Building Effective Evaluation Advisory Committees by Nubia Goodwin

Date: Friday, January 3, 2025

Hello, AEA365 community! Liz DiLuzio here, Lead Curator of the blog. This week is Individuals Week, which means we take a break from our themed weeks and spotlight the Hot Tips, Cool Tricks, Rad Resources and Lessons Learned from any evaluator interested in sharing. Would you like to contribute to future individuals weeks? Email me at AEA365@eval.org with an idea or a draft and we will make it happen.

We are Amanda Robinson (Senior Research and Evaluation Project Manager) and Nubia Goodwin (Research & Evaluation Project Manager) of the Institute for Community Health (ICH). ICH is a nonprofit consulting organization with close to 25 years of expertise in equitable and participatory evaluation and research. Our organization works on various projects that involve Evaluation Advisory Committees (EACs), made up of community members or grantees engaged by the project, who help inform our evaluation design, implementation, analysis, and reporting. We have found that working with an EAC plays a critical role in our evaluation process and gives us the opportunity to incorporate the needs and perspectives of those on the ground, which helps ensure that our evaluation produces the best possible information in an equitable way. 

Lessons Learned

Through our experience working with EACs, we learned a few key pieces of information:

• Engaging community members or grantees in the evaluation through an EAC makes our work more informed by and more reflective of the needs and perspectives of the subjects of the evaluation
• Participation on the EAC offers value to committee members by providing space for them to network and build meaningful relationships with each other
• The people who have the most to offer the EAC often have other commitments and limited capacity to engage in the evaluation, and it’s important to think through how to use their time effectively

Hot Tips

We learned a lot about strategies to ensure effective EAC functioning, and wanted to share the following tips.

• When recruiting potential EAC members, put effort into ensuring the recruitment process encourages participants who might not be familiar with evaluation, and be clear about the purpose of the EAC. You want to attract a diverse group of people who will bring their own expertise to the space, but you also want to make sure they all have the chance to consider if they have the interest and capacity to participate.
• Clearly communicate expectations for participation. Formal (but not burdensome) processes, such as having members sign a participation agreement, help keep people aware of responsibilities. Also, plan for payment logistics at the beginning of the process, to demonstrate that you value people’s time and to troubleshoot any administrative payment challenges early on.
• As communication is key for effective EAC meetings, create a variety of ways for members to participate (e.g., surveys, chat, breakout rooms), and ensure your facilitation maintains a balanced dynamic between group members. You want to be thoughtful about power imbalances that may impact how comfortable people are engaging in the EAC.
• Additionally, set aside time for relationship building. Not only does it make communication easier, you are fostering an opportunity for members to grow their own networks with each other.
• And finally, keep organized and manage meeting time effectively. Not only will this allow you to accomplish all that you want to during the meeting, but it will demonstrate that you value and respect participants’ time and contributions and do not expect them to put in more than they have capacity for.

Rad Resources

For more information on building effective evaluation advisory committees, check out the following resources:

• Community Advisory Boards: A Close Look at One Strategy for Engaging MassHealth Members in Program and Policy Decisions
• Best Practices For Convening A Consumer Advisory Board
• Great Practices for Evaluation Advisory Committees (EAC) Facilitators- Part 1: Setting up an EAC
• Great Practices for Evaluation Advisory Committee (EAC) Facilitators- Part 2: Running an EAC

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