ECDAN’s inaugural Masterclass Series in Systems Thinking for Early Childhood Development (ECD) brought together a global community for 14 free, interactive online sessions from April 23 to May 2, 2024. Over 20 leading experts in systems thinking and ECD shared invaluable insights. The series was curated by NORC’s Senior Fellow, Margaret Hargreaves and ECDAN’s Global Technical Lead, Shekufeh Zonji, with the support of Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
There were 12,479 total registrations and 1,210 unique live attendees, and 318 participants received certificates for attending seven or more sessions.
ECDAN would like to thank the speakers, participants, supporters, and others who made the inaugural Masterclass Series a success. Below are some testimonials from participants:
Testimonials
What Was the Masterclass Series?
The Masterclass Series brought together 20+ systems thinking and early childhood development (ECD) global experts in 14 free 90-minute live and interactive virtual masterclasses.
Each 90-minute session included:
- A deep-dive presentation on a particular systems thinking framework, method, tool, or approach which will cover what it is, how it is used, opportunities and challenges, and practical examples of utilization in the field.
- A dialogue between a systems expert and an ECD expert on applying the presented approach to ECD.
- Interactive activities including polls and live Q&A to engage with the topic more deeply.
- Access to related learning materials, worksheets, and resources on systems thinking and evaluation.
- An opportunity to earn a systems thinking for ECD participation certificate.
The sessions were conducted in English. Live interpretation in Spanish was also be available with support from the UNICEF Latin America and the Caribbean Regional Office. Recordings in both languages are available.
Session Information
Find details on all the sessions with links to recorded sessions and relevant resources below.
Transformational Systems Change and the Role of Evaluation
Michael Q. Patton, Founder and CEO, Utilization-Focused Evaluation
Charmagne Campbell-Patton, Director of Organizational Learning and Evaluation, Utilization-Focused Evaluation
Hirokazu Yoshikawa, Professor in Applied Psychology, New York Universiy
Systems and Complexity-informed Evaluation: Range of Purposes, Questions, and Methods
Emily Gates, Assistant Professor, Boston College
Aisha Yousafzai, Professor of Child Development and Health, Harvard University
Revealing Core Values: The Role of Critical Systems Heuristics
Bob Williams, Systems Thinking Evaluator and Consultant
Sharon Goldfeld, Director of the Centre for Community Child Health, Royal Children’s Hospital
Mapping Causal Loops and Leverage Points within Early Childhood Development Systems to Guide Strategy Design
Erin Watson, Owner/Principal Associate, Weaving Change
Rebecca Hickman, Strategy and Policy Associate, SmartStart
Using the Science of Brain Development to Create a Framework to Evaluate Resilience
Nancy Mannix, Chair and Patron, Palix Foundation
Claire Niehaus, Scientific Associate, Palix Foundation
Sonja Giese, Executive Director, DataDrive 2030
Unleash the Power of Equity Measurement and Collective Sensemaking to Uncover the Roots of Population Health Resilience and Flourishing
Efren aguilar, Director of the Early Childhood Ecosystems Transformation Accelerator Lab, UCLA Center for Healthier Children, Families and Communities
Sara Mickelson, Deputy Cabinet Secretary, New Mexico Early Childhood Education & Care Department
Tim Sandoval, Mayor, Pomona CA
Hirokazu Yoshikawa, Professor in Applied Psychology, New York University
Equitable Systems Change (ESC) Learning and Evaluation Methods to Support ECD Systems Improvement, Reform, and Transformation
Margaret Hargreaves, Senior Fellow, NORC
Chandria Jones, Principal Research Scientist, NORC
Brandon Coffee-Borden, Senior Research Scientist, NORC
Hirokazu Yoshikawa, Professor in Applied Psychology, New York University
Using Stories to Drive Systems Change & Learning
Freya Bradford, Director of Systems Change and Learning, Rotary Charities
Jessica Conrad, Conrad Consulting
Mark Tomlinson, Co-Director of the Institute for Life Course Health Research, Stellenbosch University
How Does Knowledge of Complex System Behavior Help us do Better Planning and Evaluation?
Jonathan Morell, Owner, 4.669… Evaluation and Planning
Aisha Yousafzai, Professor of Child Development and Health, Harvard University
Complexity Aware Monitoring Approaches for Adaptive and Context-Specific Program Improvement
Soumya Alva, Sr. Research Monitoring and Evaluation Advisor, JSI
Emily Stammer, Research, Monitoring and Evaluation Advisor, JSI
Mark Tomlinson, Co-Director of the Institute for Life Course Health Research, Stellenbosch University
Aligning Mental Models and Approaches in Systems Change Efforts
Julia Coffman, Founder and Executive Director, Center for Evaluation Innovation
Mark Tomlinson, Co-Director of the Institute for Life Course Health Research, Stellenbosch University
Principles & Practices of Systems Change: Case Studies of Systems Work
Cynthia Rayner, Adjunct Lecturer & Senior Researcher, University of Cape Town
Sharon Goldfeld, Director of the Centre for Community Child Health, Royal Children’s Hospital
Measuring ECD Systems Change: Systems-Level Impact Framework
Brittany Dernberger, Senior Manager of Systems-Level Impact, CARE
Sharon Goldfeld, Director of the Centre for Community Child Health, Royal Children’s Hospital
Systems Leadership
David Nabarro, Strategic Director, 4SD
John Atkinson, Systems Leadership and Transformational Change, Adviser
Elizabeth Lule, Executive Director, ECDAN
Masterclass Series Curators
Margaret (Meg) Hargreaves is widely recognized for her methodological expertise and experience directing research and evaluations of complex, multi-level systems change initiatives that address programmatic, institutional, structural, and systemic inequities in a range of areas. A senior fellow at NORC, she has created journal articles, methods guides and trainings for systems change evaluations. She has been honored with AEA’s Marcia Guttentag Promising New Evaluator award.
Shekufeh Zonji provides technical leadership to ECDAN and spearheads key knowledge, learning, and strategic partnership initiatives for the network. She has over 15 years of extensive experience in global ECD within the sectors of Education, Child Protection, and Health. She has worked on critical challenges to the well-being of young children across Latin America, East Africa, and South Asia through strategy and policy development, research, curriculum design, and intervention design.
If you have any questions or ideas for using the materials, contact [email protected].
For more resources on systems thinking, please visit the Systems Thinking for ECD webpage.