Amplifying & Empowering Voices During Comprehensive Community Planning: A Case Study from Colorado’s San Luis Valley

Abstract Information: The Soul Players of the Valley (SPV) and the Latino Community Foundation of Colorado (LCFC), through its Building Community Across Communities: A Comprehensive Community Planning Process, have made significant strides in elevating the voices of historically underrepresented rural and Hispanic/Latinx communities within Colorado’s San Luis Valley. Embedded in the ideals of the Community Democracy Framework, LCFC’s goal is to empower and embolden community members at every level by making long-term investments that lead to sustainable results. This initiative adopted a participatory model and three years of community capacity building that goes beyond traditional engagement to open the door and empower community members by entrusting them with evaluative roles and decision-making power. In this presentation, Aurora Research Institute shares how they embraced Culturally Responsive Evaluation (CRE), empowerment, and utilization-focused evaluation methodologies as we worked alongside community members and the foundation to inform community planning. SPV community members share their experiences of collecting community feedback and sharing power throughout the evaluative process. Our process underscores the importance of community involvement in every phase of needs assessments, enabling a genuinely inclusive and empowering experience for all involved. The SPV project sets a model for engagement and empowerment in community planning by demonstrating how evaluators can effectively overcome cultural and geographical divides in rural and ethnically diverse settings. Our approach has fostered ownership among community members and paved the way for accountability and shared leadership of this work. By sharing evaluative power, we achieved a high response rate and collected comprehensive community perspectives. We present an essential case study within the evaluation field, shedding light on the process of engaging diverse communities in a manner that genuinely shares power and advances evaluation practices. Our presentation will highlight the project's contribution to the broader dialogue on evolving evaluation practices. In line with this conference's objectives, it aims to foster more inclusive, responsive, and empowering approaches.