Professional Development Experience Host Organization Staff Key Informant Interview

Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders: Interviews with PDE Host Organizations

Introduction

Thank you for taking the time to participate in the Mandela Washington Fellowship evaluation! The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) at the U.S. Department of State engaged Guidehouse to conduct an independent evaluation of the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders (2014 – 2018). You have been selected for an interview based on your survey responses and your participation in the Fellowship’s Professional Development Experience. We are not affiliated with IREX.

The purpose of the evaluation is to review the Fellowship’s effectiveness in meeting its goals and objectives, assess the Fellowship’s impact on Alumni and other stakeholders, and determine areas for improvement and growth. Your interview responses will provide us with vital information on personal experiences with the Fellowship, and insights into how to shape the program moving forward. In this interview we will discuss three major areas: Background and Context, Impacts and Outcomes, and Program Coordination. It is anticipated that the interview will take approximately 60 minutes.

Your participation in this interview is voluntary. You may opt to withdraw from the interview at any time or choose not to answer select questions. For your awareness:

• Aggregated responses or qualitative insights (without names) from open-ended questions may be included in the final report or publications resulting from the evaluation.

• Qualitative data files will be submitted to ECA at the completion of the evaluation (without names or any contact information).

• The information you provide may be re-analyzed at a later date for a follow-up study or other purpose approved by ECA.

Your contributions are confidential and no individual names will be used in any reports or publications resulting from the evaluation unless the individual provides consent to the Evaluation Team. If you have any questions or concerns about this interview or the evaluation more broadly, please reach out to the Evaluation Team at [email protected].

CONSENT TO PARTICIPATE

Do you consent to participate in this interview? [verbal response will be documented]

☐ I consent to participate in this interview

☐ I do not consent to participate in this interview [note: if selected, the interview will end]

Internal Notes **FOR ECA/EVALUATION TEAM USE ONLY**

Scope: The Professional Development Experience (PDE) host organization key informant interviews (KII) will use the PDE host organization survey data to gather personal anecdotes and stories from key PDE staff.

Structure: The Evaluation Team will identify KIIs by region and individual interest in being interviewed.

KIIs will be conducted in person where feasible. Virtual discussions will be an alternate form of communication if necessary.

Interview Instructions **FOR INTERVIEWER USE ONLY**

• Introduction: The interviewer will read the introduction and ask the key informant the “Consent to Participate” question prior to beginning the interview.

  • If the key informant declines to consent to the interview, the interviewer should thank the participant for their time and end the interview.

• Interview Questions and Style: There are 11 formal interview questions below. Some of these questions have suggested follow-up questions and/or prompts. The interviewer should use their discretion to determine if the follow-up questions are relevant and if the prompts are necessary. Interviewers are encouraged to phrase questions more personally or informally.

• Incorporating Survey Responses: Interviewer will insert information from key informant’s survey responses into designated interview questions. The interviewer may need to modify these questions if the key informant did not fill out the relevant survey question, the key informant provided more than one answer to the survey question, or the key informant did not respond to the survey.

  • Note: If a key informant did not respond to the survey, all questions in the questionnaire below can be made more general to capture an informant’s experience. E.g., rather than “In your survey response, you highlighted the following ways the Fellows had an impact on the local American community…”, the question becomes “Please highlight ways the Fellows had an impact on the local American community.”

