Advocacy and Policy Change
Alissa Marchant, MSW (she/her/hers)
Director
Innovation Network
Washington, District of Columbia, United States
Shelli Golson-Mickens, MPH
Senior Associate
Innovation Network
Lexington, South Carolina, United States
Cory Georgopoulos, MPP
Associate
Innovation Network, United States
Location: Room 202
Abstract Information: Coalitions are increasingly centering those most impacted to enact transformative change rooted in equity. Community members and grassroots groups have increasing decision-making power and guide the advocacy efforts in coalitions. As a natural extension of this, measuring and defining the redistribution of power within coalitions and other collectives have grown as learning interests. During this roundtable, Innovation Network will present an initial framework for conceptualizing and evaluating the redistribution of power and influence within these collectives, developed through work with two initiatives who bring together grasstops and grassroots groups to build shared agendas centered in equity. They will also share initial indicators for measuring collective power. Participants will be invited to share their experiences working with groups intentionally shifting power to those most impacted by issues and evaluating and measuring their work. Participants will brainstorm and share indicators they have used to measure the shift in power towards community and grassroots organizations, as well as lessons learned in the field.
In addition to advancing the field of evaluation, we hope that in an attempt to better understand and investigate power redistribution within these groups, we can advance equity in our work as evaluators; it is an interrogation and acknowledgment of current power structures and the ways in which coalitions and collectives are trying to shift them to create for a more equitable and just reality.