Community Evaluation as a Tool for Community Transformation

What becomes possible when communities don’t just take part in evaluation, but own it, lead it, and use it to shape their own futures? That question has driven BECOME for years, and it’s the heart of the Community Evaluation Innovation Lab (CEIL).

Developed with the Center for Culturally Responsive Evaluation and Assessment (CREA) and supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, CEIL grew out of our Culturally Responsive Community Transformation work in Auburn Gresham. Over four years, residents and community leaders became Community Evaluators. They learned together, led real evaluations with local organizations, presented at an international conference, and carried what they learned into classrooms, nonprofits, graduate programs, and even a prison education program.

What we saw changed how we think about evaluation. When communities generate their own knowledge, they build far more than data. They build leadership, relationships, learning infrastructure, and the collective capacity to shape the future they want.

This report tells the story of CEIL: where the idea came from, who the Community Evaluators are, what they accomplished, and the model that emerged. We wrote this inspiring piece as an invitation to communities, community organizations, universities, funders, and evaluators who believe that the people closest to the work belong at the center of it. Enjoy!