Attendees

Key informant ID

Evaluation team attendees

Questions

Interview Questions
Background and Context
1	Could you please confirm the name and location of your organization?
2	Could you briefly confirm the information about your organization (e.g., sector, mission, number of employees, how long it has been in operation) [pull data from survey response, if available]? Follow-up questions [If respondent has not taken survey] To the best of your knowledge, what year(s) has your organization hosted Fellows?
3	In your survey response, you described your role in the Professional Development Experience (PDE) as [details from PDE Host Organization survey, Question #5]. Could you please provide additional detail on how you and/or your organization became involved in the PDE? Follow-up questions: What specific team/department did the Fellow(s) work in? Briefly describe the role(s) the Fellow(s) played within your organization. If you hosted Fellows over multiple years, how has your role evolved since you first became involved with the PDE?
4	Does your organization host international Fellows for other fellowship programs? If yes, can you briefly describe these programs and how they compare to your experience with the Mandela Washington Fellowship? [If no, skip] Follow-up questions: What is the focus of this/these other Fellowships? What is the duration of this/these other fellowships (i.e., short term or long-term)? How has your experience with the Mandela Washington Fellowship compared to your experience with other Fellowship programs? E.g.: Experience with Fellowship management; Experience with Fellows; and/or Experience with impact on organization/staff/ local community.
Impact and Outcomes
5	How have you been impacted, professionally and/or personally, by your interactions with the Fellow/s? Follow-up questions: Have you personally had any unique or notable experiences, or new opportunities because of this Fellowship?
6	Have you personally observed any impact of hosting the Fellows within your organization? Follow-up questions: What were some of the key things the Fellow(s) accomplished during their time with your organization? Any impact on other individuals within the organization who interacted with the fellows? Any impact on the way your organization does work? Do you think these effects will be long lasting? If so, why? Could you talk about if, and to what extent, the PDE has strengthened relationships - at the individual, institutional or organizational level? For example, any changes in the frequency and amount of communications, new partnerships, visits with the Fellow or Fellow’s organization post-PDE, co-authored papers, etc. Are you or someone from your organization still in contact or collaborating with any of the Fellows that were a part of this Fellowship? Are there any groups that were more impacted than others? E.g., other colleagues, other teams, etc.? If so, why? Was there any impact at the organizational level?
7	In your survey response, you highlighted the following ways the Fellows and the PDE had an impact on the local American community: [details from PDE Host Organization survey, Question #15a]. Can you provide additional details of these impacts? Follow-up questions: Do you think these effects will be long lasting? If so, why? Could you talk about if, and to what extent, the PDE has strengthened relationships - at the individual, institutional or community level? For example, changes in the frequency and amount of communications, new partnerships, visits with the Fellow or Fellow’s organization post-PDE, co-authored papers, etc. Are there any groups that were more impacted than others? E.g., other organizations, local businesses, local non-profits, etc.? If so, why?
8	In your opinion, what unique experiences do the Fellows have when working in your organization? Follow-up questions: What were some of the successes and challenges Fellows had while engaging in these experiences? To your knowledge, in what ways has the Fellows participation contributed to their professional development? To their achievement of personal and/or professional goals? Are there any particular skills they have learned and/or any particular opportunities they have been afforded? Was the Fellow matched with a mentor or peer? What was the role of the mentor/peer?
Program Coordination
9	In your survey response, you highlighted the following suggestions for improvements or changes to the Fellowship: [details from PDE Host Organization survey, Questions #27 and 28]. Could you describe what led you to these suggestions? Follow-up question: What are some of the lessons that you or your organization learned about hosting Fellows for the PDE? How would you change how you manage or engage in the matching process, training, and mentoring for Fellows? Each year, IREX and the Department of State update the programming for the Fellowship based on lessons learned and feedback from stakeholders. Have you hosted Fellows over multiple years? If yes, what do you feel have been the most critical changes that have led to tangible improvements? Have there been any changes that have not been as positive? D0 you have any additional suggestions for improving the external coordination or management (e.g., IREX, Department of State) of the PDE? Do you have any suggestions for improving the process on developing the PDE work plan? Do you have suggestions on any program components that should be added to the PDE? In terms of mentors for the Fellows, are there any pros or cons in having one?
10	Do you have any other thoughts or opinions about the Fellowship or PDE that you would like to share?
11	Is there anyone either from your organization or the community that you think we should talk to?

OMB Control Number: 1405-XXXX Burden Estimate:  60 minutes Expiration Date: XX-XX-XXXX

PRA Statement Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 60 minutes per response, including time required for searching existing data sources, gathering the necessary documentation, providing the information and/or documents required, and reviewing the final collection.  You do not have to supply this information unless this collection displays a currently valid OMB control number.  If you have comments on the accuracy of this burden estimate and/or recommendations for reducing it, please send them to: [email protected].