| Session Title: Building Organizational Capacity for Self-evaluation |
| Demonstration Session 825 to be held in Schaefer Room on Saturday, November 10, 1:50 PM to 3:20 PM |
| Sponsored by the Organizational Learning and Evaluation Capacity Building TIG |
| Presenter(s): |
| Trilby Smith, Metis Associates, tsmith@metisassoc.com |
| Kathleen Agaton, Metis Associates, kagaton@metisassoc.com |
| Abstract: This session will demonstrate how self-evaluation is an effective and empowering method of learning for organizations. It will show how organizations can use self-evaluation as a tool to facilitate ongoing learning, guide decision-making, and measure progress towards their goals. The session will also demonstrate how self-evaluation complements and supports an external evaluation. Presenters will address the principles of self-evaluation, and steps organizations can take to become self-evaluating. They will also discuss the training and support needed to build organizational capacity for effective self-evaluation. To illustrate how community organizations are learning through self-evaluation, the presenters will discuss lessons learned from the Jim Casey Youth Opportunities Initiative, a national foundation whose mission is to help youth in foster care make successful transitions to adulthood. With a number of demonstration sites, the work of the Initiative highlights how different organizational and community contexts influence the self-evaluation process. |