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I am Yana Kusayeva, the Director of Evaluation and Impact at JVS, a Bay Area-based workforce development nonprofit that creates opportunities for equitable economic mobility for all Californians. I’ve been leading our impact evaluation efforts over the past three years. Recently I joined the San Francisco Bay Area Evaluators (SFBAE), where I was already acquainted with several members through previous professional collaborations. Our discussions about innovative impact measurement and stakeholder engagement in change management highlighted how local evaluation communities can help build local measurement, evaluation, and learning (ME&L) capacity at local nonprofit organizations through formal and informal networks. I want to share the success of JVS’s Impact Measurement Committee (IMC), and the valuable lessons learned from our efforts.
We established our IMC over 15 years ago, and it has been invaluable in helping us define and measure impact, particularly in the preliminary stages of this work. Our approach to measuring economic mobility has evolved. Instead of merely tracking job placement rates after program completion, we now incorporate wage bands and job satisfaction ratings to assess job quality. Additionally, we have established guidelines to ensure equitable participant experiences with JVS.
As our team’s capacity grew, the committee charter evolved to meet organizational needs related to impact and evaluation. The current committee includes professionals from diverse sectors, key to our strategic evidence-building. This expertise guides our impact evaluation efforts and ensures accountability in achieving our strategic goals. Members come from private philanthropy, business, and nonprofit sectors, and bring expertise in data analytics, evaluation and measurement, management and strategy. We continue to explore best practices in measuring economic mobility and promoting racial equity both within programs and across systems.
Lessons Learned
Here’s an overview of the benefits and insights gained from this ongoing process.
- Our committee has significantly expanded our measurement and evaluation capacity, especially in times of limited internal resources. The diverse expertise of our members has been invaluable, from – setting strategic key performance indicators (KPIs) to measuring racial equity progress and collecting participant feedback through qualitative data.
- The diverse backgrounds of our committee members have enriched our impact measurement and evaluation. Private sector members bring a data-driven, efficiency-focused approach, while those from philanthropy and nonprofits offer community-centered perspectives. Both have been crucial for setting internal benchmarks. We aim to include public policy experience to better measure systems change, highlighting the importance of continuously diversifying our committee.
- Our advisory committee acts as a thought partner, guiding us on complex evaluations and challenging our assumptions for new initiatives. Some of the most powerful discussions happened when our team sought advice on unfamiliar areas.
- The committee holds us accountable to our annual fiscal goals for evaluation and impact measurement, helping us monitor progress toward our output, outcome, and improvement targets.
- This committee engages prospective board members, providing a deeper understanding of our work and making them more informed and committed candidates.
Lastly, the advisory committee deepened our relationships with funders. Their participation not only supports our evaluation efforts but also builds trust and collaboration, enhancing our overall impact
Get Involved
At JVS, our IMC enhances our impact measurement and evaluation. This year, IMC begins to establish an evaluation framework for our systems change work, measuring the impact of JVS policy and partnerships initiatives.
Adopting a similar model can provide other organizations with diverse insights, strategic guidance, and robust accountability, while strengthening internal capacities and external relationships. Consider forming such a committee and leveraging local evaluation communities to find expertise. You might even want to recruit a formal advisory board from your network!
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