In "The Case for Participatory Evaluation in an Era of Accountability" (this issue), Jill Chouinard highlights seven tensions between the participatory and technocratic approaches to evaluation. She suggests that there is a need to create opportunities for more participatory approaches to evaluation. In this essay, I suggest that the era of accountability has actually created unexpected opportunities for participatory and meaningful evaluation. These include: encouraging organizations to use evidence-based practices and be more deliberate about program strategy; identifying common outcomes and indicators for program managers to adopt and use; and using accountability mandates to create opportunities for capacity building and organizational learning. I also describe how evaluators can use the current focus on outcomes and impact to create opportunities to have broader discussions about the benefits of other types of evaluation.