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How can evaluation improve community and other systems change initiatives?
At the recent American Evaluation Association (AEA) meeting, Community Science's David Chavis participated in an invited session on the evaluation of community change initiatives (CCI’s) within their context. He reported on a Community Science study that reviewed 11 CCI’s to identify factors related to scale, scope and sustainability. He also addressed the changing landscape of evaluation. A post-session discussion sheds light on how the work of community change will evolve in 2010 and beyond.
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ChangeThinkers.com is a community of social change agents transforming the way ideas are shared -- not just for the causes we represent but for the way we practice and make change happen. We reconnect individuals, nonprofits and other community groups with funders and foundations to share information, from finding volunteers and crafting a great proposal to learning a new method.
Kien Lee shares knowledge on the growing diversity of Montgomery County
Cultural diversity, intergroup relations, and immigrant integration are topics of continuing interest and 
exploration for Community Science's Kien Lee. She recently participated in a Senior Leadership Montgomery Diversity Day event at Glen Echo Park in Maryland. Her presentation, entitled Deevali, Mooncakes, Eid, Salsa, etc., explored what leaders need to know to lead in a racially, ethnically, and culturally diverse community.
Community Science welcomes new Associate Vera Miles
Community Science welcomes new associate Vera Miles
Vera Miles, MA, has recently joined our staff, bringing more than ten years of diverse experience in the mental health field in both clinical and analytical capacities. She has conducted clinical assessments, provided crisis intervention counseling and therapy, and conducted mental health intakes. On the analysis side, she implements evaluation procedures, maintains information management systems, and provides technical support. She is experienced at collecting and analyzing data for evaluations, ensuring quality and consistency of data.
Publications
Scope, Scale, and Sustainability: What It Takes to Create Lasting Community Change
How can we address complex social problems in communities and make an impact on a larger scale? By changing institutions' policies and practices, and developing new strategies that address root causes of social problems. Community Science' David M. Chavis, Ph.D. and Tina R. Trent, M.A., (now with NeighborWorks America) co-authored Scope, Scale, and Sustainability: What It Takes to Create Lasting Community Change, published in the inaugural issue of The Foundation Review.
In the study, funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, eleven completed community change initiatives (CCI) were analyzed to better understand what had been learned from these initiatives about how to reach the scope, scale, and sustainability needed to achieve lasting community change.
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Strategic Factors for Building Community: The Five C’s Community, Connections, Control, Cash, & Collective Action
This brief report describes the strategic factors for stimulating community -wide health and well-being. It illustrates how each of the Five C’s “can be put together to develop an effective, broad-reaching, and sustainable community development strategy”.
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Building Bridges, Fueling Social Change
From October 1998 through December 2002, the Ford Foundation's Peace and Social Justice Program and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation's Race and Ethnic Relations Program collaborated to support the Community Foundations/Intergroup Relations (CF/IR) Program, which involved six community foundations. The community foundations received technical assistance on planning, design, implementation, and evaluation from Community Science (formerly ASDC).
This report captures the capacities required and lessons learned by the foundations, their grantees, and others in their efforts to promote intergroup relations. Please note there is an accompanying video that highlights interviews with the project's stakeholders, including Community Foundations' executive staff and donors.
For more information on this project, or for a copy of the video, please contact Kien@communityscience.com.
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Safe Start- Principles for Engaging and Retaining Families in Services
This report was developed by Community Science for the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) for the Safe Start Initiative. It describes the promising principles for engaging and retaining families in non-mandated services.
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The Importance of Culture in Evaluation
The Importance of Culture in Evaluation, a publication funded by The Colorado Trust, provides insights to help guide the complex dynamics between evaluators, funders and stakeholders of different cultures. The report provides examples of where cross-cultural competency is critical in evaluation and recommends questions and strategies that an evaluator should consider when practicing this form of cultural competency.
To order additional copies of this report, click here.
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About Community Science 
Since 1997, Community Science has provided an integrated approach to building the capacity of organizations and institutions, helping to develop healthy, just and equitable communities. Our greatest strength is the study of community and system change. From day one, our objective has been simple: to develop the knowledge necessary to address social problems in a way that benefits all communities. We answer evaluation and research questions using state-of-the-art qualitative and quantitative methods. Our services include research and evaluation services, capacity-building products and services, and initiative management and support.