Evaluation with Heart: Monitoring and Evaluation in Direct Service Nonprofits

Evaluation is often seen as a technical and data-heavy practice, distant from the human realities of the communities we serve. This session explores how the principles of monitoring, evaluation and learning are applied in a small, direct-service nonprofit with a small team and a high program demand.

Based on experience in a community-based nonprofit in rural Colorado, with a core team of 3 members, this session shares practical tools used to monitor program implementation, track outcomes and manage donor relationships while the same team designs, implements, evaluates and fundraises for its programs.

Drawing from direct work with Spanish-speaking community members, the session also examines how culturally responsive and bilingual practices shape data collection, strengthen evaluation processes and support ethical, people-centered decision making, while maintaining accountability.

Presenter: 

Kimberly Alarcón Rojas is the Bilingual Program Coordinator of Vail Valley Charitable Fund in Edwards, Colorado. She has a background in Monitoring, Evaluation, Public Education Policy and social program management in Peru. Since 2024 her work focuses on applying evaluation principles in direct service nonprofits, particularly in rural and mountain communities, with an emphasis on culturally responsive and bilingual approaches. Kimberly works with data to support ethical decision-making, while keeping the human experience at the center of the program implementation.