American Evaluation Association 2024 Resource Guide

We’re excited to once again present multiple sessions at the American Evaluation Association’s Evaluation 2024. This year’s theme, Amplifying and Empowering Voices in Evaluation resonates deeply with our efforts in centering community in evaluative work, and we look forward to sparking engaging discussions, challenging conventional thinking, and showcasing innovative approaches to elevating diverse voices in evaluation.

In anticipation of the conference, we’re excited to share a resource guide illustrating how our place-based approach has enhanced community engagement and led to more meaningful evaluations, providing valuable context for our sessions. We invite you to explore it whether you are attending or not!

Centering Community in Evaluative Work

• Implementing a Localized Evaluation & Learning Framework – This piece reflects on practices for localizing (or centering those most affected by the social issue) the implementation of your evaluation frameworks and plans.
• Whose Story Is It- Practices for Using a Localization Approach to Share and Interpret Evaluation Findings – This piece reflects on practices for reflecting on evaluation findings and using data to inform decision-making alongside the community in which the work is being conducted.
• From Here to There: Can Evaluation Localization Lead to Decolonized Funding and Greater Social Impact? – American Evaluation Association Conference presentation, November 2022.
• Ensuring Readiness of our Organization for Localizing Data Design, Collection, and Use – This piece reflects on promising practices for localizing (or centering those most affected by the social issue) during the design of your evaluation frameworks and plans.
• Partner-Centered Evaluation Capacity Building: Findings from a Corporate Social Impact Initiative – Article published in The Foundation Review, 2018, August.
• Four Tips for Culturally Responsive Programming – This piece shares a definition for cultural responsiveness and lays out strategies program staff can use, including engaging community stakeholders, using inclusive language, being willing to adapt programs, and continuous reflection.

Place-Based Evaluative and Initiative Design Work

• How Do We Design Meaningful Strategies with Communities? We Listen!- This piece describes TCC Group’s approach to deep listening which guides the relationships we have built and sustained with communities across the country over the years. Deep listening is a critical phase that is essential to ensure that local voices, networks, and change efforts guide and inform our work.
• Investing in Grassroots Advocacy: A Funder’s Guide – TCC Group shares findings from our work with the Connecticut Health Foundation and provides tips on better understanding how to build authentic relationships with and effectively support Grassroots Advocacy Organizations (GRAOs).
• Nesting to Achieve Impact: Lessons for Family Funders from the Annie E. Casey Foundation – This piece shares findings from TCC Group’s work evaluating the Anne E. Casey Foundation’s Family-Centered Community Change™ (FCCC) initiative, a long-term effort to support local partnerships in high-poverty neighborhoods across the country. This work intended to shift local anti-poverty programming from working with adults and youth separately to focusing on families.
• Coordinated Funding: Lessons from a Place-Based Grantmaking Collaborative – Three Michigan grantmakers – Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation, United Way of Washtenaw County, and the Joint Office of Community and Economic Development – coordinated funding the region’s human service programs to maximize community impact. TCC Group’s evaluation identified community assets and early successes that aided the implementation of this innovative funding model.
• How Philanthropy Support Organizations Understand and Advance Community Power Building – This report captures insights from interviews conducted in the Fall of 2019 with Philanthropy Support Organization leaders who describe how their diverse members understand what it means to build community power; the perceived strengths and challenges of supporting this kind of work; and perspectives on how it may leverage foundation mission.
• Centering Communities: A Case Study of Partnering in Place from Baltimore and Jackson – This piece shares key takeaways for those involved in place-based work: addressing the system, building community capacity, and sustaining change.
• Letting Communities Lead: How National Funders Can Advance Equity by Partnering with Local and Regional Foundations – This piece shares TCC Group’s experiences working with local and regional foundations focused on advancing equity in particular neighborhoods, cities, states, and/or regions. We reflect that these organizations bring assets to the table that complement national foundations seeking to support initiatives happening in place.

To learn more about our work, contact us here!