Reflections and Intentions- Our Commitments in the New Year (and the New World)
Image Description: A silhouette of a signpost against a blue, pink, and orange sunset
One of the gifts offered by 2020 to many of us was a space for reflection and a not-so-subtle prodding to evolve both personally and collectively. We were simply not allowed to continue with the status quo. Even as we grieved our routines and clung to whatever we could find that felt familiar in the midst of a pandemic, 2020 gave us an uprising and a revolution. Despite the efforts some are still making to cling to the old world and “get back to normal,” many of us are ready to move on to a world where we can redefine unhealthy structures of white supremacy, patriarchy, capitalism, and colonialism.
As with many of us, 2020 offered me the opportunity to reflect on my work and role in the world. After working through many ideas, and starting and leaving almost as many projects, I’m excited about what has taken hold and solidified into something with more tangibility and clarity. These are the themes that underlie why I do my work, what I aim to contribute, and the role I hope to play in our next world. I have a new clarity in my work, how I can best use my talents, and how I hope to contribute. In many ways I found myself returning to the roots of why I started doing evaluation and consulting in the first place, and in others I’ve discovered the niche that I hadn’t quite been able to articulate before now.
Commitment to accessibility and social justice in evaluation
My career in evaluation and in diving into consulting ultimately came from a place of wanting to use research-based principles to address real-world situations. While my work has always been focused in these areas, this year has offered me the opportunity (and prodding) to articulate what that looks like for me right now.
Accessibility: I regularly find myself preaching the truly transformative potential of evaluation for community organizations, especially those that are hesitant because it seems to take a lot of time, resources, and effort- a real problem that is not unwarranted. The way evaluation is typically approached by nonprofits, foundations, and other institutions creates a disconnect between the organization and its evaluation potential. I’m here to show you how to integrate evaluation into your work in a way that is easy, valuable, and transformative.
Grounding in social justice: As a white-led company our goal is to do our part in support and allyship in the fight against the unhealthy structures that currently uphold much of our society. Tangibly, this currently looks like offering resources, supporting BIPOC leaders and professionals through our partnerships, and sticking to our founding commitment to social justice-based work. We’ve updated most of the content on the website to reflect this, including dedicated pages to Land Acknowledgement and Equity Statements and information on our methodology. Please take a look to learn more about what these principles mean for us. We are always available for suggestions, conversations, and call-outs and call-ins via our feedback form or direct contact.
Serving as a resource and mentor
I’m excited to offer more content that I hope will support these goals. The website now has a robust offering of resources for nonprofits, consultants and small businesses, evaluators, artists, and others in our community that we will continue to update and add to. In addition, we are launching a new blog and newsletter. These platforms are design to be a resource and support to our community, so we appreciate any feedback you are willing to share via our feedback form or direct contact (same links as above).
Blog: Last year I had a number of conversations with colleagues, friends, and mentors who encouraged me to write about my perspective, and I’ve been inspired to share more content in the hope that my journey could have lessons of value for others. I hope this blog will serve as a platform for reflections, resources, tips, learnings, and support. One of the pieces I’m most excited about is an upcoming guest writer series to share and promote the expertise and perspectives of some of the people I admire and whose perspectives I value. Guest bloggers will represent a diverse set of the topics and issues that align with our work, including nonprofit professionals, activists, and artists and will be made up of at least 90% Black, Indigenous, and People of Color and/or trans and gender nonconforming individuals or groups. This blog will be one of the ways I hope to challenge the ways evaluation and the nonprofit industry can be problematic and to demonstrate the potential and opportunities available to us and our communities through this work.
Newsletter: Please don’t be afraid to sign up for another newsletter! I’ll keep it infrequent, short, and focused on a curated collection of resources. You can sign up below or on our contact page.
And of course, we’re always doing direct consulting work!
While we love to dive into a focused evaluation project, this year we’re particularly excited about working with evaluation more holistically. We want to redefine how evaluation is used and valued and hope to focus our efforts on projects that harness this opportunity to transform social structures and perceptions. We would love to work with organizations who want to learn how to build an evaluation culture as well as the institutions who support them (like funding and oversight agencies). If you would like to work with us, you can reach out via our contact form or schedule a consultation directly here.