January 2024
Interviewed by Emma Kaywin, Director of Development & Senior Qualitative Analyst
In December 2023, we hired a new Senior Research Associate: Campbell (Cam) Bullock. He is a seasoned professional who will run our California office. I sat down with Cam to hear about what makes him a great evaluator and what he’s excited about in joining us over at Philliber.
To get us started, tell me a little bit about yourself.
Well I was born in New Zealand. I came to the United States with my family as a child when I was eight, and even though we spent a little time on the East Coast, I was basically raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. Then jump forward, I did a degree at UC Davis in sociology and played baseball there. Both of those are major components of my life – sports and the social sciences and in particular sociology. And then due to my interest in two things, combatting injustice and also teaching at first, I pursued a Master’s degree in sociology at San Jose State. I had a professor there, basically my mentor because he really ignited my interest in methodology, methods, and statistics in a way that opened my professional world. I went on to work in the applied sociological realm and evaluation for a long time. I’ve been doing evaluation work for over twenty-two years on a range of topics and in a range of different jurisdictions. And then along with being a professional evaluator, I’m also a lecturer at Stanislaus State in California in my eleventh year. I teach a couple courses – one is research methods and the other one is research analysis. I love those two courses because they connect with my interests but they tie perfectly with the applied world of evaluation so I love the idea of being able to discuss those topics with students. Those are required courses for their graduation and many come into those courses with a lot of trepidation so I really like to be able to empower them just like I was – that you can do this, this is something that is for you and you need to have this part of your tool belt as you enter the world and do research.
What about outside of work?
The major thing is the focus on my family. I’ve done quite a bit of volunteering before as a coach both for my children and also for a multi-age community soccer program in a highly impoverished area in Stockton, California. I currently officiate sports as the baseball umpire. But my main interest or focus other than anything to do with work is my family – my spouse of almost thirty years and I have two children, my son’s now 22 and my daughter just turned 27. They’re my life, that’s the focus. I think the focus of spending time with them, now since they’re older on holidays and staying connective from afar is where my center point always has been and always will be.
That’s so sweet! What is your favorite part about evaluation?
For me the favorite part is probably the focus on reflecting and learning. When you look at why we do evaluation as a client or as a researcher, evaluator, it’s to get stronger. It’s to have stronger programs. It’s hoping to look for sustainability. It’s really looking to refine and enrich. So, it’s those philosophical parts of the practice that’s why I’m in this field. When you look at reflecting and learning, you can have a considerable impact on programs, organizations, and then as program practitioners know, it’s the impact on people’s lives. So even though I’m an evaluator and I’m outside of programs, why I end up doing it and my favorite part is because as a sociologist, I’m looking to do my part to improve society, and in that way as a vehicle through clientele.
I like to see evaluation at the center of what organizations and programs do. Most or many programs now or organizations do this, but didn’t used to it, but evaluation in my view should be the center, so like strategic planning, fiscal management, hiring, training, management of team and so on, evaluation belongs at the center because of reflection, learning, improvement. If we don’t have some kind of guide, we can’t really help those around us.
What do you think makes you stand out as an evaluator to your clients?
I kinda think about this from the sociological connections with people so it’s engagement, which means listening and learning from their expertise. I think all researchers have this but something that I try to focus on is listening and learning, because that’s really what research is. I mean there’s review of documents, there’s the scientific component, there’s the structure and the technical aspects, but unless you listen and learn from the real experts – clients – then you’re obviously not going to be able to collaborate as effectively. And then in that same way, I do focus on a participatory process which we do at Philliber. It’s about participating with the client. Sometimes there’s top-down things that are mandated by the federal government or things like that, but it should be participatory because again they’re the experts, so they have the best view of their programs. So, I think that stands out, my commitment to something that’s participatory.
What is your definition of participatory research?
For me, there’s different levels of it. For me the first one is participatory would be not dictating, no stipulating what clients or programs should do but to work as a team, in collaboration, to build the evaluation together. I might provide some technical direction or structure from my experience, but it is participatory, it’s having that client see that as their own, rather than something that I’ve created for them because that basically never fully works for any evaluator. It’s engaging, collaborating, sharing, reflecting, checking in, and all the things that are feasible within the time frame and the client’s wishes, because sometimes they want to have us take more of a lead.
The other part is more a participatory project, and that is more full-scale. You have clients actually doing the evaluation work with you. And I enjoy both. Sometimes that is possible depending on their wishes, sometimes that is something that they want done. But a full-scale participatory evaluation would be actually moving towards empowerment, where you’ve got clients doing that work as part of the process.
Thank you for that interlude, now back to your list!
I think what makes me stand out, not that I’m unique in this because you kinda have to do this, but the ability to demystify research, statistics, and evaluation in a way that is empowering. There’s some clients that, given time or their own expertise, they’re not as used to some components of what the federal government wants for variables or measures or collection or instruments, and it’s a way to share that with clients and demystify that process where it is straightforward and build those processes together. I naturally see myself as a teacher, facilitator, instructor, and so even though I’m writing a report, that’s kinda who I am I think at the heart of me, and so that’s how I try to share evaluation, through a facilitation approach. It’s not useless without it, but to get a larger report at the end of something without engagement, checking in, follow-through, and so on, clients don’t usually find that as helpful or useful. And it’s a way to connect with them and again demystify. Working to shape the evaluation together goes with participatory, and then collaborating on the meaning of the results, working together in terms of what those mean to them, recommendations, their interpretation because I might have an interpretation of what I’ve seen but it’s their program, their findings, their movement towards improvement or celebration, and then working with them on what that means to them. I think that’s what stands out in terms of the focus should be on them.
What are you most excited about joining the Philliber team?
The opportunity to work with such an accomplished team who have been doing this work for a very long time. Also, I’m very excited about working with an extremely well-rounded, diverse, and dynamic team. That’s who you want to work with, that’s where you want to be, because that’s society, that’s programmatic work in diverse settings. The team is fun and enjoyable and a caring group, so I’m excited about that. Then I’m also excited about what I’ve seen in terms of the rich combination of projects that touch upon a diverse set of topics that connect with our clients and society in deep and meaningful ways. A large one is access to justice, it’s not a small topic it’s a massive one that covers different dimensions, so that’s very exciting to me to work on topics like that.
Thank you so much for sharing a bit about yourself and your orientation to evaluation. We are lucky to have you!
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