From Paperweights to Pathways: Catalyzing Community Asset Mapping for Social Impact

Abstract Information: As “equity” becomes a buzzword for social impact partners, underserved communities are inundated by community engagement efforts. However, many efforts are as likely to become office paperweights as to catalyze meaningful community change. This further erodes trust between evaluation partners and marginalized communities.

In partnership with a regional Area Agency on Aging (AAA), our evaluation approach utilized community asset mapping to bridge needs assessment to actionable, community-driven solutions. This session will explore the use of network mapping, implementation-focused co-design, and community voice to drive social impact in three rural Colorado communities. We will ground this session in questions such as: Do evaluators have an ethical imperative to design action-oriented evaluations? How can asset visualization support more equitable program reach? What are the risks of soliciting community cultural knowledge in evaluation practice?