Posted October 12, 2017 in News Items
Saint Luke’s Foundation has an historic commitment to evaluation and learning. In 2002, a Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation Committee of the board was established, and Leah Gary became Vice President for Programs and Evaluation. In 2006, the Foundation focused on measuring outcomes through the use of logic models in the grantmaking process, and in 2008, it developed a dashboard to measure progress on 15 key indicators of effectiveness.
In 2013, reflecting our continued commitment to learning, LaTida Smith was promoted to Vice President for Programs, Outcomes, and Learning. In 2016, Kathleen Dean was hired as the Senior Director for Outcomes, Evaluation and Learning. Not only does Kathleen help the Foundation internally, but she is often leveraged as a resource for grantees as they attempt to evaluate their own organizations for learning purposes.
Our belief in the value of evaluation and learning extends beyond our Foundation’s walls.Our former CEO, Denise San Antonio Zeman and current CEO Anne Goodman currently serve as Leap of Reason Ambassadors, a group of national leaders dedicated to supportingand educating nonprofit organizations in their efforts to develop their capacities in evaluation, learning and continuous improvement.
In 2015 we began to recognize local social service professionals who use data in their work to improve performance and achieve outcomes with the “Superstar Award.” Nominations are for individuals rather than organizations, and the winner of each year’s Superstar Award receives a $5,000 cash prize in addition to entrance into the national award pool.