About our speaker
Professor Sarah Chapman is an internationally recognised thought leader in evaluation theory and practice, known for advancing theory-based and culturally grounded approaches to understanding impact. Her work has helped redefine how evidence is generated and used for social change, contributing to a more reflective, participatory, and context-responsive evaluation discipline. An experienced field practitioner, she has led evaluations across public health, agriculture, education, early childhood development, and disability sectors throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. Her work has supported learning, justice, and social transformation globally with multilateral and bilateral agencies, foundations, governments, NGOs, and academic networks.
Chapman’s research consistently—and often provocatively—interrogates what it means to achieve appropriately scaled, lasting, and transformative programme impact. Her approach is rooted in a commitment to social justice, equity, and learning, focusing on trajectories of change rather than static snapshots, and always attending to the broader systems in which programmes are embedded. She has published widely on culturally responsive evaluation, participatory methods, and the radical reformation of impact evaluation theory and practice to include marginalised voices.
Professor Chapman is currently based in the School of Management Studies, where she is the Director of UCT’s Institute for Monitoring and Evaluation and Deputy Dean: Postgraduate in the Faculty of Commerce. She co-convenes the university’s postgraduate programmes in Programme Evaluation, where she trains the next generation of evaluators to work rigorously and reflectively across paradigms. She also serves as evaluation lead and advisor for several global and national development initiatives.