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Heather Esper
Tracking and improving economic, social and environment performance and outcomes using a gender lens
Heather Esper is the Director of the Performance Measurement and Improvement team at the William Davidson Institute (WDI) at the University of Michigan.12 She has over 16 years of experience in her role, having started at WDI in May 2008.3
Professional Expertise
Heather specializes in leading partnerships and research focused on understanding, monitoring, and improving the socio-economic and environmental performance of organizations.12 Her work primarily involves:
- Designing and implementing context-specific measurement tools
- Creating learning processes for both for-profit businesses and non-profit organizations in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs)
- Applying multidimensional assessment techniques
- Integrating business indicators to provide insights into effectiveness, sustainability, and scalability
Key Responsibilities
As the Director, Heather:
- Leads a team that harnesses proven research designs and data collection tools1
- Collaborates with and trains business and non-profit leaders in impact measurement, management, and continuous improvement1
- Contributes to advisory groups, such as the World Business Council for Sustainable Development's Social Capital Protocol Advisory Group5
Areas of Focus
Heather's work encompasses various aspects of performance measurement, including:
- Measuring complex impacts like household income, women's empowerment, and children's well-being1
- Exploring economic, social, and environmental performance outcomes of organizations in low- and middle-income countries4
- Developing measurement systems and capabilities rooted in the latest proven methodologies1
Heather Esper's extensive experience and leadership in performance measurement and improvement make her a valuable asset to the William Davidson Institute and the field of sustainable development.
Highlights
Want to learn more about ESG and evaluation? 🙋♀️ You will not want to miss this webinar featuring a conversation with global sustainability leader Tim Mohin moderated by John Sherman. The American Evaluation Association Social Finance TIG and Mission Investors Exchange invite you to learn more about recent finance-related public policies that require companies to report their environmental and social impacts. Webinar attendees will leave with a better understanding of these ESG rules, and how they affect, and offer opportunities for, evaluators and IMM practitioners.
📅 Wednesday, September 25 at 🕚 12pm ET (open to the public).
Register here: https://shorturl.at/toEJd
#ESG #climate #climatepolicy #sustainabilitypolicy #ClimateAction #socialfinance #impactinvesting #impactmeasurement #imm #evaluation #aea #aeasftig
It was a delight moderating the American Evaluation Association Social Finance TIG’s conversation on amplifying and empowering underrepresented voices in business and learning from leaders: Noemí Jiménez from qb. consulting, Janie Dunckley Moore from Brico Works and the Entrepreneur Fund and Yaquta Fatehi from the William Davidson Institute on behalf of DAI and MarketShare Associates use of ROI in the USAID Feed the Future Market Systems and Partnerships) in the space. Check out three key takeaways below:
1️⃣ Create principles to guide your stakeholder engagement. Check out: ▶ qb. consulting’s 10 make or break actions in their “Stakeholder Engagement That Doesn’t Suck” guide. Check the full guide out here: https://shorturl.at/a9pvT ▶Entrepreneur Fund's guidelines for impact framework ▶William Davidson Institute's use of MIT D-Lab four principles of Lean Research: https://lnkd.in/e8_chJ_x
2️⃣ Translate the stakeholder engagement methods in terms that businesses value and understand. ▶Noemí Jiménezí talked about how the social license to operate is inextricably linked to community investment, and obtaining the social license to operate takes time and a long-term vision ▶ Janie Dunckley Moore shared that she created the 5 I’s of Impact to mirror the 5 C’s of Credit many businesses are familiar with so they could relate to and value impact measurement ▶ Yaquta Fatehi talked about how ROI can provide information to businesses to help them 1) evaluate if they should invest further in programming targeting specific stakeholders and 2) can also be used to share the value of the programming with their investors with the aim to further expand programming to those stakeholders.
3️⃣ Stakeholder engagement requires intentional processes with learning loops. It is iterative. It is critical to invest the appropriate time to do it right.
If you missed it, check out webinar recording here: https://lnkd.in/e9UZ4NCC
Please complete the feedback form to help improve the Social Finance TIG’s future webinars: https://lnkd.in/eevevxPN
#aeasftig #socialfinance #impactinvesting #impactmeasurement #imm #evaluation #aea #stakeholderengagement
Laura K. Budzyna Slavica Stevanovic Sara McGarraugh John Sherman Morgan Buras-Finlay Lala Kasimova Miriam Tardif-Douglin Ichiro Toda Catherine Dun Rappaport Amelia Rudberg, MSW Courtney Bolinson Diane Kulju Jill Tirnauer Liz McGuinness Tammy Kahrig Vivian Agbegha Veronica Olazabal (she, her, hers) Jane Reisman Ben Fowler Alyna Wyatt Heather Sutliff
