August COEN Community of Practice Meeting
Wednesday, August 23, 5:30-7:30 PM
Panera Bread, 640 S Colorado Blvd, Glendale
Topic: Culturally Relevant Evaluation
Facilitators: Mariana Enriquez, independent evaluation consultant; Kerry Englert, Seneca Consulting; Sheila Arens, McREL International
Please join us on Wednesday, August 23 for our 8th COEN Community of Practice meeting. These meetings are informal, with a specific topic, facilitator, and practice-building purpose to guide discussion. They are intended to let you share with and learn from your colleagues and grow in the profession.
From 5:30 to 6:00 we will gather, introduce ourselves, and get coffee or dinner at the counter if you wish.
At 6:00 we'll start our informal program: Culturally Relevant Evaluation. Mariana, Kerry, and Sheila will facilitate a discussion that focuses on how we as evaluators can, should, or do consider cultural competency in our evaluation work. We will discuss the American Evaluation Association’s statement on cultural competence (http://www.eval.org/ccstatement) and consider self-reflection/individual perspectives, balancing credibility with an “engaged position,” and challenges or practicalities associated with striving for cultural competence. We plan on discussing the following questions:
1. Self-reflection: In what ways might our own lenses or worldviews impact our evaluation practice? How do you engage in self-reflection or self-awareness around your own cultural identity and how that intersects with your role as an evaluator? How can I make sure that I am culturally competent? In what ways have you changed your approach (could be methods … might not be) to evaluations embedded in a particular culture?
2. Epistemology - how do we know what we know?: Can you maintain your independence as an evaluator and be culturally competent? What are the issues of power we need to consider as evaluators? What is the role of humility in our work?
3. Practicality: What are the practical aspects of conducting an evaluation with cultural competency (e.g., resource restraints)? How do we support the participation of stakeholders throughout the evaluation? For example, there are multiple critical points in an evaluation that benefit from stakeholder input. Do I need to get someone else to support the data collection? How do you encourage stakeholders to have a voice in the evaluation? How do you balance voice with evaluation processes?
Please bring your questions and insights to share from your own evaluation experience. Also bring a colleague!
Upcoming months will feature evaluation in foundations on September 20, health program evaluation on October 25, and evaluation capacity building on November 29. Our annual meeting will be in early December.
Have a suggestion for a location in another area of the metro for a future meeting? Would you like to facilitate a future discussion? Send the suggestions to us at Colo.Eval.Network@gmail.com.
