Date/Time
Date(s) - 05/25/2016
3:30 pm - 5:00 pm
Location
Nonprofit Center
The Greater Boston Evaluation Network and Tech Networks of Boston are pleased to invite nonprofit professionals to a Roundtable session on evaluation frameworks for complex nonprofit outcomes. The featured guests for this session will be Amanda Sutter of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Massachusetts Bay and Prentice Zinn of GMA Foundations.
Here’s what Amanda and Prentice have to say about this TNB Roundtable session:
“The goal of this workshop is to increase awareness of two cultural tensions in program monitoring and evaluation. The first tension is metrics fetishism, or the unrealistic societal (and funder!) expectations about what should be measured. A second set of tensions are organizational cultures that often subvert monitoring and evaluation practices that promote healthy learning and innovation. Each cultural tension amplifies the other and inhibits healthy organizational development. The aim of the workshop is to start a conversation about how to evaluate complex programs with limited resources and design measures that support innovation and program improvement, so that ultimately the focus is on improving outcomes and not just measuring them. This workshop will gather insights from practitioners that will inform future discussions with funders and nonprofits about how to better acknowledge and address these culture tensions.”
Here’s a bit more about Prentice:
Prentice Zinn joined GMA in 1999 and became a director in 2007. He serves as an administrator for the Conservation, Food & Health Foundation, the Sociological Initiatives Foundation, the A.C. Ratshesky Foundation, the Miller Foundation and the Jessie B. Cox Charitable Trust. The scope of his assignments includes start-up work with new donors, helping foundations rethink their mission and focus, and identifying high impact funding opportunities in the fields of the environment, public health, and human services. A Latin American studies graduate of the University of Michigan, Prentice also has Masters degrees from the University of Michigan School of Social Work and the Boston University School of Public Health.
Here’s a bit more about Amanda:
Amanda Sutter is the evaluation and outcomes manager at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Massachusetts Bay, and is working to build an evaluation system to measure youth success and foster improvements in practice for staff and volunteers. With master’s degrees in Educational Foundations and Social Work from the University of Michigan, she has worked in quality improvement in out-of-school time, coalition evaluation in substance abuse prevention, and outcomes management in programs working to disrupt poverty. She spends her spare time developing the Greater Boston Evaluation Network and supporting her local YMCA with program improvement initiatives. She is dedicated to using the best of evaluation and research to improve systems and policies that help organizations, especially those that serve children and youth, to use data for continuous improvement to help achieve greater impact.
Please note:
1) In keeping with the spirit of the TNB Roundtable series, this session will NOT be a sales pitch for any product or service. This will be a professional development opportunity for nonprofit professionals who want to learn with and from their peers in other organizations.
2) This session is for employees of nonprofit organizations. It is not designed to meet the needs of vendors, volunteers, students, consultants, job-seekers, and others.
3) Priority in registration will be given to those who are employed by nonprofit organizations that hold full membership in the Massachusetts Nonprofit Network.
4) Participation in this session is free of charge for nonprofit professionals. However, you must have a confirmed reservation in order to attend.
5) If this session is booked to capacity by the time you seek to register for it, please go ahead and put yourself on the waiting list. We have a good track record of finding seats for nonprofit professionals on the waiting list.
We hope that you can join us for a vigorous and informative conversation, in which you will be welcome to share your knowledge and experience with your peers.