Hi, I’m Tonita. I’m an evaluator who is passionate about helping organisations understand the impact of their work and use that insight to make purposeful, evidence informed decisions.

I work with people and organisations across health and community sectors who want to strengthen their monitoring and evaluation activities, clarify what success looks like, and improve outcomes for the communities they serve. My approach is collaborative, practical and grounded in real world experience.

What I do

I support organisations to design and implement evaluation activities that are both rigorous and realistic. This includes developing evaluation frameworks, clarifying intended outcomes, documenting program theories, identifying meaningful evaluation questions, designing data collection methods, analysing findings and preparing accessible evaluation reports. These processes help uncover what’s working, what isn’t, and what needs to shift to enhance impact.

With a background in psychology and over 20 years’ experience delivering, managing and commissioning mental health services, I bring deep contextual knowledge and strong problem-solving, communication and analytical skills. My clients value the way I make complexity understandable, ask the right questions and work respectfully with stakeholders to get to the nub of an issue.

My evaluation practice is grounded in formal study, including a Master of Evaluation (First Class Honours), which has shaped a thoughtful, methodical and transparent approach to inquiry. This professional training, combined with hands-on experience in program design, implementation and system leadership, has helped build a consultancy that clients see as reliable, relational and sharply attuned to context.

Before establishing my consultancy, I worked as:

• A community-based psychologist
• A manager of mental health, suicide prevention and alcohol and other drug programs in primary care
• A senior leader within a Primary Health Network

These roles strengthened my ability to navigate complex service systems, work collaboratively and analyse program performance through both practitioner and commissioning lenses.

How I work

Whether I’m developing a detailed evaluation plan, guiding organisations through data collection, or helping clarify a program’s logic and intended impact, I aim to bring clarity, curiosity and a people-centred approach. I’m often described as the ‘phone a friend’ for evaluation challenges — someone who listens deeply, works relationally and brings structure to complex situations.

My vision

I believe in a health and social services system where individuals and organisations routinely reflect on and learn from their impact — and where those insights guide decision making, resource allocation and advocacy. By building evaluation capability and embedding reflective practice, we can create stronger, more accountable and more responsive services.