The Evaluative Power Fellowship Model: Demonstrating Dignity-based Data Collection to Empower and Amplify Voices in Evaluation

Abstract Information: This demonstration underscores the transformative potential of The Evaluative Power Fellowship Model in shaping more equitable and effective data collection methods for evaluators in service to social justice and community change. Through our fellowship model, we showcase the profound impact of integrating community organizers' perspectives into evaluation processes, building social movements' power while ensuring completeness and fidelity in our data collection process. The fellowship, designed as a week-long immersive workshop on evaluation, convened housing advocates and organizers nationwide. It served dual purposes: as a means for us to gather insights for our philanthropic grant evaluation in support of housing justice and as a capacity-building platform for emerging voices in the field. This approach enabled us to meet our evaluation objectives while instilling evaluative mindsets in practitioners, thereby fostering a symbiotic relationship between evaluators and practitioners. Throughout the fellowship, we provided resources on measuring community power and conducted workshops on essential evaluation practices, such as formulating evaluation questions and ecosystem mapping. In return, participants contributed invaluable insights, culminating in developing a new housing justice evaluative framework centered on the perspectives of tenants and advocates instead of philanthropists and politicians. Post-fellowship assessments, including interviews and surveys, confirmed our hypothesis: empowering practitioners with evaluative tools leads to the emergence of new evaluators and more just evaluation practices. The need for this work can best be illustrated by an anecdote from one of the fellows themselves: There is a luxury condominium building, the fourth tallest in San Francisco, that is currently sinking. It shifts by inches per year and has already drifted off-center by feet; this is happening because it was built upon an unstable foundation. In this context, evaluation becomes a critical tool for dismantling unjust structures and laying the groundwork for more equitable solutions. One fellow aptly summarized the shift in perspective: "Evaluation isn't punitive; it makes us excellent, and I am worthy to pursue and achieve human excellence." This sentiment highlights the empowering nature of evaluation when placed in the hands of those directly engaged in addressing societal challenges. Our team will demonstrate how others can adapt The Evaluative Power Fellowship Model to their upcoming projects evaluating multi-site social justice-focused work. As the 2024 American Evaluation Association theme emphasizes the importance of new perspectives in evaluation, our demonstration serves as a compelling exemplar and guide for integrating practitioners as emerging voices into the evaluation space within their respective issue areas. Through The Evaluative Power Fellowship Model, we offer a pathway towards more inclusive, equitable, and impactful evaluation practices.