Advisory committees for evaluation of community power-building programs

Advisory committees for evaluation of community power-building programs: experiences and lessons learned

Presenters: Virginia Roncaglione, Katie Fox, Rnjani Paradise, Carrie Fischer

Fri, Nov 11, 4:30 – 5:30 PM

Community power-building programs seek to support communities to advocate for, take leadership on, and influence policies and practices that affect them. With evaluations of such programs, intentional advisory committee structures can advance the power-building goals of the program itself while also guiding the direction of the evaluation. This panel will share three examples of evaluation advisory committees for multi-site community power-building programs that are foundation-funded. Each committee has a unique purpose: one is focused on evaluation planning, one on relationship-building, and one on conceptual exploration. Panelists will describe the formation and evolution of each committee, the ways in which they are incorporating equitable evaluation approaches, and how this was influenced by the priorities of the funder, program staff, and grantees. Panelists will also share lessons learned about how to create mechanisms for authentic participation in evaluation design and implementation, and will provide examples of tools and materials they have used.

Session resources:

• Slide deck: Advisory committees for evaluation of community power-building programs 
• Learning brief: What did we learn from the Power in Places advisory committee process? 
• Job description: Voices Evaluation Advisory Committee
• Recruitment flyer: Advisory Committee