How do you know if you’re making enduring change at scale?
At the University of Kansas Social Innovation Lab and Orange Sparkle Ball, we have been partnering on research to understand ecosystems. As a result of this work, we’re excited to release the first in a series of white papers, this one focused on ecosystem evaluation. If you’re an ecosystem builder, this one’s for you!
Building ecosystems involves aligning all elements of such an undertaking, including diverse people, organizations, perspectives, and values, in the service of large-scale equitable change. The investment of time, resources, and social capital needed to bring together a network of people and organizations in the service of something bigger is extensive. Validating that it was worth it requires outcomes and impact. After all that effort, how do you know that you are making headway?
Evaluating ecosystems can provide evidence that the effort by all parts of the network matters. Our Responsive Ecosystems for Change Evaluation Framework is a call to action to bring the best methods and tools we have available to validate and quantify impact at scale.
