CLEAR SA are carrying out in Tamil Nadu, India.  

But Heriberto also cautioned against “techno-solutionism.” AI must be designed with purpose, guided by values, and used to advance—not bypass—human judgment. 
 

3. Evaluation That Inspires Hope and Imagination
 

I loved how Irene Guijt, Head of Research at Oxfam, framed civil society as the “mosquitoes” buzzing around the “elephants” of government and international organizations. As she put it, civil society doesn't just analyze what is—it dares to dream of what could be. 

She also reminded us that evidence must offer hope and clarity, not just diagnosis. “Show people the fire, yes,” she said. “But also show them the exit.” We need evaluations that don’t just critique the present but illuminate the path forward. 
 

4. Collaboration, Curiosity, and Courage: A Way Forward
 

We closed our panel with a question I’ve heard countless times over the years: “How can we ensure evaluation findings are actually used?” The answers from the panelists were honest and layered—build relationships, embed evaluation into decision cycles, listen more than you speak, and sometimes, shift the question altogether. 

Or, as Anna Guerraggio put it so succinctly: “Let’s stop asking how to make evaluation findings useful. Let’s start asking: what decisions need to be made and how can evidence help?”  That simple reframing carries a world of potential. 
 

A Personal Reflection 
 

Facilitating the opening event of Glocal Evaluation Week 2025 felt like a meaningful milestone. Since joining GEI in 2022, I’ve had the opportunity to collaborate with partners across more than 30 countries—shaping knowledge products, supporting campaigns, and exploring how communication can do more than inform: it can inspire. 

This event was a powerful reminder of the value evaluations bring, especially in a world facing deepening divides and eroding trust. Evaluations create space—for listening, for reflection, and for learning together. They encourage us to ask better questions and, at times, uncover better answers.