Behavioral Health TIG Week: Leveraging Data Storytelling to Uplift Community Voices and Show Program Impact by Rebecca Heilman

Date: Friday, August 29, 2025

Hello, my name is Rebecca Heilman and I am the Co-Owner of Fireside Consulting and I also serve as the volunteer Program Chair of the Behavioral Health Topical Interest Group. My goal is to support mission-driven organizations focused on creating lasting social impact, and much of my work centers on behavioral health evaluation.

Today I want to share a few tips and strategies I use to effectively build trust with clients and communities through data storytelling. Thoughtfully telling stories with data can enhance impact, increase engagement, and build momentum for policy change.

In behavioral health, individuals served or participating in programs may face layered challenges: living with co-occurring conditions, navigating trauma, and even managing stigma. As evaluators, we must be mindful about how we represent their experiences. Engaging in asset-framing is one method evaluators can utilize when crafting deliverables. Asset-framing is an approach that highlights people’s strengths, aspirations, and contributions rather than deficits or barriers. Morgan & Ziglio (2007) state an asset-based approach recognizes the ability of individuals to identify the issues they face and determine solutions.

Hot tips that I’d like to highlight to help build data-informed stories from an asset-framing approach include:

• Clarify the Purpose First: Before developing deliverables, define the goals of the data story. Understanding whether a report is meant to generate future participant engagement, advocate for policy changes, or highlight program impact for funders will help determine how to frame the data in a meaningful way for the intended audience. 
• Center People, Not Just Programs: Go beyond aggregated data. Direct quotes, visual art, and case studies from anonymous participants can be a way to uplift participant perspectives and lived experience. Show how the program supports (not saves) individuals as they work toward their own goals.
• Use Strengths-Oriented Language: Share findings in terms of growth and resilience. Avoid framing data around failure or lack (e.g., “only 35% improved) and instead spotlight progress and learning. Be intentional about the narratives you reinforce. Work to replace language that stigmatizes (e.g., “victims”) with equity-centered language (e.g., “survivors”).
• Weave Qualitative and Quantitative Data Together Wisely: A small percentage change on a scores measuring aspects of wellbeing may not seem meaningful, but when paired with a quote about renewed energy and hope, the program’s impact is clear. Support quantitative findings by humanizing the metrics with qualitative stories from the field.
• Visualize Data Effectively: Carefully consider how your use of graphs, infographics, or other visuals can either elevate or overwhelm your audience. A well-designed visual can clarify a key message and inspire action from different partners and funders or make the results more accessible to a wider audience.

By incorporating asset-framing and centering individuals’ strengths, data storytelling can become a tool for connection and understanding. As evaluators, we can elevate voices and contextualize impact, honoring the people behind these numbers.

Rad Resources

• Check out this toolkit to support evaluators with asset-framing and ethical storytelling, developed by the Evaluation and Reporting Subcommittee of the National Association of SNAP Nutrition Education Administrators (ASNNA) Evaluation Committee.
• This article from the Stanford Social Innovation Review titled “How to tell real stories about impact,” breaks down how to use stories to transport audiences and connect to human experiences thoughtfully when sharing about impact.
• The Centre for Public Impact released two great reports exploring how stories can be used to more effectively communicate the impact of community-led systems change work. See them here.

The American Evaluation Association is hosting Behavioral Health TIG Week with our colleagues in Behavioral Health Topical Interest Group. The contributions all this week to AEA365 come from our Behavioral Health TIG members. Do you have questions, concerns, kudos, or content to extend this AEA365 contribution? Please add them in the comments section for this post on the AEA365 webpage so that we may enrich our community of practice. Would you like to submit an AEA365 Tip? Please send a note of interest to AEA365@eval.org. AEA365 is sponsored by the American Evaluation Association and provides a Tip-a-Day by and for evaluators. The views and opinions expressed on the AEA365 blog are solely those of the original authors and other contributors. These views and opinions do not necessarily represent those of the American Evaluation Association, and/or any/all contributors to this site.