Date: Thursday, October 30, 2025
Hi, I’m Marvia Jones, PhD, MPH, Health Director for the City of Kansas City, MO.
As the director of a local public health agency, I’m constantly walking a balance between being a cheerleader for the tough work that we and our partners are doing, while also pushing us to be better–more efficient, more collaborative, more sustainable, more practical–more of everything. I must admit I’m much better at the pushing than the cheerleading. I’ve taken enough assessments to realize that is just the way that I’m wired.
I want the measures (both process and outcome) of our work to speak for our work so loudly that no one really needs to be a cheerleader. Everyone would just see the progress, and we’d all feel accomplished, right?
Wrong. I’ve realized that’s not actually how this works. Many grassroots organizations or contributors don’t feel that they are accomplishing much. When we come together as a coalition, we have to pull out all of our smallish wins, throw them on the table, and see just how much we’ve accomplished together.
I saw this firsthand a few weeks ago as I spoke at the graduation of our third cohort of Community Wellness Ambassadors. Over a period of nine months, selected residents visit the Kansas City Health Department for several hours each week and gather talking points that they then share across and within their networks. They receive a modest monthly stipend for their time. So many of them worried that their impact wasn’t large enough to truly make a difference. At the graduation event, our team showed them just how impactful their work has been:
Ambassadors were so encouraged and excited to hear this information that they stood and cheered for themselves! Program staff reported they were even more motivated to grow the initiative.
Since then, I’ve recommitted to publicly celebrating small wins.
We’re looking forward to the fall and the Evaluation 2025 conference with our colleagues in the Local Arrangements Working Group (LAWG). 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 contribute to AEA365? Review the contribution guidelines and send your draft post to AEA365@eval.org. 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.