The glocal volunteer movement of evaluators and first-time explorers
Build the movement. Strengthen evidence. Create lasting impact.
About
Somewhere right now, extraordinary work is going unmeasured, unheard, and unlearned from. Eval Corps is the glocal volunteer movement of evaluators, MERL professionals, technologists, and first-time explorers who show up for the organizations the world isn't measuring, and for each other.
Glocal: global in reach, local in roots.
Eval Corps is HubForge's free MERL support programme, rebuilt and renamed from HubForge Impact Lab. Volunteers give their skills pro bono to nonprofits, grassroots groups, and social enterprises that cannot afford evaluation support. Visit the platform →
The gap
That is one gap seen from three sides, not three separate problems:
Nonprofits, grassroots groups, and social enterprises around the world lack access to quality Monitoring, Evaluation, Research & Learning expertise. Their work is harder to prove, learn from, and grow.
Thousands of experienced evaluators, researchers, data professionals, and technologists want meaningful ways to contribute their knowledge beyond their day jobs. There is no simple way to do it.
Many who want to explore MERL have nowhere to start: no mentor, no real project, no structured way to find out whether evaluation is the work they want to build a career on.
Why we're here
We believe the world doesn't just need better evidence. It needs a movement of people who refuse to let good work go unmeasured, unheard, and unlearned from, and a real door in for the next generation who want to learn how.
This is bigger than any single evaluation. We're building the people, the practice, and the movement that outlasts us all.
What we stand for
The most meaningful change is created together.
We take initiative, lead with purpose, and honour our commitments.
We remain curious, reflective, and committed to continuous improvement.
We embrace diverse perspectives and create opportunities for everyone to contribute.
We uphold ethical, transparent, and credible evaluation practice.
We use our knowledge and skills to strengthen others and create lasting impact.
Our commitment
Every role has a written scope before you start: what you'll do, how long it takes, and what "done" looks like. Every volunteer has a named point of contact, not a general inbox. Onboarding takes no more than one session. Two to three hours a week means two to three hours a week.
A first-year MERL student and a twenty-year evaluator both have a real seat, by design. Recognition is built into the workflow, with mentorship in both directions.
Every engagement closes with a visible outcome, recorded in plain language in the Impact Log, with no jargon. That running log is the cumulative footprint of Eval Corps. If you volunteered, your piece of it is on that page.
For organizations
Nonprofits, grassroots groups, and social enterprises anywhere in the world can request focused MERL support from experienced volunteer professionals. Pro bono, under signed standards, end to end. Costs nothing.
A practical evaluation or learning framework for a programme: questions worth asking, indicators that fit your context, and a plan your team can actually use.
Expert eyes on data you already have: what it can honestly support, what it can't, and how to tell the story it actually tells.
Feedback on a theory of change, MEL plan, or funder report draft, grounded in recognized evaluation standards.
Find your place
You don't apply to a role directly. You choose a pathway based on where you're starting from. The specific role is a conversation once you're in, never a silent placement.
Student or early-career, exploring whether evaluation is your field. Routes to the Explorer tier: a 3-month programme, 2-3 hours per week, with a paired mentor and a supervised micro-MERL project with a real output.
You write, facilitate, translate, or organize, and you're MERL-curious. Routes to Contributor roles like Storyteller, Translator, Convener, or Event Support.
You do evaluation, research, or data work today and want to put your craft to work pro bono. Routes to Contributor roles: Mentor, Consultant, Reviewer, Toolkit Contributor, or Technologist.
You've led evaluations, teams, or organizations and want founding-team responsibility for a workstream. Routes to the Leadership tier: Strategy, MERL Standards, Community, Partnerships, or Knowledge.
The process
A real person replies within seven days, and that is a metric Eval Corps tracks, not a pleasantry. Accepted volunteers get a written role scope, a named contact, one onboarding session, a mid-engagement check-in, and a closing conversation with an Impact Log entry. A contribution letter is available on request.
When you join you sign one short agreement: you'll honour the commitments in your written scope, follow the Code of Conduct and Evaluation Ethics, and keep partner organizations' information confidential. Volunteering creates no employment relationship and no financial obligation in either direction.
Ecosystem
Eval Corps exists to strengthen evaluation ecosystems, and ecosystems are built with partners. It works with VOPEs, universities, funders, multilaterals, conveners, and organizations rooted in their regions.
Volunteer Organisations of Professional Evaluators, connecting national and regional evaluation communities to the Eval Corps movement.
Academic partners that provide Explorer-track students, research linkages, and a bridge between evaluation theory and practice.
Foundations, bilateral agencies, and multilateral organizations that believe the evaluation field is strengthened when the next generation is invested in.
Whether you're an experienced evaluator, a first-time explorer, or an organization that needs MERL support, Eval Corps is free in both directions. Contact: evalcorps@gmail.com