Innovative Research Insights delivered a capacity building workshop at the Shift_Ed Aligning Resources for Collective Impact Convening (Fall 2025) focused on moving organizations from vision to action by cultivating a learning culture and strengthening evaluation practices. The session emphasized how evaluation can serve as a driver of organizational learning, not just a compliance exercise.
The presentation began by reframing evaluation from “compliance to curiosity,” challenging organizations to go beyond producing reports for funders and vanity dashboards. Instead, participants were encouraged to view evaluation as a tool for equity, strategy alignment, and adaptive improvement. Key concepts such as Goodhart’s Law were introduced to illustrate how overreliance on narrow metrics can distort outcomes and weaken long-term impact.
Attendees were guided through the differences between formative, summative, process, outcome, and impact evaluation, and shown how these approaches connect to both Theory of Change and Logic Models, ensuring that day-to-day work links directly to strategic goals. The session highlighted the role of Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI), using Plan–Do–Study–Act (PDSA) cycles to test small changes, gather real-time feedback, and iteratively strengthen programs. A narrative case study on workforce readiness demonstrated how quick tests, such as mock interviews, can generate measurable improvements.
Finally, the workshop introduced the concept of a Learning Agenda, a structured plan of priority questions aligned with organizational strategy. Participants explored how nonprofit leaders can champion curiosity, dedicate resources, create safe spaces for reflection, and integrate equity into learning practices. The session concluded with actionable steps for embedding monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) into ongoing work, positioning organizations for more effective cross-team collaboration and implementation readiness .
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