You never know who you're going to meet in your career and who will inspire you to learn new things and pick up a new trade.
Kim Grey
President, Australian
Evaluation Society
Ruth Nicholls
Director, Australian
Centre for Evaluation
About This Episode
Join Matt and Tenille for an exclusive behind-the-scenes chat with Kim Grey and Ruth Nicholls, the co-conveners of the 2025 Australian Evaluation Conference in Canberra. Discover what's in store when the evaluation community gathers from 15-19 September under the theme "Beyond the Bubble", exploring the four sub-themes of Foundations, Connecting, Cultivating, and Transforming. Kim and Ruth share their thinking on keynote speakers, sessions they're excited about, and why the magic of evaluation conferences lies in unexpected connections.
Key Takeaways
-
1
Beyond the Bubble means pushing past comfort zones
The theme invites evaluators to step outside their regular spaces, examine their assumptions, and democratise evaluation discussions.
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2
Evaluation is more than its methods
The conference emphasises understanding the knowledge systems, worldviews, and frameworks that shape how we apply evaluation approaches.
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3
Connection is the hidden value
The corridor conversations, coffee queue chats, and informal discussions are often where the most transformative learning happens.
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4
Four sub-themes guide the program
Foundations (knowing where we've come from), Connecting (being more inclusive), Cultivating (growing the profession), and Transforming (looking to the future, including AI ethics).
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5
Stay flexible at conferences
First-time attendees should set personal learning goals but remain open to following a new friend to their next session. The unexpected connections can be just as valuable as the planned agenda.
Topics Covered
Resources Mentioned
- AES 2025 Conference — Program and registration for the Canberra conference
- Australian Evaluation Society — Membership, professional development, and resources
- Evaluation by Carol Weiss — The foundational text that Ruth credits with launching her evaluation career
- New Directions for Evaluation — Journal co-edited by keynote speaker Bianca Montrose Moorhead
About Kim and Ruth
Kim Grey
President, Australian Evaluation Society
Kim is the President of the Australian Evaluation Society and has worked in evaluation for over 30 years. She holds a Master's Degree in Evaluation from the University of Melbourne and is a Fellow at Charles Darwin University. Kim is passionate about applied social research and helping government understand what works and why.
Ruth Nicholls
Director, Evaluation Leadership, Policy & Capability, Australian Centre for Evaluation
Ruth is Director of Evaluation Leadership, Policy and Capability at the Australian Centre for Evaluation. With a PhD from Western Sydney University and an MA in Evaluation from the University of Melbourne, she specialises in evaluation frameworks and realist synthesis. Ruth credits Kim with sparking her evaluation career by lending her Carol Weiss's foundational text.
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