Equitable Evaluation
Equity is an increasingly important topic in conversations about how to advance positive social change. There is deepening recognition that many disparities nonprofits and their funders seek to address persist due to a long and devastating history of racism in our country that systematically limits opportunities for some groups while protecting the advantages of others. Without explicit attention to historical and systemic racism, there is potential for social change organizations to exacerbate the very inequities they seek to address in their work. This memo situates Starting Smart and Strong within this broader context. It provides historical and recent context on equity and early learning and identifies the implications of this for evaluating this important and long-term body of work. It also shares how the Engage R+D evaluation team has incorporated equity-driven principles and practices into our work with communities and the Foundation. We hope this memo catalyzes further conversation about how we can advance equity through evaluation and what we are learning in the process.
