Team
About Principal, Penny Cooper (M.Eval, CE)
Penny Cooper discovered evaluation by accident in 2006, when she was pursuing a Masters degree in Public Policy after previous careers as an international athlete and as a social and market researcher. When she discovered evaluation as part of her degree she had what she describes as a “lightbulb moment” when she realized evaluation was her calling. She immediately switched programs, completed a Masters of Evaluation from the University of Melbourne and has never looked back.
Penny’s experience in evaluation spans a wide range of sectors and service areas in both Canada and Australia, with a focus in evaluation of BC-based health, human services and education organizations, programs, services and systems.
She has designed and led over 75 projects in primary care, health services, health policy, health research, health leadership, health systems, health professional education, recreation, amateur sport, and the environment. She is the former Director of Evaluation & Impact Analysis at the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research (MSFHR), and an Evaluation Specialist in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia. Since launching her own independent evaluation consultancy in 2016, Penny has designed and led evaluation projects for not-for profit organizations, provincial government ministries, health authorities, universities and the private sector.
She holds the Credentialed Evaluator (CE) professional designation from the Canadian Evaluation Society (CES), and is the former Treasurer of the CES (BC Chapter).
Penny is known by clients and colleagues for her insights and critical thinking that enable strategic dialogues in complex environments to progress towards concrete ends; in particular, her ability to ask the right questions at the right time, transform fuzzy ideas into practical next steps through exceptional listening, facilitation, analysis and writing, and drive better-informed organizational decision-making.
As a former Olympic athlete (field hockey, Seoul 1988, 6th place), Penny knows the value of commitment to excellence, teamwork, open communication and plain old hard work, and brings this approach into every job, large or small.
Associates
Penny Cooper Evaluation collaborates with a network of highly skilled, reliable, collegial senior consultants. We source the best team for each project in direct response to the needs of the client and requirements of the project brief. Our regular associates have expertise in survey design and analysis; qualitative design, data collection and analysis; visual reporting (including infographics); and evaluation capacity-building. On larger projects we have partnered successfully with other management consulting, evaluation and research companies.
