Rainwater Harvesting Program Evaluation in Jalisco Schools

Alejandro Arce

Data Analyst

Data Visualizer

Project Manager

G Suite

Looker Studio

Microsoft Excel

Nonprofit

Evaluating a Rainwater Harvesting Program across 40 Schools in Jalisco, Mexico

Monitoring & Evaluation | Data Systems | Dashboard Design | Multi-Site Project Management

Timeline: January 2025 - August 2025

Overview

This project evaluated the results and causal logic of a rainwater harvesting network installed across 40 schools in Jalisco, Mexico. The program aimed to improve water access, student attendance, strengthening hygienic practices and build water-focused ecological awareness among students and teachers. I was part of the evaluation team, where we designed the Theory of Change, built monitoring tools, structured and analyzed datasets of over 3,000 student surveys and 40 mixed long school director surveys, as well as developing a final dashboard and insights used to secure future funding and project expansion.

Context & Challenge

The implementing organization had already installed the rainwater systems successfully, implemented workshops on building skills on the schools for maintenance, and built relationships with the schools ecosystems themselves; though, they lacked an integrated, evidence-based understanding of the program's outcomes. Data was fragmented and hard to trace, indicators were misaligned, and no centralized system existed to measure results and obtain insights for long-term impact.

Key challenges:

Absence of a unified ToC and Indicator Matrix

Lack of standardized monitoring tools

Fragmented data structures across institutions

Need for a dashboard that could integrate technical, behavioral, and attitudinal data

A tight timeline as investors awaited results to decide on future funding.

The project required establishing the entire MEL structure, from assumptions to indicators to insights.

Overview of the general process that took place for this project

Objectives

Develop a robust Theory of Change and multi-level Indicator Matrix

Design monitoring tools and data collection systems for 40 schools

Structure and analyze different dataset of over 3,000 surveys from students and principals

Build an accessible Looker Studio dashboard integrating technical, behavioral, and perception data

Generate insights to inform next-phase decisions, investor presentations, and potential scaling

My Role

I worked as a data architect and analyst, as well as dashboard designer for this project, in which I:

Managed timelines and coordinated with the team for interviews, data verifications and data analysis

Designed interview guides and conducted calls with key stakeholders to understand program goals

Co-built the ToC and Indicator Matrix

Co-created monitoring tools, surveys, and methodological guidelines for data collection

Structured, cleaned and validated all incoming data from 3,000+ student surveys, 40+ mixed principal surveys and mixed national data

Conducted preliminary analysis in Excel and consolidated datasets into Sheets

Troubleshot dashboard and data calculation issues in Looker Studio

Co-designed the final dashboard and built the presentation deck for the clients

Packaged deliverables in a structured document folder for easy handover

Approach & Methodology

The evaluation followed a 4-step MEL process:

1. Theory of Change & Indicator Design

Interviews with investors, implementing teams, and consultants informed a ToC that included:

System functioning indicators (capacity, maintenance, and infrastructure type)

Behavior and hygiene indicators (handwashing practices, water usage)

Knowledge indicators (water cycle, ecosystem understanding)

Social perception indicators (water-related issues, school and community behavior)

2. Monitoring Tools & Data Collection

Created surveys, data input structures, validation rules, and analysis templates to be used across 40 schools. The implementing team collected 3,000+ surveys, later systematized through our tools.

A general view of the kind of indicators developed for the project

3. Data Analysis & Insight Generation

After structuring the dataset, we extracted high-level insights, such as:

Younger students demonstrated higher awareness of their immediate water ecosystem

Older students showed deeper understanding of the social issues behind water scarcity

Rural schools tool significantly better care of water systems and water resources than urban ones

Systems were substantially more effective when paired with appropriation processes and usage routines, leading to neighboring schools replicating the model independently

4. Dashboard & Presentation

Data was consolidated into Looker Studio, creating a decision-ready dashboard for:

Principals

Program managers

Investors

Potential funders for future expansion

The dashboard included:

Technical system indicators

Behavioral and knowledge metrics

Comparisons between rural vs. urban schools

Trends by education level

Appropriation and system-care indicators

For privacy reasons, this is a mockup of one of the pages that make up the dashboard

Key Deliverables

Results & Impact

The most important ones, reported by the client months after finishing the project were that the work delivered resulted in:

Securing next-year funding for the program

Led to an exploratory expansion for more schools in the region

Sparked early conversations for national-scale replication

Improved decision-making clarity for investors and implementers

Provided the first unified dataset on water harvesting across the project area

Created tools that can be used for future monitoring cycles

Skills Demonstrated

Like this project

Posted Nov 24, 2025

Evaluated rainwater harvesting program across 40 schools in Jalisco, Mexico, designing MEL structures and dashboards.

Likes

Views

Timeline

Feb 5, 2025 - Aug 30, 2025