Out of the Rabbit Hole

Demystifying the Journey of Impact Assessment

Sunday, October 29, 3:45pm – 4:45pm

Organized by Vanessa Silberman, Senior Director of Communications & Strategic Initiatives, Mortimer & Mimi Levitt Foundation.

Presented by Sarah Lee, President, Slover Linett Audience Research; and Sharon Yazowski, Executive Director, Mortimer & Mimi Levitt Foundation.

Some funders are eager to launch an impact assessment of their grantmaking, yet don’t know where to begin. Or the lack of an in-house evaluation team can thwart efforts to launch the process. Learn how one mid-sized foundation embarked upon the journey of creating a meaningful impact assessment, from determining a set of assumptions and outcomes it wanted to measure, to developing an RFP and selecting an outside evaluator, to cocreating the methodology for data collection, to completing a multiyear study that has informed the work of the foundation and its grantees. Participants will then be guided through a set of interactive exercises by a leading evaluator. Attendees will leave energized, with a basic blueprint for their own assessment frameworks.

• New Study Examines How Creative Placemaking Builds Social Capital in Communities
• Levitt Foundation Research
• Setting the Stage for Community Change: Reflecting on Creative Placemaking Outcomes (executive summary)
• Setting the Stage for Community Change: Reflecting on Creative Placemaking Outcomes (full report)