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Culturally Responsive, Equitable, and Transformative Evaluation (CREaTE) Series

The CREaTE series aims to help beginning farmer and rancher training and support organizations to build their capacity to do and use evaluation to measure progress toward their goals and leverage efforts to shift the needle towards equity and systems change. This multi-session series, developed and delivered by Dr. Natalie E. Cook, is intended for those who would like to take a deeper dive into increasing their understanding and create/revise their evaluation process and tools to better foster equity and foster social change. The eight-session series begins on October 28, 2021, and ends on June 2, 2022.

Please apply by October 12, 2021, as space is limited!

Course Structure

The CREaTE Series includes the following learning structures:

  • Eight interactive sessions (1.5 hours each) - each session will include a short presentation, small group interaction and large group discussion. Sessions will not be recorded, so that participants are more comfortable speaking freely. Notes will be taken on the lectures, and slides will be provided to registrants.
  • Pre-session activities - Readings and practical activities will be provided to frame and apply the concepts to your organization’s evaluation work.
  • Google Classroom discussion board - The discussion stream will provide a space for participants to ask questions, initiate discussion topics and get feedback from peers and course facilitators. It is also a place to share progress on your work to support the learning of the group.

Interactive Session Details 

All 1.5 hour sessions will start at 11am PT/ 2pm ET. The sessions will cover the following inquiries:

  • Session 1: Orienting towards Transformation 
    October 28, 2021
    Why are we here? What principles will guide our learning community as we embark on this journey together? What does it mean to orient our evaluation efforts toward transformation?
  • Session 2: (Re)describing your Program
    November 18, 2021
    What’s the point of my program? What underlying issues is my program seeking to address (or which should my program be seeking to address)? What are my program’s intended outcomes? Thinking about the whole picture, what difference is my program seeking to make?
  • Session 3: (Re)mapping your Program
    January 13, 2022
    Where is my program situated? What spaces, contexts, trends, and cultural nuances influence my program and those my program touches (or seeks to touch)? Who are the players and what is the larger social ecosystem surrounding my work?
  • Session 4: Planning an Evaluation with a Purpose
    February 17, 2022
    Why am I evaluating my program? What do I hope to accomplish with my evaluation work? What will I focus on, and when? What do I need to be mindful of? Whom will I include in evaluation planning, and how will I reach, engage, and retain participants in the evaluation process?
  • Session 5: Collecting Data that Matters
    March 3, 2022
    How can I collect evaluation data that will tell my program’s whole story? How can I use different strategies to engage different groups of stakeholders? How can I be mindful of issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion in my data collection efforts?
  • Session 6: Making Meaning of Evaluation Data
    April 7, 2022
    How will I analyze the evaluation data I collect? How can I democratize data analysis? How can I engage stakeholders in making sense of the data?
  • Session 7: Sharing and Using Evaluation Findings to Make a Difference
    May 19, 2022
    How will I share what I learn from the evaluation? How will I use the findings to fulfill the purpose of the evaluation? What’s next?
  • Session 8: Celebrating and Committing to Progress
    June 2, 2022
    How has my way of thinking about, approaching, and conducting evaluation shifted over the course of this journey? What have I learned about myself, my program, my organization, my community, the issue(s) my program is trying to address? What progress have I made and how will I continue to build on what I’ve started? What resources do I need and how will I pursue them?

Who Should Apply 

  • Those who plan to incorporate concepts and practices learned in the CREaTE Series into their organization or professional practice. These activities might include items such as creating/revising an evaluation plan, creating or revising a data collection instrument, creating a process for regular evaluative thinking as part of ongoing data monitoring, revising logic models or theory of change documents, revising the evaluation process to be more participatory, etc.
  • Those who have interest in committing to at least three sessions or more.              
  • Those who have some background understanding of evaluation as the series will not provide as complete a starting point for those who are brand new to the topic. 
  • Those who work with beginning farmers and ranchers. Those who work on food systems issues that impact beginning farmers and ranchers will be admitted if space is available. 

For those who are interested in this topic, but not ready or able to attend multiple sessions or incorporate the materials at the time, you may be interested in our resources that provide a basic overview of equitable evaluation.

Apply by October 12!

If you’d like to apply to join  the series, please complete our application form  by the end of the day, Tuesday, October 12, 2021. The application may take around 10 minutes to complete. Space is limited so priority will be given to applicants who meet the criteria in the “who should apply” section above. For those who don’t meet all the criteria above, we’ll admit people  if space allows. Applicants will be notified of their acceptance into the series by Friday, October 22, 2021. 

Honoraria Available

CREaTE Fellowships (also referred to as CREaTE Series Support Positions) are available in order to help people (and their organizations) to participate in this series, encourage evaluation implementation, and contribute to the learning of the cohort. We are providing six fellowships, for $750 each.

CREaTE Fellowships require that the participant intends to develop or revise evaluation processes or materials for their organization or for those they work for (such as evaluation plans, logic models/program maps, data collection processes/instruments, data analysis strategies, reporting mechanisms, etc.). Recipients will commit to attending the majority of the sessions, actively contributing to group discussion, and sharing their work and experience throughout the series to further the learning of the group.

In order to address historical disparities, priority will be given to BIPOC individuals (people who identify as Black, Indigenous, and People of Color), individuals who work for organizations that are majority BIPOC lead, organizations who serve BFRDP targeted groups (limited resource, socially disadvantaged and veteran farmers), and those who state financial support important for them to be able to participate.

If you would like to be considered for a fellowship position, please complete the fellowship application form by the end of the day on Tuesday, October 12, 2021. 

Questions?

If you have more questions about the series, please send them to Katie Trozzo at ketrozzo@vt.edu.