Applying a Transformative Participatory Evaluation Design with Youth Leaders: Recommendations and Lessons Learned for Sharing Power and Informing Social Change through Program Evaluation

A transformative participatory evaluation design is characterized by a commitment to social justice and stakeholder engagement. With community members as evaluation partners, this design advances both organizational development and social change because collective decision-making and capacity building is foundational to the evaluation process itself. This paper presents an applied example of a transformative participatory evaluation with high school students and young adults, in the context of a youth-led sexual violence prevention initiative and an applied dissertation project. With a university-based Principal Investigator and PhD student serving as mentors and facilitators, youth evaluators selected metrics, directed analysis, and translated evaluative findings into deliverables. This paper discusses the resources acquired, decisions made, and activities executed in this project, and aligns the tenets of transformative participatory design applied across each evaluation stage. Our collaborative project shared decision-making power and centered inclusivity with the goal of elevating young people’s voices and visions for change.

Courtney Schwalbach – RCC Sexual Violence Resource Center