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Promising Minds Evaluation

What does it take to nurture healthy development for Hawai‘i’s youngest children? For the Hawai‘i Community Foundation and its nonprofit and state government partners in the Promising Minds Initiative, the answer started with a focus on wellness and resilience in the early childhood system. Over six years, Promising Minds catalyzed a movement to strengthen the providers and systems that support children and families, ultimately influencing state policy and institutional practices.

Throughout this effort, Engage R+D served as the evaluation and learning partner to Promising Minds, working to document, measure, and reflect on this work. This evaluation included a mix of formative and summative methods—which focus on tracking what works, what to improve, and documenting success—embedded within a developmental approach—which offers more flexible and adaptable practices to support real-time learning. This page shares evaluation reports from the six years of the Promising Minds initiative, from assessing early capacities to focusing on strengthening the systems and policies that provide an ecosystem of support.