Evaluating your organization’s services and impact is fundamental to creating sustainable and transformational change in your community. Where is your organization in the process of evaluation? Has your organization included youth or another stakeholder group in the evaluation process? How did you use their input to inform decision-making?
The Minnesota Youth Work Institute recently held a symposium on Putting Youth Participatory Evaluation into Action: Lessons Learned and Innovations. In this presentation, Professor Katie Richards-Schuster, assistant research scientist in the Michigan Youth and Community Program at the University of Michigan’s School of Social Work, shared lessons and innovations from Detroit, Michigan, and other cities utilizing youth participatory evaluation and the implications of this evaluative practice in local communities and the field of youth work.
The Minnesota Youth Council applied these lessons learned in completing an asset map and a survey of 1,000 youth by youth and for youth. Youth were asked about issues of concern in their community, their perception of adults, their participation in civic activities, and their involvement in school. The feedback included in the survey will inform the Council’s action agenda.
At Transform Consulting Group, we utilize the participatory change framework throughout our services. We engage the client and stakeholder in each step of the process, and we can help your organization develop a participatory evaluation process to engage your stakeholders to receive meaningful information to inform your organization.
