EvalforEarth presented its first Outstanding Contributor of the Year Award.
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Celebrating community, contribution, and collective learning!
On 16 December 2025, EvalforEarth marked a milestone with the presentation of its first Outstanding Contributor of the Year Award, recognising engagement and contribution within the EvalforEarth Community of Practice.
The award was presented by Allison Grove Smith,Director of CGIAR’s Independent Advisory and Evaluation Service (IAES); EvalforEarth Executive Group Member, during a ceremony held alongside the webinar Decolonial Approaches in Evaluation: Advancing Evidence, Equity, and Innovation for Sustainable Food and Environment Systems. This inaugural recognition reflects EvalforEarth’s commitment to valuing the people who actively shape learning, dialogue, and collaboration across evaluation for food security, environment, agriculture, and rural development.
The Outstanding Contributor of the Year Award is an annual initiative that recognises members who demonstrate sustained commitment, engagement, and leadership within EvalforEarth. As the inaugural year, 2025 represents both a celebration and a learning moment, with future editions expected to evolve as the Community continues to grow.
EvalforEarth currently brings together more than 2,500 members worldwide, and this award highlights the collective energy that makes the Community vibrant, relevant, and impactful.
A community driven recognition
A defining feature of the 2025 award is that nominations were made by members of the EvalforEarth Community of Practice. Colleagues took the time to recognise peers whose contributions they value and learn from. We are grateful to all members who submitted nominations and participated in this process.
While one recipient is selected, the award reflects a broader message. EvalforEarth is built by its people. Contributions take many forms, including discussion, reflection, resource sharing, writing, moderation, and participation. Each contribution strengthens the Community. In this sense, all contributors are recognised in their own way, and the Community of Practice is enriched by its members.
The top finalists
EvalforEarth congratulates the top finalists for the 2025 Outstanding Contributor of the Year Award, whose engagement reflects the diversity and strength of the Community of Practice:
- Serdar Bayryyev, Senior Evaluation Officer, FAO Office of Evaluation
- Steven Jonckheere, Senior Evaluation Officer, IFAD Independent Office of Evaluation
- Eddah Kanini Karijo, Monitoring, Evaluation and Gender Specialist and Board Member, AfrEA
- Natalia Aquilino, Senior Evaluation Expert and Former Vice Coordinator, ReLAC
- Sibongile Sithole, Evaluation Specialist, SAMEA.
2025 Outstanding Contributor of the Year
The 2025 EvalforEarth Outstanding Contributor of the Year Award was presented to Ms. Sibongile Sithole, Evaluation Specialist.
Ms. Sithole’s work focuses on economic and social development initiatives across Southern Africa, with attention to youth and women’s livelihoods and education systems. Her professional work includes developing the indicator matrix for South Africa’s Transformative Equity Guidelines and creating the country’s first interactive dashboard for the Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision project.
In 2025, she co authored three journal articles on transformation and the decolonisation of evaluative practice in the Global South. She is an active member of the South African Monitoring and Evaluation Association and collaborates with the International Evaluation Academy.
Within EvalforEarth, her contributions included serving as a panellist in the Three Horizons webinar series, authoring the blogs Still Emerging?The identity crisis of emerging , and If No One Reads It, Did We Communicate?, participating in the Global Impact Evaluation Forum 2025 discussion, and engaging across EvalforEarth platforms.
Recording