AEN’S AELA RECOGNISES, ELEVATES AND INSPIRES THE EVIDENCE COMMUNITY
The award was something tangible for my family and peers to show that voluntary work does and can pay. Consciously and unconsciously it has inspired many people to embrace voluntary work… It was very encouraging and inspiring to my professional peers, especially the young evaluators and my siblings.
by Jennifer Mutua
AEN’s AELA recognises, elevates and inspires the evidence community - Jennifer Mutua, Kenya
For Jennifer Mutua the path to being recognised as a runner up in the 2018 Africa Evidence Leadership Award (AELA) was not without sacrifice. She is an M&E consultant and founder and former chair of the Evaluation Society of Kenya. To establish and nurture the Society has taken many voluntary hours for which she has “paid a huge personal price in terms of livelihood, amongst others”. But AELA made all the difference, as Jennifer explains:
"It was a turning point for my career. It motivated me so much to continue with my public work. To have been recognised for my many years of hard work has been very rewarding. [The recognition] has put me amongst the top in the continent and that is very special. Many people, including my family could not understand how it is that I am spending so much of my time and not getting anything in terms of money...and yet oftentimes they could see the struggles that come with it [volunteer work]. The [AELA] award was something tangible for my family and peers to show that voluntary work does and can pay. Consciously and unconsciously it has inspired many people to embrace voluntary work… It was very encouraging and inspiring to my professional peers, especially the young evaluators and my siblings."
Jennifer believes that the AELA might also have indirectly contributed to opening other doors for her – in 2018 she was invited to participate in a Results of All workshop in Nairobi where she asked to give a presentation on her experience of evidence use at a national level and the role of professional networks in evaluation on the continent.
Being a member of the AEN has further broadened her understanding of evidence, as she explains:
"My main capacity is really M&E. The AEN has widened my scope and even when it comes to issues of advocacy I am no longer just focusing narrowly on M&E but evidence-driven economic growth – I now have a better understanding in my own head and in the way I articulate issues."
