Pieta Blakely, PhD

I help mission-based organizations measure their impact so that they can do what they do well. I started my nonprofit career as a teacher in workforce development and adult basic education. It was important work and I was worried that we didn’t really know if we were doing it well. In the process of trying to answer that question, I got a Masters in Education and a PhD in Social Policy, and became an evaluator.

I’ve been an evaluator for ten years, the past four of those as a consultant helping mission-based organizations use evaluation to build better and more effective programs. I believe that evaluation isn’t a test, it’s an ongoing process of trying things, measuring the results, and making adjustments. My goal is to help build organizational cultures that thrive on joyful accountability and doing important work well.

I’m known for explaining complicated things clearly, an emphasis on ethics and justice in evaluation, an understanding of how not-for-profits work, and my unpredictable efforts in vegan and wheat-free baking.

You can read my blog or watch my live show, Coffee Time with Masterminds, where we talk about leading mission-based organizations through a time of uncertainty.