Spark Insight Partners develops innovative, research-based solutions to complex societal problems.
We are committed to being open and transparent throughout our process of implementing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) at Spark. We have a lot of progress to share this month and hope it will be helpful to our staff, local community, peers, clients, and the people most affected by our work. After announcing our DEI commitment and sharing …
Continue reading “Our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Update”
Research has traditionally defined rigor as obtaining an unbiased estimate of impact, suggesting the need for experimental or quasi-experimental methods and objective, quantitative measures in order to obtain trustworthy results. Research has traditionally defined rigor as obtaining an unbiased estimate of impact, suggesting the need for experimental or quasi-experimental methods and objective, quantitative measures in …
With the American Evaluation Association (AEA) coming up November 11-16 in Minneapolis, M.N., our team has been thinking about the theme of the conference “Paths to the Future of Evaluation.” We constantly challenge ourselves to ensure our values are present in our work; our practices produce actionable learning; and that we share our experiences to …
Site/Initiative Name Location Issue Area Contribution Site Equity Site Alignment Nashville Nashville, TN Education – Multi-Issue X ARISE Anchorage, AK Education for Indigenous Students X Aspen Community Foundation Cradle to Career Aspen, Basalt CO Cradle to Career – Education Coalition for New Britain’s Youth New Britain, CT Cradle to Career – Education, Early Learning Colorado …
Health is impacted by multiple factors outside the direct control of the public health and health care system, such as education, income, and the conditions in which people live, work, and play. Health impact assessment (HIA), provides a structured process for examining the potential health impacts of proposed policies, plans, programs, and projects. Conducting a …
Continue reading “How has Health Impact Assessment been used? Findings from a new study”
Many of us have fond memories of PBS, whether it be watching a documentary with family or engaging with development programs in school. PBS is continuing its mission to serve the American public with high-quality programming and services by launching the New Generation Initiative (NGI). The 18-month collaborative pilot spans six PBS stations across the …
By Jewlya Lynn, CEO, Spark Policy Institute; Sarah Stachowiak, CEO, ORS Impact It’s easy for evaluators to sometimes get tied up in the technical terms around our work, leaving lay people unclear on what some of our decisions and choices mean. Without care, we can also risk being opaque about what a particular design can …
By Jewlya Lynn, CEO, Spark Policy Institute; Sarah Stachowiak, CEO, ORS Impact At Spark Policy Institute (Spark) and ORS Impact (ORS), we have been doing systems building work for over a decade. When the Collective Impact approach came along, it created a level of clarity for many people, both about what it means …
Continue reading “Sharing as We Go: The Collective Impact Research Study”
Over the next few months, we’ll be releasing a series of blogs on topics we’ll be presenting on at the American Evaluation Association’s (AEA) annual meeting, which will be in Atlanta, GA October 24-29. You can learn more about the meeting, including how to register here. Google “Collective Impact” and you’ll get roughly 1.8 million hits …
Continue reading “Evaluators’ Varied Roles in Collective Impact”
This blog is co-authored by Marci Parkhurst and Hallie Preskill from FSG, Dr. Jewlya Lynn from Spark Policy Institute, and Marah Moore from i2i Institute. It is also posted on FSG’s website: www.fsg.org In a recent blog post discussing the importance of good evidence in supporting systems change work, evaluation expert Lisbeth Schorr wrote, “To get better results in this …
