How can evaluation move beyond reporting requirements to center community voice, build organizational capacity, and create lasting systems change?

Join MCE’s Alison McNeil alongside partners from the Barr Foundation‘s Powering Cultural Futures initiative to explore what collaborative, equity-centered evaluation looks like in practice.

What we’ll explore:
Using Barr Foundation’s investment in BIPOC-led arts organizations as a case study, this session brings together three perspectives on evaluation as a tool for empowerment and strategic learning:

• Evaluator (Alison McNeil): Designing culturally responsive evaluation frameworks that honor community values
• Funder (Giles Li, Barr Foundation): Using evaluation for learning and adaptive grantmaking strategy
• Grantee Partners (Christopher Hope and Maurice Parent): How collaborative evaluation supported real organizational growth and community impact

What you’ll take away:
Practical strategies for co-creating evaluation approaches that prioritize community agency, inform strategic decision-making, and support sustainable change—whether you’re a funder, evaluator, or
nonprofit leader.

About the partnership:
MCE serves as learning and evaluation consultant for the Powering Cultural Futures initiative, a multi-year investment in BIPOC-led arts and culture organizations in Boston, MA.