If you take a close look, creativity and innovation surround us in several ways—in nature, cultural practices, technology, and our work here at EnCompass. Creativity not only touches international development but human development. And here at EnCompass, we strive to foster that!
Our staff members reflect on their creativity and inspiration through their work from training development and eLearning to project deliverables and published resources. In observance of National Creativity Day yesterday on May 30th, we are excited to share with you some creative products over the years that our teams have developed for United States Agency for International Development (USAID) projects:
USAID Data and Evidence for Education Programs (DEEP) Activity Project
- When we began our work on the Data and Evidence for Education Programs (DEEP) Activity, we knew that creative design would be a key component in the development of the project’s PPR briefs, helping to make the data collected easier to understand and use. This brief on Advancing Disability Inclusive Education summarizes USAID’s investment in ensuring children and youth with disabilities gain access to quality, inclusive education programming from pre-primary through higher education.
USAID Development Data Library (DDL)
- The Development Data Library (DDL) Roadmap for Education Programs, published in July 2020, is another creative product our team is proud to share. Working together, we created a “roadmap” progression design linking together the three stages of (1) producing data, (2) cleaning data, and (3) uploading data to help partners in education fulfill their contractual obligation to submit activity data to the DDL.
USAID Designing Effective eVidence-Based Engagement and Learning for Organizational Performance (DEVELOP) Contract
- With Pride month in June right around the corner, a time when LGBTQI+ communities are uplifted and celebrated, it is also fitting to mention the Designing Effective eVidence-Based Engagement and Learning for Organizational Performance (DEVELOP) contract’s recent work to support USAID in publishing an online learning module on LGBTQI+ Considerations in Education. This resource will help introduce USAID staff and practitioners to principles and methods of integrating LGBTQI+ key concepts, principles, and terminology into education programming.
- The DEVELOP team also worked across USAID EDU mechanisms to support pre-, during-, and post-event communications for the Comparative & International Education Society 2022 (CIES 2022) conference in April. The team has worked with DEEP colleagues to publish event roundup blogs on EducationLinks, a knowledge hub of resources for all education practitioners. Here is a recent event roundup blog, “CIES 2022: Spotlight on Distance Learning,” by Emma Venetis, Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning Associate for DEEP.
USAID Global Waters CKMII Project
- The Global Waters CKMII FY 2020 Global Water and Development Report explores the results of USAID’s water security, sanitation, and hygiene activities, USAID’s achievements toward targets and goals set out in the U.S. Government Global Water Strategy, and more. The combination of graphic elements, vivid and intentional imagery, and stylistic color elevate annual reports such as this one.
- In March 2022, the Global Waters CKMII team developed an interactive map and data story, in collaboration with I4DI and FHI 360, for USAID’s Center for Water. The associated blog highlights the new water and sanitation equity data from the 2021 report on the Multidimensional Poverty Index that reveals disparities in access to water and sanitation by ethnic group. This information can help policymakers, program managers, and advocates close the equity gap in WASH services. The full map shows the 41 countries where MPI water and sanitation equity data are available and offers an engaging and efficient experience for audiences to identify different equity gaps.
The examples shared above are just some of the products and tools we have had the honor to support. With every new assignment, our teams work hard to harness their creative reporting and design skills in support of utilization and learning.
Collective thinking and creative discussions within teams and across the company contribute to the quality of EnCompass’ work for our clients. With the support and expertise from our staff members, what may start as a rough sketch of an idea can flourish into a product with even greater impact. In the enduring words of Maya Angelou, “You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.”