The Evaluation Center
六合之家
Kalamazoo MI 49008-5237 USA
(269) 387-5895
Evaluation Caf茅 is pleased to offer both in-person and virtual options. Join us for lunch and a thought-provoking conversation led by innovative minds in our field in 4410 Ellsworth or via Zoom.
Caf茅 Schedule
We're excited to host another year of Evaluation Caf茅. View our fall schedule below!
Alissa Marchant
Director
Innovation Network
Shelli Golson-Mickens
Senior Associate
Innovation Network
How to Embed Equity in Your Data Communications
Evaluators hold substantive power and we influence decisions with the way we communicate our data findings. To ensure that our findings support community needs, reduce harm, and reflect the diversity of those communities, evaluators must carefully consider how our audience receives written words and visual presentations of data.
Innovation Network鈥檚 Alissa Marchant and Shelli Golson-Mickens will discuss what it takes to communicate equitably. They will share principles for communicating equitably from our and concrete strategies for applying them to your work.
Deja Taylor
Senior Managing Strategist - Midwest Partnerships
UBUNTU Research & Evaluation
Koren Dennison
Managing Evaluation & Communications Strategist
UBUNTU Research & Evaluation
Asset Mapping for Community Building: An Alternative Dignity-Based Approach to Needs Assessment
This case study presentation will look at a resident-led participatory asset mapping initiative on Milwaukee鈥檚 Northwest Side. Facilitators will share insights and outcomes from a 14-month participatory project focused on uncovering community strengths, resources, and priorities to enhance neighborhood safety. This session will highlight the innovative Afrofuturist Evaluation (AFE) methodology used to center Black residents鈥 voices, experiences, and cultural perspectives throughout the mapping process.
Participants will learn techniques for gathering qualitative, community-driven data on existing assets while revealing gaps needing investment. For instance, approaches like interviews with long-term 鈥淜nowledge Keepers鈥 with Black elders as well as amplifying youth voice through "Neighborhood Navigators" and beta-testing with community members to co-develop a digital archive will be covered as participatory practices.
Megan L贸pez
Senior Research Associate
六合之家
Advancing Evaluation Capacity Building: Key Insights from Researchers and Practitioners
Over the past two decades, there has been a significant rise in interest in Evaluation Capacity Building (ECB) practice and scholarship. As our commitment to practicing and researching ECB deepens, so too must our understanding of how to effectively evaluate the impact and effectiveness of these efforts. Responding to Bourgeois and colleagues' (2023) call to leverage evaluation for a deeper understanding of meaningful ECB, a forthcoming issue of New Directions for Evaluation, guest edited by Lyssa Wilson Becho and Megan L贸pez, brings together practitioners and scholars to explore and share insights on evaluating ECB. This issue features contributions that examine research, theory, methodological approaches, and practical applications in the field. This presentation will highlight the key themes and practical lessons from this collaborative effort, offering valuable guidance for those involved in planning, implementing, or researching ECB. By sharing our findings from this issue, we hope to kickstart conversations and foster ongoing dialogues around the evaluation of ECB and meaningful ECB practices that lead to future innovations and improvements.
Sarah Mason
Director, Center for Research Evaluation
University of Mississippi
Err....you're an evaluator? Research on explaining evaluators to non-evaluators
To advance our field, people need to know what evaluation is and why it is of value. However, many evaluators know that it can be difficult to explain what we do to those unfamiliar with evaluation. This presentation explores a series of research studies exploring (a) the general public's understanding of evaluation, and (2) strategies for explaining evaluation to non-evaluators. Sarah will share findings from experiments on how to enhance understanding of evaluation and reflections on building the profile of our profession.
Corey Smith
Director, Health Equity Evaluation
Corewell Health
Title and abstract coming soon!