Between Funding Requirements and Community Priorities: Centro Hispano of Dane County’s Transformative Approach to Program Evaluation

Abstract

Evaluation approaches that aim to support large-scale social change need to address neoliberal logic ingrained in the way evaluation has been institutionalized in the US since the early 1900s. Harmful dynamics resulting from evaluation’s institutional history include (1) a focus on accountability and effectiveness, (2) the perpetuation of deficit-based narratives about communities of color, and (3) a top-down approach to program development, in which funders define program goals and assessment criteria and outside academics are hired to provide research services. In consequence, evaluation contributes to the extraction and devaluation of community expertise rather than fostering learning, collaboration, critical reflection, and healing. This article highlights ways of addressing these harmful dynamics through a case study that exemplifies an innovative evaluation approach focused on community strengths and values, healing ethno-racial trauma, and critical consciousness building. We call for funders to rethink their requirements for evaluation and emphasize the need to support evaluation infrastructure, time for critical reflection, and the development of community- and asset-based, culturally responsive evaluation approaches and tools.