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Why EvolveMEL
Great programs don’t happen by accident—they’re designed with intention, monitored with purpose, evaluated with rigor, and improved through learning.
EvolveMEL exists because sound public spending deserves sound design, and because decision makers need timely, credible evidence they can actually use. When these elements work together, organisations move beyond compliance to real evolution—building systems that perform better and create lasting change for communities.
Meet Kari
Founder & Director | 25 years in monitoring, evaluation, and organizational learning
Kari Sann has spent 25 years helping organisations use evidence to make better decisions and achieve real impact. Working across international development, government, and not-for-profit sectors, she’s partnered with bilateral aid agencies, federal and state government departments, and organisations committed to evidence-based decision making.
Her work is hands-on and collaborative. She facilitates workshops that bring stakeholders together to co-design solutions to complex social problems, interrogate evidence, and figure out what’s actually working. As an experienced team leader, she’s conducted over 15 evaluations and led work ranging from after action reviews of humanitarian responses across the Pacific and beyond, to facilitating updates of agency-wide MEL standards, to quality assuring programs against performance standards.
Kari has a knack for clarity and simplicity—synthesising findings from multiple evaluations and turning them into organisational learning that actually gets used. She’s designed and delivered training on MEL, program design, and theories of change, and is a member of the Australasian Evaluation Society.
Her career started with social impact assessments of hydropower projects in Laos and has evolved across sectors including education, environment, infrastructure, climate change, social protection, gender equality, health, and humanitarian response. The common thread? A focus on credible evidence that serves decision-making and demonstrates real contribution to change.