SPOTLIGHT ON:
Success Starts With Your Strategy
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Lessons About Evaluating Community Change Initiatives
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On August 27 of this year, Community Science President and CEO David Chavis, Ph.D., delivered an invited presentation to the Institute of Medicine's meeting on Designing Evaluations for What Communities Value in Washington, D.C. Dr. Chavis pointed out, quoting Lisbeth Schorr, that community change planners and evaluators first need to "embrace complexity," because one of the biggest failings in the implementation of these initiatives has been to make them simplistic in order to sell them to foundation boards, public officials, and community leaders. Yet the causes and effects of major social problems are complex and sophisticated, and complex solutions are essential. If they were simple, they would have been solved already.
"Strategy matters," Dr. Chavis pointed out. "An evaluation is never better than what it evaluates!" He further cautioned, "Community change results from changing systems and environments, not programs."
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New Contracts Expand Our Impact!
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Community Science received three new contract awards from the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) and the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health (OMH) for work to be performed during fiscal year 2015. Vice President and Principal Associate Kien Lee, Ph.D., stated, "These awards reflect our strong track record of quality work in terms of rigor and practicality, and unparalleled expertise in understanding and developing stronger, inclusive and caring communities. Our collaborative learning process and knowledge about building community capacity to solve problems will help our clients address some of the critical issues we face as a nation, such as health disparities and disaster preparedness."
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Senior Associate Oscar Espinosa Presents at American Public Health Association (APHA) Annual Meeting and Exposition
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Staff Profile: Korinne Chiu
Korinne Chiu, Ph.D., Associate, has expertise in the research and evaluation of health and education initiatives in international, domestic, and community-based settings as well as in the design and maintenance of complex database systems. At Community Science, she helps the Regional Health Equity Councils that are part of the National Partnership for Action to End Health Disparities (NPA) to use secondary data in developing their regional plans. She also is responsible for the implementation of a national foundation initiative to strengthen the capacity of organizations that work with underserved communities to advocate for more equitable food systems. Before joining Community Science, Dr. Chiu served as the Director of Evaluation and Organizational Learning at Physicians for Peace. She implemented monitoring and evaluator tools to collect, manage, and analyze longitudinal data and strengthened the capacity of the staff, board members, and other stakeholders to use evaluation and make data-driven decisions. Dr. Chiu is an avid animal lover and has rescued many animals throughout her life including baby birds, a turtle, a baby squirrel, and, most recently, a bat. Her dog and two cats consider themselves very lucky!
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Presentations and Publications
Community Science Vice President and Principal Associate Kien Lee, Ph.D., and Associate Brandi Gilbert, Ph.D., co-authored an article in the fall 2014 issue of the American Evaluation Association's New Directions for Evaluation quarterly journal. This article, entitled, "Embedding the Graduate Education Diversity Internship (GEDI) Program within a Larger System" outlines changes needed of GEDI program supporters in order to fulfill the program's mission. Community Science played a central role in the development and implementation of GEDI as noted in this issue.
Click here for the full article.
President/CEO David M. Chavis, Ph.D., will speak at The Center on Philanthropy and Public Policy's National Forum on Place-Based Initiatives. The Center's
Prioritizing Place
forum will take place on December 4-5 at the University of Southern California. Dr. Chavis will participate in a panel entitled Evaluation in Context, a discussion to address how place-based initiatives are being evaluated in the context of larger forces and long-term change. Click here for information on the conference.
Upcoming Conferences
2015 National Multicultural Conference and Summit
Hosted by the American Psychological Association
January 15-16, 2015
Atlanta Marriott Marquis
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Join Us!
Community Science is currently recruiting for the following positions:
the Community Science CAREERS page.
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About Community Science
Community Science is an award winning research and development organization that works with governments, foundations, and non-profit organizations on solutions to social problems through community and other systems changes. To learn more, visit our PROJECTS page.
To discuss how Community Science can collaborate with your organization, contact us at 301-519-0722 or info@communityscience.com
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