Tension 5 – Acknowledging Those Whose Path We Follow
Updated: Sep 15, 2022
Originally published on equitableeval.org on July 14, 2020
In my last post, I wrote about Tension 4 – Technical Approaches vs Creating Conditions for Change as part of a series of five tensions that I/we are struggling with as the Equitable Evaluation Initiative unfolds. In this post, we want to talk about the tendency not to acknowledge those whose path we follow.
Tension 5: Acknowledging Those Whose Path We Follow
The American roots of rugged individualism run deep and manifest in a myriad of ways. It shows up in two ways that we think have implications for our work which focuses on the philanthropic ecosystem: the new idea and the personality. We, in philanthropy, like to think that our ideas are the best and that our approaches to the work are novel as opposed to a continuation or evolution of thinking of others (10 Places Where Collective Impact Got it Wrong). We tend not to learn from others (either from their challenges or successes) and often are incapable of even learning from our own efforts (CEI Benchmarking Foundation Practices 2020). We also like to hold up the one. U.S. Philanthropy has historically been based on the accumulation of wealth of the one (Ford, WKKF, AECF, Gates, etc.), so it is no surprise that it gravitates towards people or personas who position themselves as experts or who have a unique perspective of the world. Add to this a history of preventing women and non-whites from claiming and protecting their intellectual property, typically in service of monetizing and perpetuating the status quo power structure.
How you do fight that tide? It is not easy. But rather than talking about us, we decided to use this space to give our deep appreciation to those whose work, hearts and minds inform the Equitable Evaluation Framework™ and the ways in which the Equitable Evaluation Initiative is conceptualized, and strategy executed:
Angela Glover Blackwell • Audrey Jordan • bell hooks • Chicago Beyond • Chimamanda Nigozi Adichie • Cindi Suarez • Crystal Hayling • David Kirkland • Donna Mertens • Ernie House • Fiona Cram • Hallie Preskill • Hazel Symonette • Heather Krause • James Baldwin • James Powell • Jennifer Greene • Joan LaFrance • Julia Coffman • Karen Kirkhart • Katrina Bledsoe • Leon Caldwell • Kien Lee • Maria Rosario Jackson • Mario Segone • Meredith Minkler • Paulo Friére • Tanya Beer • Tom Wolf • Tony Morrison • Rosalie Torres • Rodney Hopson • Stafford Hood
Calling it “rugged individualism” names something real, but the claim that philanthropy is “often incapable” of learning from its own efforts overstates it. The CEI Benchmarking Foundation Practices 2020 exists precisely because foundations keep trying to assess themselves; the failure is incentives, not capacity. I use some of the best AI tools to trace citation trails when drafting, yet the names still vanish in review. The fix isn’t a longer roster—it’s making lineage a required template field.
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When I tried to credit lineage in a foundation memo, the review process stripped the names out and kept only the framework, which flipped the advice: acknowledgment became a risk, not a norm. I started using a lineage-tracking worksheet for equitable evaluation to keep sources attached before editing. The roster in the post—Hazel Symonette, Karen Kirkhart, Stafford Hood—made that omission visible; my case showed credit can be edited away unless it is built into the template.
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I was just browsing https://highrollercasinolist.com and noticed how many review sites recycle each other’s lists without ever crediting the original writers, which echoes this post’s point about philanthropy’s tendency to claim novelty. Seeing the roster of thinkers you acknowledge makes me want to trace the lineage of the ideas I rely on daily—so far it’s been humbling.