195: From Community Storytelling to Shared Leadership: Redefining Community Engagement in Evaluation

As the evaluation field evolves, traditional participatory models often reinforce power hierarchies rather than fostering genuine shared leadership. In Houston, the BIPOC Arts Network and Fund (BANF) is pioneering a community-driven evaluation model that centers local artists and creatives—Community Storytellers—as evaluators. These Storytellers, new to the evaluation lens, challenge traditional methodologies by shaping the process, questioning informed insights, and redefining what constitutes meaningful impact. Supported by Working Partner, they use an Outcome Harvesting approach to document change through community-led knowledge production. This session will explore how engaging community-based creatives in evaluation disrupts extractive knowledge practices, enhances equity, and strengthens cultural ecosystems. Attendees will engage in dialogue on shared leadership, the implications of shifting power dynamics, and the transformative potential of storytelling in evaluation. Join us to learn how this place-based approach builds shared power through arts, culture, and network-building to create a more just and representative evaluation practice.