We are intentional about drawing and building on the work of other experts in the field.
The following resources have been crucial in shaping our thinking about the practice of evaluation, the strength of networks, the nature of collaboration, and approaches to systems change and capacity building.
Evaluation
Elizabeth Dozois (2015). “A Practitioner’s Guide to Developmental Evaluation”
Hallie Preskill and Srik Gopal (2014). “Evaluating Complexity: Propositions for Improving Practice”
Jamie Gamble (2008). “A Developmental Evaluation Primer”
Robert Picciotto. (2020). Towards a complexity framework for transformative evaluation. Journal of MultiDisciplinary Evaluation, 16(35).
Lisbeth Schorr and Frank Farrow (2005). “Expanding the Evidence University: Doing Better by Knowing More”
Michael Quinn Patton (2015). “What is Essential in Developmental Evaluation? On Integrity, Fidelity, Adultery, Abstinence, Impotence, Long-Term Commitment, Integrity, and Sensitivity in Implementing Evaluation Models”
Networks and Collaboration
Centre for Connected Communities (2012). “A Community Backbone Organization’s Theory of Change”
Darrin Hicks and Carl Larsen (2008). “The Influences of Collaboration on Program Outcomes”
David Sawyer and David Ehrlichman (2016). “The Tactics of Trust”. Stanford Social Innovation Review.
Douglas Easterling (2012). “Building the Capacity of Networks to Achieve Systems Change”
Jane Wei-Skillern, Nora Silver and Eric Heitz (2010). “Cracking the Network Code”
The Monitor Institute (2011). “Catalyzing Networks for Social Change: A Funder’s Guide”
Patricia Bowie (2009). “Why Networks Matter: A New Way to Approach Child Safety in Los Angeles”
Patricia Bowie (2011). “Getting to Scale: The Elusive Goal”
Systems Change and Complexity
Annie E. Casey Foundation (2009). “Community Change: Lessons from Making Connections”
David Peter Stroh (2015). Systems Thinking for Social Change: A Practical Guide to Solving Complex Problems, Avoiding Unintended Consequences and Achieving Lasting Results.
Dietrich Dorner. The Logic of Failure: Recognizing and Avoiding Error in Complex Situations.
Donella Meadows (1999). “Leverage Points: Places to Intervene in a System”
Peter Plastrik and Madeleine Taylor (2006). “Net Gains: A Handbook for Network Builders Seeking Social Change”
Capacity Building and Learning Dynamics
Carol Tavris (2007). Mistakes were Made but Not by Me
Daniel Coyle (2017). The Culture Code
Lockwood et al (2015). “Measuring the Dimensions of Adaptive Capacity: A Psychometric Approach”
Margaret Hefernan (2011). Willful Blindness
Sy Montgomery (1991). Walking with the Great Apes: Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, Biruté Galdikas