Around the Institute

Lions and Witches and Hippos, Oh My!

October 5, 2012

Change From The Inside
Mary Robinson, former President of Ireland, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and current chair of the Aspen Institute’s Global Leaders Council for Reproductive Health, recently spoke to The Economist about her long and distinguished career. The most important lesson she has learned over the years? For there to be change, it must begin inside communities. Advocacy evaluators can in fact involve these communities in the evaluation process through strategies like participatory video and storytelling.

Simplicity Matters
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention wants you to be smart about your health decisions. But it also knows that health professionals haven’t always been very effective in relaying important messages to the general public. Enter HealthCommWorks, a suite of communications tools created to address this issue. Evaluators should keep an eye out for ProofWorks in 2013, which promises custom strategic plans to evaluate health communications efforts.   

And Then Came The Very Bad Mammoth…
We love a good story. So this week we couldn’t resist writing about the storytelling prowess of the future French Dr. Seuss. Just when you think you know where she’s going, she throws you a curve ball (popotamus, anyone?). There’s no better way to stay sharp than by following the contours of a child’s imagination. But if you’re more amenable to commentary of the feline kind, check out Henri’s musings on everyday life. L’enfer, c’est les autres. Indeed.