| Session Title: Empowerment Evaluation: Creating Baselines, Goals, Benchmarks, and Documenting Performance |
| Multipaper Session 137 to be held in San Simeon A on Wednesday, Nov 2, 4:30 PM to 6:00 PM |
| Sponsored by the Collaborative, Participatory & Empowerment Evaluation TIG |
| Chair(s): |
| David Fetterman, Fetterman & Associates, fettermanassociates@gmail.com |
| Discussant(s): |
| Abraham Wandersman, University of South Carolina, wandersman@sc.edu |
| Abstract: My father used to say: "if you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there." Empowerment evaluation uses many tools to help organizations reach their goals and arrive at their "destination." As empowerment evaluators we help communities establish baselines. We also help them determine specific, measurable goals. In order to reach those goals, we help communities create meaningful benchmarks, which helps them monitor their own performance (and status reports for donors). The bottom line, however, is performance. We work with communities to help them document their actual performance and compare it with their goals. We help them compare their performance with their benchmarks as well to determine if they are on track or need to make mid-course corrections. This session uses a tobacco prevention program in Arkansas (funded by the Minority Initiative Sub-recipient Grant Office), to demonstrate the use of this empowerment evaluation tool. |
| Empowerment Evaluation: The Power of Visualization |
| David Fetterman, Fetterman & Associates, fettermanassociates@gmail.com |
| Empowerment evaluation uses many techniques to assist community members accomplish their objectives. Visualization is used at each step including: 1) mission; 2) taking stock; and 3) planning for the future. Community members are asked to visualize what they would like to see at the end of the day in their community, e.g. safe neighborhood, good schools, and affordable housing. This is used to help them crystallize and record their mission. They also use numerical tables and bar charts to present a powerful visual image of their taking stock ratings (current performance. They also use them to highlight where they started, where they want to go, and where they are at the moment, e.g. baseline, goal, benchmark, and performance. Finally, empowerment evaluators encourage community members to visualize their new goals, develop strategies to accomplish those goals, and identify credible evidence to document their efforts and plan for the future. |
| Empowerment Evaluation: Creating Realistic Goals and Benchmarks |
| Beverly Tremain, Public Health Consulting LLC, btremain@publichealthconsulting.net |
| We are using an empowerment evaluation approach to help tobacco prevention non-profits in counties throughout the State of Arkansas. Many grantees are overly ambitious and overpromise because they want to make real and rapid changes in the community. However, this approach can backfire if they expect too much change too quickly in their own communities. One tobacco prevention agency wanted to: "eliminate second hand smoke in apartment complexes in several counties in Arkansas through a 25-foot perimeter law enacted by 2011 in one county and 2015 in five counties." The community advocate representing this tobacco prevention agency was surprised to learn that tenants in an apartment complex would not even complete his survey about their smoking habits, never mind help to eliminate second hand smoke. The problem was that the goal was not realistic. This presentation highlights how we worked with them to set realistic goals and benchmarks. |
| Empowerment Evaluation: Using SMARTER Goals, Objectives, and Activities |
| Linda Delaney, LFD Consulting LLC, linda2inspire@earthlink.net |
| We are assisting tobacco prevention agencies align SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound) goals, objectives, and activities with their mission. "A Brief Guide to SMART goal setting" may be found at http://www.executive-and-life-coaching.com/support-files/smartgoalsettingworksheet.pdf. After setting SMART goals, we help them evaluate their programs to determine if they are achieving their goals. Working closely with community and agency personnel, we encourage them to log both positive and negative events as they occur to track their activity and identify any problems at early stages. In essence, they are using event logs to allow them to take stock of where they have been, where things are now, and to provide "intelligence" that helps them plan events for the future that smartly align with the mission. |