This is exactly what evaluation ought to be — real, meaningful and useful. Inquiry necessitates that you get information from the people who are being affected. This process creates an open way of working with people and pushes you to seriously reflect on what you are trying to accomplish. It forces you to change, to improve.
— Amy Reisch, Executive Director, First 5 Marin Children and Families Commission
Read our clients’ stories:
STRATEGY
Public Health Trust “What’s next?”
Common Vision: How do we change the conversation for long-term impact?
CompassPoint: How do we articulate our “value add”?
First 5 San Francisco: How can we become more effective at an organizational level?
EVALUATION
RYSE Youth Center: Starting Off Right
Fundraising Academy for Communities of Color: Are we doing the right things?
First 5 Marin Children and Families Commission: Can we do more with others than we can alone? How?
IHPTP: Making Evaluation Meaningful
Horizons Foundation: More than a Perfunctory Exercise
LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
Oakland Kids First: How do we demonstrate our impact?
TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
Oakland Department of Human Services: How can we have greater impact?
Center for Civic Partnerships: How can the sector have a greater impact?
Background: A quasi–government/philanthropic entity, First 5 Marin Children and Families Commission’s (First 5 Marin’s) over-arching objective is to support the development of a more integrated, inclusive and adaptive system of services and support for children ages 0 – 5 and their families.
Situation: As First 5 Marin prepared to begin its 5-year strategic plan review process in 2008, its work with jdcPartnerships expanded to include assessing its progress towards achieving this objective.
Assessment: First 5 Marin’s emphasis on the system of services and support meant that our work together was focused on inter-organizational development. While it had strong collaborative relationships, First 5 Marin sought to take these to a deeper level—to co-create the system. This involved multiple organizations coming together to create a new effort, based on shared values and principles, in order to achieve greater impact than they could independently.
Outcomes: Through the evaluative inquiry process, First 5 Marin and its stakeholders gained an understanding of the progress they’ve made towards the system change they envision and of the opportunities available for furthering this. This learning is shaping First 5 Marin’s strategic planning process. It will be incorporated into its strategic plan and its ongoing evaluation of progress towards its over-arching objective.
Sustainable Community System Change: A Framework for Planning and Analysis, August 2008
First 5 Marin’s Theory of Change, Implementation Framework and Evaluation Level Diagram
2008 K-Readiness Report Executive Summary
