Evolving for Equity: Integrating Developmental and Equity-Focused Evaluation

In 2014, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation’s Children, Families, and Communities (CFC) team launched the Starting Smart and Strong Initiative (S3I), a 10-year, place-based initiative focused on enhancing early childhood development in Oakland, Fresno, and San Jose, California. Recognizing the complexity of this initiative, the Foundation partnered with Engage R+D to conduct a developmental evaluation. Over time, influenced by the Equitable Evaluation Initiative, the evaluation integrated a stronger focus on equity leading to significant shifts in practice.

Historically, developmental evaluations have often centered funders as the primary strategists of change. In contrast, the S3I evaluation, through its integration of equity principles, underwent a transformative shift to center community leaders. This pivotal change made the evaluation more responsive, moving away from rigid, funder-driven structures towards a model that genuinely supported and enabled community-led strategies. This shift not only altered the direction of evaluation questions and methods but also made the entire process more beneficial to community leaders advancing the change on the ground.

This case study outlines the initial objectives of the S3I, the integration of developmental and equity-focused evaluation methods, and the significant impact of this approach on the initiative’s outcomes. It offers valuable lessons on the importance of adaptive evaluation strategies that prioritize community input and leadership, aiming to inspire other foundations and evaluators to adopt similar practices in their collaborative efforts for systems change.