Efrain Gutierrez

The practice of continuous learning is often cited as one of the integral ingredients needed for the success of a collective impact effort. By promoting a culture from within that regularly learns, evaluates, shares, and adapts, organizations can act more effectively to tackle the complex social problems in their community and beyond.

In this new blog post I discuss the three key elements needed to encourage continuous learning in collective impact work.

The California Endowment (“The Endowment” or “TCE”) is embarking on an ambitious, complex strategy to promote fundamental improvements in the health status of all Californians. Three years into its 10-year, $1 billion commitment to Building Healthy Communities (BHC), foundation leaders decided to “hit the pause button” and commission an external assessment of the implementation of its strategy to date. This report presents the key findings and a set of "questions to consider" for TCE based on… Show more

The California Endowment (“The Endowment” or “TCE”) is embarking on an ambitious, complex strategy to promote fundamental improvements in the health status of all Californians. Three years into its 10-year, $1 billion commitment to Building Healthy Communities (BHC), foundation leaders decided to “hit the pause button” and commission an external assessment of the implementation of its strategy to date. This report presents the key findings and a set of "questions to consider" for TCE based on data collected from April through October 2013. Show less

There is an emerging trend in the philanthropic sector toward being more deliberate about the intersection of strategy and evaluation. Foundations and nonprofits are being more intentional about learning from their work by evaluating their programs and initiatives, but often lack an overarching structure that brings all their evaluation activities together into a comprehensive evaluation strategy. What should be the components of this cohesive evaluation strategy? One way to start is by… Show more

There is an emerging trend in the philanthropic sector toward being more deliberate about the intersection of strategy and evaluation. Foundations and nonprofits are being more intentional about learning from their work by evaluating their programs and initiatives, but often lack an overarching structure that brings all their evaluation activities together into a comprehensive evaluation strategy. What should be the components of this cohesive evaluation strategy? One way to start is by understanding the concept of evaluation systems. They describe learning in terms of “why”, “how”, “when”, and “by and with whom”, and determine to what extent various programs, initiatives, processes, or policies will be evaluated and with what resources. This session will help practitioners understand the components of an evaluation system, and explain its benefits and challenges. The presentation will provide practical examples from foundations to illustrate how it can best be applied. Show less

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people are included - but often invisible - in many evaluations. In light of increased federal attention to LGBT-specific data collection and the growing awareness of disparities faced by this population, evaluators must be prepared to consider how programs and policies affect LGBT people. However, evaluators are often at a loss for the best ways to ask about sexual orientation. Furthermore, we may inadvertently ask questions about gender in ways… Show more

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people are included - but often invisible - in many evaluations. In light of increased federal attention to LGBT-specific data collection and the growing awareness of disparities faced by this population, evaluators must be prepared to consider how programs and policies affect LGBT people. However, evaluators are often at a loss for the best ways to ask about sexual orientation. Furthermore, we may inadvertently ask questions about gender in ways that marginalize transgender people, making them invisible to researchers and service providers. This skill-building workshop provided best practices for assessing sexual orientation and gender identity in youth and adult populations. Cutting-edge research on item development was shared, giving participants concrete ways to ask questions, and ways to make their evaluations more inclusive of sexual minorities. Show less

This is the PowerPoint presentation I used during my presentation at AEA 11. The presentation discusses some of the most important characteristics of Mexican culture and provide specific recommendations to improve the quality of interviews/focus groups with Latinos.