Penny
Cooper

PRINCIPAL

Penny Cooper discovered evaluation by accident in 2006 while working as a social researcher and pursuing a Masters degree in Public Policy. In a “lightbulb moment” she realized evaluation was her calling. She switched programs, switched careers, and has never looked back. She loves her job and feels lucky and grateful every day to be able to use evaluative thinking to provide the insights and clarity that clients need.

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 90 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 a Masters of Evaluation from the University of Melbourne and 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.