Carolyne Ashton's Page

What motivated you (or your organization) to become involved in peace and conflict resolution?

My work early in my career (substance abuse treatment and prevention and human relations) led me to an understanding that if environments are healthy than individuals will have a greater opportunity to be healthy. I began working in the field of group process. That work led me to seek degrees in conflict transformation and international peace work (BA, MS &and Ph.D) and to practice in these areas.

Please feel free to provide a short bio about yourself or the work of your organization (no more than 3 paragraphs)

I am a Sr. Research Associate with Search for Common Ground in Wash. DC. focusing on institutional learning within Search and working with their design, monitoring & evaluation projects. During the years working on my dissertation I was a private consultant specializing in conflict resolution, collaborative problem solving, cultural diversity, and participatory evaluation. I provided facilitation in conflict resolution, strategic planning, results-oriented planning and evaluation, and joint problem solving processes. I provided training and curriculum development in the areas of peace education curricula, conflict resolution skills, facilitation and group process skills, monitoring and evaluation skills, and the development of cultural competence among groups. I specialize in the design and implementation of collaborative evaluation models for organizations and businesses wishing to measure the successful results of their work and leading to greater stakeholder involvement and organizational cultural competence. I have provided services at the organizational, local, state, national and international levels.

I graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a BS in International Relations from Trinity College, Washington, DC (1988) and a doctorate at the Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution (ICAR), George Mason University, Fairfax, VA (2008). My dissertation topic was “Identifying the Role of a Theory of Change in Design and Implementation of Three UNICEF Peace Education Programs.”

Please list the countries and/or regions in which you (or your organization) have direct and significant expertise

Albania, Armenia, Aceh (Indonesia), Solomon Islands, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, and the United States.

What is your current country of residence (or location of your organization)?

U.S.

What is your current job (and organization) and/or where and what field are you studying?

Senior Research Associate, Search for Common Ground, Wash. DC - institutional learning within Search and support of design, monitoring & evaluation

Which are your primary sectoral areas of expertise (or the primary sectoral areas of your organization) ?

Civil Society, Conflict Resolution, Democratization, Education, Gender

Which are your primary skills areas(or the primary skill areas of your organization)?

Curriculum Development, Evaluation, Program Design, Research, Training

What are some of your current areas of research (if any)?

Ph.D. dissertation focused on the use of theories of change in identifying criteria for success of peace education programs and subsequent use of the theories in developing evaluation designs for such programs. A core premise of the work is the collaborative/participatory involvement of stakeholders with evaluators to design programs and evaluations.

If appropriate feel free to list several of your (or your organization's) publications

Community Problem Solving Case Summaries, Vol. I (1988) and Vol. II (1989) and Resource List, Program for Community Problem Solving, Washington, D.C., 1988.

Ashton, Carolyne. “Evaluation: Why It’s Worth the Pain.” NIDR News, May-June, 96, Vol. 3, No. 3, Washington, DC: National Institute for Dispute Resolution.

Ashton, Carolyne, Ed. FORUM: Empowerment Evaluation: A Special Issue on Evaluation Theories and Models that Enhance Collaboration and Conflict Resolution. Washington, DC: National Institute for Dispute Resolution, forthcoming Winter ’96 edition.

Ashton, Carolyne. “Evaluating Collaborative Efforts to Address Domestic Public Policy Disputes Involving Power and Prejudice” in Power and Prejudice in Public Policy Disputes (suggested title). Eds. M. DuPraw & M. Skelton. Chapter in an unpublished manuscript, 1997.

Ashton, Carolyne. “Strategic Considerations in Facilitative Evaluation Approaches.” A paper presented for an on-line, Internet conference on evaluation sponsored by Action Research Initiative Associates, September 1998.

Carstarphen, N., Harris, R., Schoeny, M. Ashton. C. Contributor to Peer Mediation and Conflict Resolution Program Evaluation Manual: A Guide for Program Coordinators, School Administrators and Superintendents. Fairfax, VA: Fairfax County Public Schools under a grant from the Governor’s Office on Safe and Drug Free Schools, 1999.

Shaia, Wendy and Ashton, C. Planning for Success: Evaluation for the Supportive Housing Provider. Columbia MD: The Enterprise Foundation, publication pending January 2000.

Atkinson, A. and Ashton, C. Planning for Results: The Safe and Drug-free Schools and
Communities Program Planning and Evaluation Handbook Richmond, VA:
Virginia Department of Education, May 2002.

Ashton, C. “The Case for Peace Education Evaluation as a Strategy for Supporting Sustainability” presented at ISA annual conference, Montreal, March 2004.

Ashton, C. "Using Theory of Change to Enhance Peace Education Evaluation." Upcoming article in Conflict Resolution Quarterly, Publication date: Nov. 2007.