Khulisa completed an External Evaluation of the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation’s Programs in South Africa in 2018-2019. The evaluation was conducted by a team from Khulisa that included two youth entrepreneurship specialists. During the inception phase, we conducted an evaluability assessment to determine the extent to which programs could be evaluated, after which we were able to propose a suitable design to the evaluation. The evaluation included: 1) design, including a review/revision of the Theory of Change 2) process and 3) outcomes/impact evaluation. To determine outcome/impact, Khulisa used a quasi-experimental design where we retrospectively followed program beneficiaries on their entrepreneurial development path to assess how they were supported by the programs. They were compared with a cohort of applicants who almost were accepted into the program.

Khulisa followed a multi-stakeholder participatory approach. We conducted interviews with key Foundation stakeholders and used a combination of quantitative and qualitative data collection methods such as surveys, group discussions, and case studies to gather data from past and current program beneficiaries (Scholars, Candidate Fellows and Association members) and a comparison groups. The evaluation provided a number of strategic and programmatic recommendations to be taken forward by the Foundation in strengthening their programs.