Revisiting our Evaluation Roundtable Teaching Cases

To celebrate CEI's 15th anniversary, we're spending 2024 reflecting on 15 of our most favorite pieces.

What they are

CEI’s teaching cases are genuine, first-hand stories of one foundation’s experiences related to evaluation and learning. Each teaching case highlights important challenges confronting foundations in their evaluation work. By putting readers in the role of decision-makers, they are confronted with problems and presented with options for solutions as the stories unfold.

Our teaching cases are always tied to the theme of our Evaluation Roundtable biennial cycles and signature convening. They help us explore the nuances, tensions, and complexities of learning and evaluation work so that we can avoid falling into truisms, single perspectives, or advocating for one-size-fits-all approaches.

Here are some of our teaching cases over the last decade:

• 2023: Evolution not Revolution: Strategy, Learning, and Evaluation in The California Endowment’s Building Healthy Communities Initiative
• 2019: When Opportunity Knocks, Open the Door: Evaluation Amidst Transition at the Colorado Health Foundation
• 2017: On the Other Side of Complexity: The McKnight Foundation’s Collaborative Crop Research Program
• 2016: The Shaping of Evaluation at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
• 2014: First Among Equals: The Evaluation of the McConnell Foundation Social Innovation Generation Initiative

Why they're a favorite

We know from our work across the philanthropic sector that as learning and evaluation functions mature, we continue to crave examples of what our work looks like when it’s innovative, participatory, and successful—and when it’s not. Described as cathartic and practical, these teaching cases give convening participants the opportunity to apply critical thinking to stories unfamiliar to their own. In doing so, they can take those broad lessons back to their work and apply learning as change agents in their own dynamic organizations.

Plus, they’re fun to read! (Okay, we might be biased here, but we really think so.) The teaching cases explore tensions with leadership, program, and community and we get to experience the triumphs and disappointments of learning and evaluation teams as only we can because we understand what’s at stake.

Could your story be next?

The focus of our next Evaluation Roundtable signature convening is on the state of impact and accountability in the philanthropic sector. The definitions of these terms are diffuse and have historically had different interpretations. How might we sort out and clarify the current dilemmas on impact and accountability, understand how foundations are approaching these ideas, and think deeply together about our different approaches?

We are actively searching for our next teaching case. If you are in a foundation that is working through questions on impact and accountability and have a story to tell, please be in touch!* We at CEI are deeply appreciative to the foundations who have shared their stories for our teaching cases. This work would not be possible without the candid stories from our trusted partners who continue to step forward and share their experiences, lessons, mistakes, successes, and everything in between. We hope that next story is yours.

*Interested in sharing your story? Email Kat Athanasiades at [email protected].