“Mina Kumar has been a fantastic resource. She is great at getting a group unstuck and focused on connecting objectives, strategies and tactics to execute on a tight plan. As someone who likes to work quickly, Mina was with me step-for-step.”
Ashleigh King
Evaluation and Learning Officer
S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation
"Mina is a gem. I had the pleasure of working closely with her for two years to develop an outcome management system for a national youth development organization and after school program, and I cannot recommend her highly enough. Mina exemplifies all the qualities I look for in a consultant. She’s honest and reflective, with a sharp, analytical mind -- a true thought partner. She will gently challenge assumptions and stretch your thinking, but she’ll do it with unfailing positivity, humility, humor, and deft facilitation -- always bringing everyone along with her. And, she’s a reliable project manager that you can trust to keep the work on schedule and on budget.
I find Mina's approach to evaluation incredibly refreshing. She balances rigor with practicality, measuring only what matters and acknowledging that data doesn't have to be perfect to be useful. She leverages existing organizational systems wherever possible, so that data collection is not unnecessarily burdensome. And she focuses on delivering information in real time, so that it can actually be used to inform course correction.
Mina helped my organization develop a theory of change and a plan for continuously measuring and improving program outcomes. The final product of this effort was impressive and will benefit the organization for years to come. But what I didn't expect -- and found remarkable -- was the extent to which we were able to strengthen our programs merely by engaging in the process of articulating our theory of change. Long before the project was complete, we began to adjust our program structure and staffing in accordance with all the insight we were gaining. The process added value at every turn, and helped illuminate a path to better programs -- and greater impact."