A message from Karen Russon, President of ECDG:
The Evaluation Capacity Development Group (ECDG) just released its new guide. You can download it for free on from the ECDG website. Several people who downloaded the guide, asked us about our affiliation with the Independent Evaluation Group (IEG) of The World Bank. Imagine my surprise!
But it is true! A Google search brought up a website with the following description: “The workshop was chaired by Klaus Tilmes, the manager of IEG’s Knowledge Programs and Evaluation Capacity Development Group. The video of the …”
In 2004, following an exhaustive national search, my organization was incorporated in the state of Michigan (USA) with the name Evaluation Capacity Development Group. Not only do we hold exclusive legal right to the name, we also own the assumed name ECDG.
I believe that ECDG and IEG need to be differentiated because we have very different philosophies towards evaluation capacity development. We are bottom up, systemic and take an appreciative approach. I further believe that IEG’s use of the ECDG name diminishes our brand.
On 29 March, I wrote a message to the Director of IEG asking her to work with me to resolve this troubling situation. I have yet to receive a response . . . and perhaps I will never receive one. Therefore, I am writing directly to you, through this blog, to make you aware of the situation and to assure you that ECDG has not been purchased by The World Bank 
