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Evaluation

Global Grassroots evaluates the effectiveness of its Academy for Conscious Change in both delivering hard skills and improving the wellbeing of women, in terms of the number of successful ventures launched and their positive social impact. To measure the impact of our trainings, we evaluate knowledge comprehension as applied by teams throughout the project development phase. We make adjustments to our program design and offer additional workshops and tools to improve the clarity, depth and breadth of our material. Once the ventures are operational, we continue to assess areas of need related to venture management so we can provide ongoing support and incorporate new material into our training and advisory support.

To ensure the success of our chosen projects, Global Grassroots evaluates each venture's development plan for long-term sustainability and social impact prior to selection for seed funding. Each project also has built into their design impact goals and evaluation measures specific to their social issue. Over twelve months, teams submit regular reports on their progress, challenges and needs. Our staff visits projects monthly throughout the year, assessing progress and providing ongoing advisory services.

Following are the specific evaluation metrics used to assess our progress on each objective:

OBJECTIVE	METRIC
By the end of one year, all participants will raise their wellbeing by 50%.	Standard of living improvements: measured in terms of the number of meals a family eats daily, frequency of eating meat, percentage of children able to afford to go to school, amount spent on rent, perceived lack of wellbeing or difficulty of standard of living.

By the end of 12 months after project launch, the participants' sense of power has increased by 75%.	Improvements in emotional sense of wellbeing, personal power and capacity to create change: measured in terms of sense of power to change personal circumstances, family circumstances and community circumstances, participation in local decision-making, sense of own capacity and responsibility to create change, perception of women's power, sense of purpose and value to community.

At the end of 12 months of project oversight, 80% of funded ventures are operating sustainably.	The number of social ventures launched that are operating sustainably: able to generate the resources necessary to operate at full capacity, obtaining financing from third parties, innovation of creative resourcing strategies, ability to support venture from own citizen base.

That at the end of 12 months, all projects operating sustainably are having a measurable social impact at the root level of the social issue they are designed to address, affecting women.	The degree to which each social venture is meeting its own program and outcome objectives to create a social impact at the root level of its issue according to its theory of change, as measured by its own evaluation metrics.

By the end of 12 months, 75% of teams have acquired advanced project planning and non-profit management skills, which have been deemed sufficient to launch their own social projects.	Number of teams launched; level of team non-profit management capacity and conscious leadership capacity as exhibited through impact and sustainability of project operations, strength of project team, degree of conflict in decision-making, other challenges and accomplishments.

To maximize social value creation and productivity by having the broadest/deepest impact possible for the chosen level of financial investment.	The number of individuals served and/or lives positively impacted by our Academy program and our projects, including ripple effect.

To support conscious leadership, including the use of contemplative practice to inform decision-making, support work-life balance, maintain connection to grassroots need, avoid ego-driven attachment to agenda, power or publicity.	Number of practices that were taught in the training and continue to be used or taught by team members; areas of need indicated by conflict, poor decision-making, burn-out, unhealthy competitiveness, or ego-driven attachment to agenda, power or publicity.

To build the systems, tools, networks and support structures that will catalyze the ongoing growth of communities of conscious social change agents.	Degree of team collaboration, sense of belonging to Global Grassroots and positive view of fellowship, number of spin-off ventures and/or use of program skills to address new community issues, level of sharing of training program skills in team activities, mentorship between teams, external partnerships, publicity of Global Grassroots and team work, engagement and leadership of team members in community decision-making, grassroots volunteer recruitment; areas of need indicated by patterns of challenges faced by teams.

From June - August 2009, Global Grassroots engaged Lydia Humenycky, a Masters student from the H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management at Carnegie Mellon University to carry out an independent impact assessment of our work, focusing on our 11 social projects currently operating. An excerpt is included below.

During the summer of 2009, Global Grassroots underwent a major evaluation of program objectives. The organization worked with an independent volunteer, previously unassociated with Global Grassroots, in order to conduct this evaluation. This following document is a product of that effort.

The objective of the analysis was to produce a knowledgeable response to the question: Is the mission of Global Grassroots (to unite, empower, and support relief of poor, distressed and underprivileged women worldwide) effective given the results received and interpreted during the time frame of this study?

The broad answer is yes. As the reader will observe, many of the basic objectives of Global Grassroots have been met on a team-by-team, project-by-project basis. While not all cumulative objectives for the organization were accomplished, Global Grassroots is well on its way to paving the necessary training and yearlong support that will help the organization, and its teams, eventually achieve their goals.