PODCAST
Indigenous Insights: An Evaluation Podcast
with Gladys Rowe
Tansi, greetings, welcome, my name is Gladys Rowe, I am so grateful that you are here.
What is Indigenous evaluation? Who is doing this work? How are we doing this work and what have we learned so far?
Each episode I sit in conversation with Indigenous evaluation practitioners, leaders, researchers, and scholars who are working in, thinking about, and supporting Indigenous evaluation to share how they are doing their work and the challenges and insights they’ve experienced along the way.
It is my hope that this podcast will feel like a deep breath – where we invite you to grab a cozy beverage and settle in. Join me and my guests as we open up our evaluation bundles – to share the gifts, knowledges, and hopes that we have gathered in our journeys and bring them together in this space. I hope in these stories you will find resonance in the critical contributions that Indigenous evaluation can make as we work towards decolonial futures and strengthening Indigenous resurgence.
I would also like to extend an invitation. If you are someone who has an interest in Indigenous evaluation and would like to have a conversation on this podcast, I would love to hear from you. Please send me a note and we can connect about your work, what you are learning, and the questions you are thinking about.
LATEST EPISODE
S04E05: Liberatory Evaluation, Trust-Based Giving, and Reimagining Impact with Hafsa Mustafa
In this thought-provoking episode, hosts Dr. Gladys Rowe and Dr. Elizabeth Carlson-Manathara are joined by Hafsa Mustafa, a decolonial monitoring, evaluation, and learning strategist whose 20+ years of work span grassroots movements, philanthropy, impact investing, and academia.
Hafsa shares her evaluation origin story, weaving together her family’s history of displacement under British colonialism, her experience growing up in Karachi’s dual education systems, and her awakening to how colonial frameworks shape knowledge, language, and data. In this episode, the conversation moves through the many ways Hafsa is reimagining evaluation as a liberatory and justice-oriented practice. She shares how her partnerships with global social movements have reshaped the meaning of impact - centering collaboration, relationship, and shared power rather than compliance or control. Hafsa reflects on the principles of trust-based giving, which challenge traditional philanthropy by emphasizing long-term, relationship-centered approaches grounded in mutual accountability. Drawing inspiration from solidarity economies in Mexico, landless worker movements in Brazil, and women’s cooperatives in Nepal, she highlights how collective power and intergenerational learning create sustainable change. Finally, Hafsa introduces her “liberatory evaluation” tools - the diagnostic and champion’s map - that help individuals and organizations locate themselves within systems of power and envision tangible pathways toward equity and transformation.
Podcast Swag
Profit from the sales of the podcast swag will be deposited into an Indigenous evaluation development fund. Once enough funds are available a call will be announced seasonally for Indigenous evaluators to apply through a letter of interest to support wholistic capacity development.
