Since our founding, Project Evident has advocated for a new approach to building and using evidence in the social sector. Today, our dissatisfaction with the status quo is deeper than ever, as is our commitment to addressing racism and inequality of opportunity. And we believe that a stronger, more equitable data and evidence ecosystem –…
Our Commitment to Equity and Social Justice
Dear Friends, Over the past several weeks, we have once again been confronted with evidence of the racial violence and systematic oppression that Black families face daily in our country. The murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery are appalling reminders of the racism and violence that have existed throughout our nation’s history…
Evaluating the Effectiveness of Ed Tech Products
A recent review by The Hechinger Report highlights the challenges for educators in navigating claims about the effectiveness of ed tech products, which are especially critical now as schools pivot to online learning. Our Education Practice partners with schools and districts, helping them build the internal capacity to study the impact of a given product on their…
Winter 2020 Updates: Reflections, Milestones, and a Look Ahead
The Next Generation of Evidence Will Be Practitioner-Led After learning about a new data-sharing agreement between St. Paul’s schools and government, education justice advocate Marika Pfefferkorn became concerned. She felt that the agreement, which had gone into effect with little community involvement or awareness, had the potential to perpetuate racial disparities in Minnesota’s educational and…
The Next Generation of Evidence Will Be Practitioner-Led
After learning about a new data-sharing agreement between St. Paul’s schools and government, education justice advocate Marika Pfefferkorn became concerned. She felt that the agreement, which had gone into effect with little community involvement or awareness, had the potential to perpetuate racial disparities in Minnesota’s educational and criminal justice systems – specifically through predictive analytics…
Fall 2019 Updates: Supporting Nonprofit-Led Evidence Building
The Role of the Practitioner in the Next Generation of Evidence In the next generation model for evidence building, we envision that practitioners become the drivers of their evidence agendas, equipped with the strategies, tools, and talent they need to rigorously evaluate their programs and strengthen outcomes for the communities they serve. We imagine an ecosystem less…
Presentation to the Evidence Commission: A Funder’s Perspective
In 2016, Managing Director Kelly Fitzsimmons presented to the Commission on Evidence-based Policymaking (CEP) in order to help inform its strategy around the use of data and evidence in government policy and programs. Her presentation lays out existing constraints for using and building evidence – including limited innovation in evaluation, constrained data access and weak…