The Path to Equitable Evaluation
As a part of the Shifting Systems Initiative series of workshops on Power and Equity, the NORC team at the University of Chicago, including Chandria Jones, Tracy Hillard, and Meg Hargreaves, facilitated a conversation on equitable evaluation, which is recapped below by Caroline Suozzi of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors.
If you saw a fish belly up in a lake, you might ask yourself, “What is wrong with that fish?” However, if you saw many fish belly up, you would likely note that the issue is not with the fish — it is the lake.
This metaphor, otherwise known as The Groundwater Approach, aims to shed light on how broken systems manifest themselves as inequities in today’s world. We see people of the same communities continuously facing the same obstacles. Why don’t we question and address the environment that continues to create and reinforce these obstacles?
Since the long overdue racial injustice reckoning crescendoed in 2020, philanthropy has increasingly grappled with reflections and actions around inequity and social injustice, as well as how to shift practices and power to create more equitable and enabling conditions and institutions for historically excluded communities. This heightened interest was illustrated during the recent Power and Equity workshop on Culturally Responsive and Equitable Evaluation. This convening was part of the peer-learning curriculum of the Shifting Systems Power and Equity Series, a global cohort composed of actors in the systems change field.
Under the skilled facilitation of the NORC team at the University of Chicago, a candid conversation between Chandria Jones, Tracy Hillard, and Meg Hargreaves revealed the ubiquity of the struggle faced by the sector in creating and implementing sustainable strategies that uphold truly equitable practices both internally and externally. The recognition that the sector needs to examine, and perhaps rethink, structures and systems that have long been stalwarts of philanthropy’s identity emerged as a further challenge for philanthropy. As Jones noted in the presentation, James Baldwin once said, “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” Below are a few central themes that arose during this session, aimed at facing some of the deeply entrenched inequities within philanthropy.
Culturally Responsive and Equitable Evaluation is Not One Size Fits All
Culturally Responsive and Equitable Evaluation (CREE) is an evaluation paradigm that integrates diversity, equity, and inclusion into all phases of evaluation by incorporating cultural, structural and contextual factors through participatory processes that shifts power to those most impacted by the evaluation process factors.
The organization Expanding the Bench makes the critical distinction that culturally responsive and equitable evaluation is not just one method of evaluation, but rather an approach that should be infused into all evaluation methodologies. CREE will look slightly different to each organization based on the work they do.
CREE advances equity by informing strategy, program improvement, decision-making, policy formation, and change. The way this actually manifests itself from organization to organization will be dependent on the capabilities and approaches of the foundation itself.
Equitable Assessment Begins Internally, Not with Grantees
A key foundation for conducting research and evaluation that focuses on power and equity does not begin with the evaluation itself. It starts with an internal assessment in which philanthropies (1) examine their own backgrounds, beliefs, and biases; (2) identify assumptions that guide their values and beliefs; and (3) take real stock of who they are and what it is they want their work to be in service of.
Letting Go of the Expert Identity
Solving problems by coming up with solutions has always been a source of pride for philanthropy. However, as we consider equitable evaluation, philanthropies should come to terms with the need to center those most affected by the problems — because this is where the best solutions will be found. The seminar provided practical recommendations for centering those more affected, as shown in the image below:
Addressing Power Dynamics
Unsurprisingly, the final takeaway from this seminar asked philanthropies to look inward and reassess themselves in order to create a culturally responsive and equitable evaluation process.
A major consideration when assessing decision-making structures is about more than who is included, but also who was empowered and engaged to make decisions, along with who is missing from the table. Historically, community voices are often missing from this part of the equation, resulting in broken evaluation structures.
Engaging with communities, prioritizing population input, implementing proper training, and collecting data are all concrete steps that philanthropies can take to operate through this critical lens.
