About Paul Bakker, CE, Evaluation Consultant
Greetings, I’m Paul Bakker. I founded Social Impact Squared and I act as Lead Consultant for all of our projects. I am a Credentialed Evaluator and have worked as a third-party evaluation and impact measurement consultant since 2008. In this role, I have worked with non-profit, social enterprise, and government clients of all sizes. I specialize in:
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Developmental Evaluation: Using on-time/real-time data to help organizations innovate and increase their impact in complex, changing environments.
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Sustainable Livelihoods Framework: Measuring and telling the stories of how organizations help their clients build a complementary set of assets and achieve sustainable livelihoods.
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Rigorous Quantitative Methods: Obtaining the most valid estimate of your impact using time-series, longitudinal, pre-post, and comparison group designs.
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Principles-Focused Evaluation: Evaluating the effectiveness of operating principles rather than rules (e.g., season to taste vs. add 1 tsp of salt; exercise power-with vs. power-over; pursue clients’ priorities vs. focus on predetermined outcomes).
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View my full CV here.
My favourite moments as an evaluation and impact measurement consultant include:
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Seeing how our work enables our clients to make meaningful changes that improves their work and people’s lives.
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My clients telling me that I truly listened to them and the people they serve.
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Communicating their impact stories in more authentic, significant, and useful ways than they could have done on their own. ​
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I love evaluation because:
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I always wanted a career that improved people’s lives. Evaluation and impact measurement allows me to help many organizations improve their social impact in varied, purposeful ways.
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I greatly enjoy working with numbers and using my advanced statistical skills.
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I also greatly enjoy talking to staff and clients to gain a deep understanding of the issues and tell their impact stories in an authentic way.
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Evaluation is not just data—it’s about relationships. To get accurate data, staff and clients need to trust me and know that I care about and want to help them.
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I am constantly learning. My career lets me continuously learn about different topics, such as helping people work toward sustainable livelihoods, improving youth development, improving health outcomes and behaviours, and increasing employability.
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