How can you measure the strength and sustainability of your organization's programs, while also gaining insights into the connections within it?

Social network analysis (SNA) is a versatile tool which can be used throughout the program cycle to measure things like trust and social capital, information flows, resources, and collaboration, among other things. Analyzing and visualizing networks can reveal critical insights for understanding relationships between organizations; supply chains; social movements; and/or between individuals.

Two of IREX’s US Government funded exchange and leadership development programs, the Community Solutions Program and the Mandela Washington Fellowship, conducted SNAs to learn more about how these programs build the networks of their Fellows (which Open Gov Hub members have hosted!) and what the secondary impact of these networks might be, especially for sustainability of the program's outcomes. They will share insights on how these fellowship programs can support social change agents to carry forth impact within their own communities once the fellowship has ended.

Join us for a discussion of their findings and what other applications SNA might have in your organization's own work.

Registrants will receive electronic copies of these reports.

About the presenters:

Megan Smith is a Senior Program Officer at IREX. Megan has worked in international development for over ten years, focusing on education and leadership, and a regional focus of Southeast Asia.

Anne Laesecke is the Monitoring and Evaluation Officer for the Mandela Washington Fellowship in the Young African Leaders Initiative. Her work in M&E has contributed to programs working on youth leadership, community development, and literacy.