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In a time of information overload we sometimes lose sight of the fact that those who determine what the information tells us, or does not tell us create the stories we believe to be truths.  

Will we move forward and embrace the complexity and diversity - and some would say promise of what we are now (or could be) - or will we turn back time?  Tensions around evaluation continue, with questions about value, validity, rigor, purpose, appropriateness, meaningfulness. 

It is important to name that this is Western centric. Race is a social construct and one which the dominant culture (aka white) both created and reinforces to perpetuate its power and control. It is the foundation of the United States (not America which was a settled land of Indigenous peoples). Evaluation is an expression of that mindset. Evaluation and the Framing of Race

Chimmanda Ngozie Adichie’s 2009 TED Talk captures the limitations and harm of a single story. In the US and often within philanthropy, that story and the data are mutually reinforcing.

What’s the first step?  We (EEI) think it is recognizing that there is, in the United States, an ecosystem comprised of various players situated in community and context.

When people say equity, they mean different things. How do you define equity?  Individually and in your work? In this instance, we mean both means and ends. We believe that access to opportunity is not sufficient we seek demonstrable evidence of identity (in all its manifestations) to no longer be a determining factor in the human experience. 

We want to get someplace new. Findings and themes from reports and research are consistent. Evaluation as currently practiced is not serving us well. We - those of us for whom this work (our work) is about creating a world in which all can thrive - have to start anew.

In thinking about present day evaluation practices, we must consider the when, why and who that brought evaluation to philanthropy in the beginning. And how this shared history has implications as we evolve evaluation to remain relevant and meaningful. What's Race Got to Do With It? Equity and Philanthropic Evaluation Practice (Dean-Coffey, J., AJE)

The efforts of D5 Coalition, PolicyLink, Philanthropic Initiative for Racial Equity and the state of the US heightened discussions and the imperative. The 2014 Foundation Review, Racial Equity special edition was the first of its kind, giving a behind- the-curtain view of how foundations were thinking about and grappling with racial equity. In 2017, the EE Project team decided to focus on philanthropy as an entry point, not because the other ecosystem actors  were unimportant but because we saw an opening in philanthropy and knew how to enter.

When we think about evaluation, we typically jump to methods which is limiting. We must recognize there are a set of beliefs that drive our methodological choices and focus. If we do not understand what drives this tendency, evaluation runs the risk of being at odds with the values and intentions of our efforts.

A reminder that we are humans doing this work and that as such our experiences and identities influence perspectives. 

There have been (and will be) challenges to the validity of data that start to waiver from what we believe to be objective. This is another blind way in which we perpetuate a norm that preferences a particular type of truth, knowing and evidence. Dr. Kirkhart offers this definition of validity which has implications for data analysis and sense making.

These 4 elements were shared by Jewlya Lynn and Hallie Presklill at the 2015 AEA Conference and a subsequent blog   It asks the evaluator to balance the desire for the highest-quality methods and design with the need for the evaluation to have value for the end-user, and for it to be contextually appropriate.  From an evaluation purchaser’s point of view, it can be a way of articulating upfront expectations or comparing the quality of different approaches. From a programmatic point of view, it can help program leaders and staff have confidence in the evaluation findings or a way of talking about what they are concerned about as they look at results.

Our leanings towards predictability and control are no longer serving us in a world of complexity and chaos, evaluative practice must evolve. Link 

Evaluation has already evolved. Here is one example where issues of context, cultural and differing truths and perspectives are encouraged and honored.  Culturally Responsive Evaluation (CRE) developed by Drs. Hood and Hopson.

How does the Equitable Evaluation Framework™ differ (or might it) from Culturally Responsive Evaluation (referred to as CRE)?  We want to clear, the EE Framework does not replace CRE but can in fact serve as a container for which CRE and other approaches might be situated and ideally utilized more so.

Kaylynn Sullivan TwoTrees is an artist/catalyst/guide who works across mediums, connections and social constructions focused on creating sacred space for deep remembering and reciprocal communication/relationship with nature and the unseen world.  This quote speaks to how we “do violence to others truths when we fail to refine the self, as an open diversity-conscious and expansively learning centered instrument” (Symonett, H, p.111-112) 

We learned that there was a group of people and institutions for whom this conversation was not only eye opening but also freeing. The growing interest is a testament to that readiness.

The challenge is hard, yes. We have an offering: the EEF, which has three principles as foundational guideposts.

This graphic is a useful visual for seeing what should be considered in the phases typically associated with an evaluation as it pertains to understanding inequities.  (“Engendering policies and programmes through feminist evaluation: opportunities and insights.” Indian Journal of Gender Studies 19/2 (2012); 321-340)

Orthodoxies are often invisible, masquerading as “common sense.” They are traditional/tightly held beliefs that can undermine EEF principles.They are believed to be foundational and affect the undercurrents of organizational culture  (see more, p.2) This set of orthodoxies surfaced as part of the research conducted in the EE Project 2016-2017. 

This requires a way of being and thinking that is grounded in a moral imperative (equity as an end not only a means) and embraces the complexity of identities. It will challenge ideas of validity and rigor, which codify bias and ways of knowing, truth and evidence as objectivity.

So where to start? At the beginning, the frame. Whose frame? Developed when? From what perspective? Grounded in what world view?  Maria Rosario Jackson’s expertise is in comprehensive community revitalization, systems change, arts and culture in communities and dynamics of race and ethnicity.

This framing (or reframing) has been well received by foundations and evaluators/consultants in the philanthropic ecosystem . There is growing acknowledgement of the role that race and racism has played (and does play) in the conceptualization of evaluation and its practice. If we want to get somewhere new we have to be and do something different.

This is the history of the evolution of the EEF, noting that the ideas and frames that inform it predate both EE Project and the EE Initiative. 

EEI has as part of its community a set of Investment Partners that span the US, foundation types, foundation focus and age.  They have proven to be champions and thought partners behind and in front of the scenes.  

This is an overview of the current philanthropic ecosystem actors engaged with EEI as Practice Partners. Those in italics are ones with whom EEI is exploring what next.

What we have before us is an evolutionary opening…An invitation. This is a unique moment in time to bring in to alignment evaluation with the intentions of many of us who seek to transform the world in which we live.

Starting with hearts and minds is key - primed toward equipping for transformation, and adoption of the EEF principles.