103 - Infusing Stakeholders as Evaluators: Building Evaluation Capacity and Evaluative Use through Learning and Lived Experience

Abstract Information: In our experiences, collaborative partners are new and emerging evaluators since we make deliberate decisions to include their perspectives on the evaluation planning team and when presenting findings and co-creating recommendations. Collaborative partners are essential in enhancing evaluation capacity and quality of evaluations and are key in broadening evaluative thinking. By centering evaluations around diverse perspectives and developing and strengthening evaluative thinking, new and emerging voices are empowered and amplified which encourages joint learning and action and creates opportunities to reflect on and challenge the way evaluations are planned and implemented. Moreover, it is an opportunity for evaluators to include collaborative partners as part of the evaluation team. This inclusivity helps enhance how we think and interpret evaluation findings by focusing on engagement, listening to the voices that should be included, and encouraging discussion and transparency. The inclusion of multiple perspectives and lived experiences broadens the understanding and explanation of evaluation findings and feasible actions to be taken. Two evaluation teams funded by the National Asthma Control Program, the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, have come together based on shared experiences working with asthma home visiting programs to identify evaluative thinking indicators (Fierro et al., 2018) that have led to successful evaluations guided by collaborative partners. The presenters will highlight specific evaluative thinking indicators and activities used to build evaluation capacity in conjunction with collaborative partners perspectives such as hosting a data party and conducting regular calls sometimes deemed “data huddles.” Parallels and differences between teams will be noted, as well as lessons learned. The audience will learn practical steps to amplify and empower partner voices of all backgrounds to make an impact in a variety of disciplines, infuse evaluative thinking, and increase evaluation capacity.