DEEP DIVE
Teaching Case
The Kresge Foundation
October 2017 - March 2019
The Kresge Foundation
October 2017 - March 2019
This project is for both internal learning within Kresge and an external teaching case for the field. Key partners including the national program office (DAISA ), the evaluation consultant (LFA) and the FreshLo Program Staff (Kresge Arts and Culture and Health.
The teaching case is an opportunity to build advanced professionals’ capacity to recognize undercurrents - factors that can affect movement/ direction/atmosphere of EE work - and navigate them thoughtfully.
The initial phase of work:
Deepened our understanding of FreshLo, the evaluation team and the evaluation design, and Kresge’s evaluation culture and context
Determined which audiences (internally and externally) are most ripe for influence and shifts regarding EE
A learning agenda, supported by an inquiry frame, guides the next phase of this project, focusing on meaningful and relevant learning for Kresge and the field.
In 2016, Jara Dean-Coffey and Dr. Chera Reid, the Director of Strategic Learning at Kresge, were at the RISE convening wondering why the dominant frame was being used to understand the experiences and evaluate the outcomes of programs focusing on black men and boys. Realizing they had a similar mindset about validity and rigor, Jara shared more about EE and Chera was intrigued. Since then, the connection and commitment has only grown.
"FreshLo catalyzes positive change in American cities by supporting vibrant, healthy, inclusive communities that successfully use food as a platform for cultural expression and health and economic development. Equity is woven throughout the initiative. We’re looking forward to partnering with Kresge’s Learning and Evaluation team to deepen our understanding of FreshLo’s impact in supporting innovative food-oriented development projects in 23 communities, as well as how this suite of grants furthers equity in American cities,” said Stacey Barbas, senior program officer with Kresge’s Health Program."
- Stacey Barbas, Senior Program Officer—Health, The Kresge Foundation
Equity is a core value of Learning for Action; since our start, our work has focused on achieving greater equity and justice in disinvested communities using the tools of evaluation and strategy to increase impact.
Our EEI project is to develop a teaching case of our FreshLo Initiative’s evaluation.