Workshop: Centring Community in Evaluation – Who Gets to Decide What “Good” Looks Like?

Wednesday 9 September, 1-3pm AEST via Online

Building on the first webinar in this series, this session explores how evaluation can better centre community perspectives when defining success, outcomes and evidence of impact. Participants will reflect on how ideas of “impact” and “good outcomes” are often shaped by institutional or funder priorities, and what it means to shift decision-making power toward communities themselves. The workshop will introduce practical approaches for co-defining outcomes with community members, choosing evaluation methods that align with community relationships and capacity, and involving communities in interpreting and making sense of findings.

Learning outcomes 

• Identify practical ways to involve community members in defining outcomes and evaluation questions.
• Select evaluation approaches and methods that align with community relationships, capacity, and context.
• Describe strategies for involving communities in interpreting evaluation findings and generating insights.
• Recognise how evaluation can support learning, accountability, advocacy, and community-led change.

About the Speakers: Dr Katie Blair – Research and Evaluation Manager, Centre for Social Justice and Inclusion, UTS 

Dr Katie Blair has extensive experience designing and managing evaluations, from complex state-wide government programs to local community initiatives. She specialises in collaborative frameworks, working seamlessly with diverse stakeholders, from government, academia, industry and community, to foster inclusive and equitable outcomes. Katie excels at embedding evaluation practices, developing innovative methodologies aligned with strategic goals, and building organisational capacity. Passionate about community empowerment, she brings a deep commitment to fostering shared decision-making and driving impactful, evidence-based solutions that respond to evolving community needs.

Hannah Morgan – Research and Evaluation Officer, Centre for Social Justice and Inclusion, UTS 

Hannah Morgan is a Social Worker and evaluator with over 15 years’ experience across health, government, community, and non-profit sectors. Hannah completed a Master of Evaluation, driven by a curiosity to understand how best to measure and demonstrate impact. Hannah’s evaluation work emphasises codesign, participatory research, and trauma-informed practice especially when working alongside marginalised communities. Hannah brings a strong social justice lens to evaluation, advocating that evaluation offers a way to demonstrate accountability, uplift community voices and increase ownership and use of evaluation findings.