For over four decades, Dr. Robert Brinkerhoff has been on a mission to answer a deceptively simple question: What impact and value does training actually produce? Not "are people satisfied with training?" or "did they pass the test?" but the questions that matters most to leaders: "What value are our learning and development (L&D) investments producing for our business? How can we accelerate the good that training does and change the things that are not working as well as they should?"
This pursuit led to the creation of the Success Case Method—a rapid, practical approach to impact evaluation that goes beyond statistics and surveys to uncover the real story of what's working, what's not, and why.
How we've evolved
What began as an academic methodology has grown into a global movement. Today, the Brinkerhoff Evaluation Institute serves foundations, corporations, government agencies, and NGOs across six continents. We've evaluated everything from leadership development programs at Fortune 500 companies to public health interventions in developing nations.
BEI combines rigorous academic foundations with real-world practicality. Our clients range from global enterprises conducting organization-wide evaluations to small nonprofits proving impact with limited resources.
What we offer
Unlike traditional evaluation approaches that drown stakeholders in complex statistics, the Success Case Method and its even simpler Essential Impact Evaluation (EIE) sister method tell compelling, evidence-based stories. We help you quickly identify your programs’ greatest impact, understand what made them successful, and replicate those conditions across your organization to accelerate impact and value.
We offer two distinct pathways to our impact evaluation expertise:
Build your capability
Success Case Method (SCM) Certification
Go deep with the full SCM methodology. This 3-week blended program teaches you to design and conduct rigorous impact evaluations, conduct compelling success case interviews, and deliver reports that drive strategic decisions. Best for complex, high-stakes projects.
Essential Impact Evaluation (EIE) Masterclass
Get to impact fast with our streamlined approach. Learn to answer the 5 questions stakeholders actually care about—without drowning in statistics or jargon. Perfect for busy L&D professionals who need credible evidence now, not months from now.
Partner with our team
Engage our evaluation consulting services to design and conduct expert-led studies from start to finish, or collaborate with us at any stage of the evaluation process—from planning and design to data analysis and reporting.
Both approaches deliver the same outcome: credible, actionable evidence that senior leaders understand, trust, and act on.
Meet Robert O. Brinkerhoff, Ed.D.
Rob is an internationally recognized expert in evaluation and learning effectiveness and is also creator of the Success Case Method– a highly regarded and carefully crafted evaluation approach to determining how well a program works that has been proven effective in dozens of organizations and has gained popularity worldwide.
Over his 40+ year career, he has provided consultation to dozens of multinational organizations around the globe. He has also been a keynote speaker and presenter at hundreds of conferences worldwide and has authored several books.
His numerous clients have included American Express, Anglo-American Corporation, AT&T, Bank of America, Boing, BP, Bristol Myers Squibb, Budweiser, Canadian Tire, Central Intelligence Agency, Cisco, Dell, Ericsson, Ford Motor Company, Honda, Kaiser Permanente, Kraft Foods, Nike, Phillips, Procter and Gamble, QUALCOMM, Sony, Texas Instruments, U.S. Postal Service, and the World Bank to name but a few.
Rob earned his doctorate at the University of Virginia in program evaluation and is a retired Professor of Counseling Psychology from Western Michigan University, where he coordinated graduate programs in human resource development.
Rob’s work experience includes a five-year stint as an officer in the U.S. Navy, a carpenter, charter-boat mate in the West Indies, grocery salesman in Puerto Rico, and factory laborer in Birmingham, England where he saw the original Beatles. He has four grown children, loves to babysit his grandchildren, and lives with his wife in Richland, Michigan.
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Meet the team
In addition to our core team, BEI maintains a network of evaluation associates around the globe. This reach allows us to accommodate projects of varying needs and sizes.