Power Hoarding and Power Sharing: Who’s Got the Power in Culturally Responsive Evaluation in Philanthropy?

Abstract Information: Keen attention to power dynamics are essential for prioritizing diverse perspectives and authentically engaging multiple groups in the evaluation process. Culturally Responsive Evaluation (CRE) advocates for the inclusion of multiple stakeholder perspectives in evaluation to ensure that the methods and evaluative conclusions drawn are rooted in culture and context (Hood et al., 2015). However, few scholars have explored power dynamics in evaluation empirically (Stickl Haugen & Chouinard, 2019) or examined issues of power and inclusion when practicing in CRE in philanthropy, a sector in which issues of power and race are particularly present (Dean-Coffey, 2018). In this presentation, the speaker will share findings from a mixed-methods research on evaluation dissertation that identifies the facilitators and barriers that evaluators and foundation staff experience when including communities served in the development and implementation of CRE in philanthropy. One major research finding is that evaluators and foundation staff experienced pressure to comply with power hoarding practices that center the funder’s evaluation interests and hinders community inclusion in philanthropic evaluation. However, participants also indicated that they encounter power sharing practices that facilitate community inclusion with some funders as well. The speaker will present themes of power sharing and power hoarding practices and offer contextual factors that may facilitate power sharing and community inclusion. In addition, practical implications of the study for training the next generation of evaluators will be discussed.