Theory of Change Advisory Board

Heléne Clark, Ph.D., Founder and Director An urban geographer and environmental psychologist, Heléne Clark works with organizations engaged in social change to build their capacity to develop clear goals, gather knowledge about results, and expand the impact of critical social interventions. Dr. Clark and a colleague founded ActKnowledge to provide rigorous research, planning and organizational development skills to the social sector. Heléne has been the lead evaluator on numerous initiatives and served as advisor to many other evaluations around the U.S. and in the United Kingdom. Dr. Clark incorporated the “Theory of Change” methodology into ActKnowledge’s work, and has led ActKnowledge to be the pre-eminent developer, facilitator and trainer of this method. Her international work includes the development of not-for-profit organizations in Moscow, various projects in the U.K., and work with numerous international non-government organizations in the developing world. Heléne has served on the Board of Directors of Housing Conservation Coordinators in New York City for eight years. Prior to founding ActKnowledge, Dr. Clark was Associate Director of the Center for Human Environments, and taught courses in urban and economic geography, environmental psychology, housing policy and research methods. She has published widely on housing and community development policy topics, as well as education and youth development. hclark@actknowledge.org

Roger Miranda, Independent Program Evaluator. Roger is an evaluator from Nicaragua with over twenty-five years of experience in national and international project/programme monitoring and evaluation. He is an independent consultant but has worked as a national civil servant and a staff member of the United Nations. His clients have included The World Bank, the Food and Agriculture Organization, the International Atomic Energy Agency, and the Organization of American States among others. In his work, Roger advocates for the use of theory of change and has partnered with the Center for Theory of Change since becoming its first beta tester for Theory of Change Online. As someone concerned with the proper use and dissemination of Theory of Change, Roger has become an active member of the Board.

Belinda P. Biscoe, Ph.D. serves as the Senior Associate Vice President for Outreach/College of Continuing Education at the University of Oklahoma (OU) with sixteen departments and over 650 professionals under her umbrella. Additionally, she bears responsibility for the Southwest Center for Human Relations Studies at the University of Oklahoma, which annually plans and administers the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in American Higher Education (NCORE). This conference is the largest higher education conference in the nation focused on social justice. In 2016, as a member of the University of Oklahoma Diversity Council at the time, Dr. Biscoe led a two-year campus-wide Theory of Change Strategic Planning Process resulting in four robust, transformational diversity and inclusion plans representing 1) undergraduate students, 2) graduate students, 3) faculty, and 4) staff and administrators. Plans included actions aimed at addressing systemic issues focused on changes in policies, systems, and practices. Dr. Biscoe has used a Theory of Change methodology to support her work and research as well as that of others seeking complex systems change in a variety of sectors including higher and common education, the non-profit arena, as well as, government (local, state, and federal). As a research psychologist, Dr. Biscoe has been able to blend scientific rigor successfully to technical assistance work resulting in numerous awards. Her grant writing skills have resulted in over $200,000,000 in funding to the State of Oklahoma. Dr. Biscoe is co-founder of Eagle Ridge Institute, a non-profit, community-based drug and alcohol and treatment prevention agency and founder (1989) of Positive Tomorrows, an elementary school for homeless children and their families, which is interrupting the cycles of poverty, illiteracy, and homelessness. Her areas of expertise include research and evaluation, organizational development, systems change, diversity in the workplace and school setting, school improvement and reform, early literacy, community and youth development, mental health, and substance abuse prevention and treatment.

Penny Hawkins, Chief Professional Officer and Head of Evaluation, Department for International Development, UK Formerly Senior Evaluation Officer with the Rockefeller Foundation and Deputy Director (Head of Evaluation) for the Strategy, Advisory and Evaluation Group of the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s Aid and Development Program.

Kieran Rose, Commissioner Designate, Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC). Kieran is a leading equality and Human Rights activist in Ireland and prior to being designate commissioner to the IHRC was a board member of the Irish Equality Authority 2007-2012. He is Deputy Director of the Office of Economy and International Relations of Dublin City Council. He is Chair of GLEN, the leading Irish LGBT organization, through which he guided fundamental legislative change on LGBT rights.

Eric K. Glunt, Ph.D, Psychology, CUNY Director, California Health Incentives Improvement Project Interwork Institute, San Diego State University Eric currently specializes in the areas of disability and employment. He brings a community development perspective and background to independent living and youth transition to improve economic and quality of life conditions for persons with disabilities.He has served as lead evaluator on numerous projects. Eric serves on the California Committee for People with Disabilities, the Board of Policy Works.

Yannick du Pont is the director of the international NGO SPARK (formerly ATA), an organization which has been working in the field of development cooperation in fragile states. With more than 60 permanent employees and 150 tempoary employees, SPARK develops education and entrepreneurship so that young and ambitious people are empowered to lead their post-conflict society into prosperity. Yannick has been working in the field of development cooperation in fragile states since 1994. With an MA in International Relations and Sociology from the University of Amsterdam, Yannick worked for the Netherlands Minister of Development Cooperation from 1996 to 1997. Yannick also serves on the Board of the Max van der Stoel Foundation (Amsterdam), and steering Board of the knowledge platform on security and rule of law.

Seán, O’Siochrú is Research Director of Nexus Research Coop in Dublin Ireland. He has designed programs and led evaluation teams for UN agencies and international NGOs across 50 countries. Author and activist in the area of communication rights, he was a civil society leader in the 1993-95 UN World Summit on the Information Society. Also a founder and Chair of Dublin Community Television (DCTV) in his native city, he works with communities in Ireland on empowerment issues and strategies. He has worked closely with the Center for Theory of Change in using the approach as the basis for effective planning and evaluation in a range of subject areas including urban regeneration and advocacy on human rights.

Eoin Collins, ActKnowledge Associate. Eoin Collins is Senior Evaluation Specialist in ActKnowledge where he has been responsible for the application of Theory of Change in evaluation and planning for a range of organizations including Oxfam Australia and the Alliance for Financial inclusion. Prior to joining ActKnowledge he was Director of Policy in GLEN, a national NGO in Ireland, where he made a significant contribution to the enactment by the Irish government in 2010 of civil partnership legislation for same-sex couples closely based on civil marriage.

Simon Penhall is the co-founder, Managing Director and Principal Consultant for Helmepark Ltd. Established in 2005 and based in the North East of England, Helmepark Ltd has a successful track record of supporting clients with regards to insight driven performance improvement. Simon has been a committed advocate of Theory of Change since his introduction to the approach by ActKnowledge Inc in 2007, with Helmepark Ltd and Actknowledge Inc continuing to work together to develop Theory of Change for its application in the UK. Simon’s approach to performance improvement is based on a belief that an ever deepening understanding of the relationship between an organisation’s purpose and its practice provides the key to unlocking the organisation’s full potential. Simon is currently Impact and Improvement Adviser for Lancashire County Cricket Club Foundation and an Approved Provider for the UK’s Impact Management Programme.

Dr Antje Deckert LL.M. is a criminal defense lawyer come criminologist. Born and raised in Germany, she has been teaching and researching at Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand since 2011. Her research concerns criminological discourse, particularly its interactions with Indigenous peoples and epistemologies. Dr Deckert is a scholar-activist who seeks to address social inequalities within academic criminology and criminal justice using Theory of Change. She served five years as the New Zealand Vice President of Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology and was a Visiting International Professor at the City University of New York and at Brock University in Ontario, Canada in 2017.