What does it look like when young women don’t just participate in evaluation—but lead it?

March 2026 | 3 min read

By Elaine Stavnitzky & various other authors

Over the past months, we’ve had the privilege of being part of World YWCA’s formative evaluation of RiseUp! Asia Pacific’s young women’s leadership and advocacy initiative, implemented across eight countries in Asia and the Pacific that does exactly this. Through a youth-led, participatory approach, young women co-researchers have shaped not only how data is collected, but how it is understood, interpreted, and mobilized for change.

This blog brings together reflections from a growing collection of voices—each offering a distinct lens on what youth-led evaluation can be, and what it makes possible.

These were first posted on American Evaluation Association’s AEA365 blog site as part of their Youth-Focused Evaluation week.

From Participation to Leadership

In our overview blog, we share how this evaluation intentionally positioned young women as co-researchers—designing tools, facilitating data collection, and leading analysis alongside evaluation navigators. This approach goes beyond inclusion. It recognizes young women as knowledge holders, analysts, and change agents.

Across diverse contexts, this model has shown that when young women lead, the evaluation process becomes more grounded in lived realities, more responsive to context, and ultimately more meaningful.

Safe Spaces as Foundations for Change

From Bangladesh, co-researcher Tabitha and evaluation navigator Keya reflect on the critical role of safe spaces—not only as programmatic interventions, but as enabling environments for honest dialogue and collective reflection.

Their blog highlights how storytelling within these spaces becomes a powerful form of evidence-building. Stories of transformation are not treated as anecdotal; they are recognized as rich, contextualized insights that can inform advocacy and influence decision-making. When young women articulate their own experiences of change, they shift narratives—and open pathways toward systemic transformation. 

Listening Differently: Beyond the Numbers

From India, co-researcher Sachu invites us to rethink our relationship with numbers. Rather than viewing quantitative data as neutral or purely objective, she challenges us to see numbers as entry points into deeper human stories.

Her blog reminds us that numbers do not speak for themselves. It is shaped by what we choose to measure, how we interpret results, and whose voices are included—or excluded—in the process. When approached thoughtfully, numbers can amplify lived experiences rather than obscure them.

What We Are Learning

Across these contributions, several insights are emerging:

• Youth-led evaluation strengthens both process and outcomes. When young women lead, the questions asked—and the answers uncovered—are more relevant and grounded.
• Storytelling is evidence. Personal narratives, when systematically gathered and analyzed, offer critical insights for learning and advocacy.
• Data is relational. Whether qualitative or quantitative, data gains meaning through context, interpretation, and dialogue.
• Safe spaces matter. They are not only program outputs but essential conditions for authentic engagement and knowledge generation.

Looking Ahead

Together, these voices point toward a broader shift—one where evaluation is not done on or for young people, but with and by them.

At Elevating Voices for Change, we believe this is not just a methodological choice. It is a commitment to more equitable, inclusive, and transformative approaches to learning and accountability.

Stay tuned as we continue to share and learn from the insights of young women and other youth leading the way.