Putting context first.
Our Process for Engagement
Listen to understand
Clarify your situation–who are you, what are you trying to do, and why? Identify together where I can help.
Tailor the plan to your needs
Present a menu of options for how we could work together and how I could help you. Identify areas where an equity lens could do the most good.
Begin the work
Agree to the scope of the project and get started.
Define a theory of change
Build and refine a theory of change, impact thesis, or goal for the world and how you are going to get there. This involves meeting and answering conceptual questions to develop a full picture, with which I can create a visual and narrative deliverable for you.
Create cohesion
Identify where deeper conversations must take place with your team to clarify the goal and build a shared mental model of what you are trying to do and why.
“When Courtney is your teammate, you have an A team. She is a tremendous collaborator, thought partner, and implementer. We have worked together on consultancies as well as leadership activities and each experience has been immensely rewarding.”
— Jane Reisman, Social Impact Advisor
Example Services
Apply an equity lens to a business or investment stage
A la carte thought partnership on how to apply an equity lens to a particular stage of your business or investment cycle. Includes: identification of the business/investment stage, contextual analysis, and draft recommendations. Can include support with implementation.
Developmental evaluation
Working in a complex system? Have a clear idea of where you’re trying to go, but a fuzzy idea of how to get there? We can build a developmental evaluation plan involving timely cycles of data collection, learning, and application.
Targeted deep dives
Facilitation of critical discussions about strategic planning, visioning, organizational alignment, program design, working through points of contention, and other areas. Typically done as a series of three deep dive conversations in two-hour increments. Follow-up to each session includes key decisions, remaining questions, and suggested next steps.
Apply an equity lens to an existing evaluation plan
A la carte thought partnership on how to apply an equity lens to an existing evaluation plan or framework. Includes: initial meeting to understand the client and what they are evaluating, review of the evaluation plan and other relevant materials, draft recommendations for adding an equity lens, and support with implementation if desired.
Other services
We have more than a decade of experience conducting a wide range of impact measurement and evaluation work with a particular focus on systems change, developmental evaluation, transformative evaluation, and impact measurement and management (IMM). Our toolkit includes a wide range of evaluation methods and approaches including mixed methods, outcome mapping, most significant change, contribution analysis, technology-enabled surveys, culturally-responsive focus groups and interviews, evaluative rubrics, and more. We will work with you to build a scope of work that is most appropriate for your needs.