We are in a period of profound change and challenge. The political landscape has shifted sharply. Equity work is being politicized. Nonprofits are facing mounting threats. And within philanthropy, questions are emerging about the role and value of learning and evaluation. The ground under this work feels less steady, and the stakes feel higher.

This post shares what we’re hearing, what we think it means, and how we hope to support others navigating this moment. We hope it offers a grounded reflection drawn from the field—one that is useful, honest, and timely.

As learning partners to arts and culture organizations and their funders, we have an opportunity and responsibility to consider how our choices today shape the democratic possibilities of tomorrow. We invite you to reflect with us: What does it look like to support the full spectrum of art’s influence in this moment? How might we understand and convey the deeper shifts that art helps bring about? And what role can we play in ensuring those contributions are seen, valued, and sustained?

The Expanding the Bench® celebration at AEA 2024, held in partnership with Engage R+D and Informing Change, highlighted the vital role of relationships in advancing culturally responsive and equitable evaluation (CREE). We share three insights from the session’s interactive activity that demonstrate why relationships and collaboration are at the heart of equitable approaches to evaluation and learning, and how we can continue working together to strengthen our field.

As funders consider the benefits of a participatory learning approach—such as cultivating trust with grantees; embracing a commitment to equity; and transforming data collection into strategic insight—they must also acknowledge the importance of compensating grantees and community members for time to contribute expertise and knowledge.

Organizational resources—along with learning culture and commitment to equity—are essential to adopting participatory learning practices. But challenges or tensions may arise when this buy-in from foundation leaders and colleagues is not apparent, or is tough to secure. In our new field resource, Fostering Participatory Learning Practices in Philanthropy: A Guide for the Curious, we identify common challenges, approaches, and strategies—drawn from interviews with numerous funders—that prevail in the infusion of participatory approaches. It is important to note that recognizing and managing these tensions can be a more realistic goal than resolving them.

As we emphasize in our new field resource, Fostering Participatory Learning Approaches in Philanthropy: A Guide for the Curious, funders and grantees stand at different stages in their journeys toward power-shifting and more inclusive practices. Participatory learning—which we define as the deliberate inclusion of grantees and community members in foundation-supported learning activities with the goal of sharing and shifting decision-making power to them—offers a pathway to more culturally responsive and equitable approaches.

As we celebrate our seventh anniversary in 2024, we’d like to take time to reflect on what we’ve learned. Many of the topics covered in these field resources—such as creating networks for social change, using knowledge to influence philanthropic practice and strategy, practicing equity-focused evaluation, and adapting grantmaking processes during times of crisis—continue to resonate with funders and evaluators. We look forward to resharing these field resources with you throughout the year and invite you to reflect with us on their continued applicability to our sector.

Many funders recognize the importance of relationships, from making connections between grantees to building a movement. But how do you learn from the work of relationship building? Network mapping, a tool that has been used in a range of fields, such as disease surveillance, the study of online social networks, and organizational development, can also be applied in the field of evaluation and learning.

When it comes time to wind down investments in long-term initiatives, and even on shorter projects, foundations want to leverage learnings and identify ways to share these with others who can benefit from this knowledge. And while formal evaluation reports and professional publications are nice, they are rarely designed to meet the interests of the general public. How can evaluators and funders partner together to share learning in creative and meaningful ways that people will actually read?

The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation supports organizations in Kansas City to provide residents with the opportunity to achieve economic stability, mobility, and prosperity regardless of race, gender, or geography.  In order to cultivate a shared understanding of racial equity, diversity, and inclusion (REDI) amongst those who serve Kansas City, the foundation partnered with the National Equity Project to facilitate an 18-month community of practice (CoP) amongst 14 organizations across a range of issue areas.

As more funders are interested in and adopting trust-based philanthropy, they are reimagining their roles and exploring new ways to show their support as an "ally."  However, this evolution isn’t without challenges and tensions. I’ve explored polarity thinking previously (including here with Kimberly Braxton of Equal Measure) and, as evaluation in philanthropy evolves to meet communities on their own terms, the need to balance dynamic tensions has only become more critical.

As part of a GEO session called “Under the Hood,” Engage R+D’s Sonia Taddy-Sandino had the pleasure of facilitating a dynamic and honest conversation with Brenda Solórzano, CEO of the Headwaters Foundation, Charles Sidney Fields, Vice President of the James Irvine Foundation, and Hanh Cao Yu, Chief Learning Officer of The California Endowment, about what it takes to move beyond pledges and promises to deeper equity-focused shifts in organizational practices, structures, and culture.

Over the last decade the PropelNext initiative established an effective, equity-grounded model for transforming dozens of  youth-serving nonprofits. A project of Learning for Action supported by the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation, our evaluation of PropelNext surfaced key design elements that catalyzed impact at youth-serving organizations working closely with opportunity youth.