The Annie E. Casey Foundation seeks qualified experts to join the Advancing Collaborative Evaluation (ACE) Network, a group of experienced evaluators from historically underrepresented racial and ethnic minority groups. ACE Network members are available to pursue contracts to conduct evaluation work for foundations, think tanks, nonprofits, research institutes and other producers and consumers of evaluation who share our desire for a more diverse and inclusive sector. They represent a wide range of methodological backgrounds and possess substantive skills. Qualified candidates will be independent evaluators, leaders or investigators at small evaluation firms or researchers in academia who are experienced evaluators.
The ACE Network is a program of the Casey Foundation’s Expanding the Bench® initiative, which aims to increase diversity within the Foundation’s current pool of expert researchers and evaluators, including evaluators with expertise in Results-Based Accountability™ (RBA). RBA is a disciplined way of thinking and acting to improve entrenched and complex social problems. Communities use it to improve the lives of children, youth, families and adults. RBA is also used by organizations to improve the effectiveness of their programs.
Expanding the Bench was created from a fundamental belief that increasing diversity in the field of research and evaluation improves our knowledge base and makes for better science and social innovation. Diversity promotes creative thinking by expanding a group's capacity for viewing issues or problems from multiple perspectives and vantage points. Casey welcomed 65 evaluators and evaluation firms to the ACE Network after the first Call for Qualifications in 2014.
Accepted candidates will be listed in a database for Casey and other funders to consult during the selection process for evaluation contracts, and will receive invitations throughout the year to participate in evaluation-related professional development and other evaluation-related opportunities. Members of the ACE Network also may receive information about evaluation-related RFPs, job announcements and other professional or contracting opportunities. Eligible applicants who do not meet criteria that provides evidence of evaluation and measurement expertise may be invited to participate in future capacity building, professional development and training opportunities to increase their competitiveness for future calls.
We are soliciting qualifications of evaluators from historically underrepresented groups with evaluation expertise in juvenile justice, child welfare, family economic opportunity, community change, education, environment, public health, immigration and other program areas.
You or your firm may apply as an “independent evaluator,” a “university/college-affiliated evaluation researcher” or an “evaluation firm.” We are accepting applications from principal investigators who are employed at a firm. Please check “independent evaluator” in the application, and identify your title and firm affiliation in your cover letter. In each category, applicants must reside in the United States and be from a historically underrepresented racial or ethnic group.
“Underrepresented” refers to those racial and ethnic populations that are underrepresented in the field of research and evaluation relative to their numbers in the general population. Such underrepresented populations include African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, Pacific Islanders and underrepresented Asian Americans. There is evidence that groups such as Hmong, Cambodian and Laotian populations face challenges in access to opportunity. According to the U.S. Census 2000 report, these groups had the highest proportion of individuals with less than a high school degree as well as the lowest median incomes compared to other Asian Americans.
Candidates will be asked to submit:
By submitting your application, you consent to having your information listed in a database that will be used for the dissemination of future calls for proposals and other opportunities. Please note that the Expanding the Bench team will also use the aggregate data to assess our progress in expanding the pool of evaluators from underrepresented groups.
Due to resource limitations, only the first 100 applications received will be reviewed in 2017.
We will provide all applicants with the status of their applications after the application period is closed. Applications are due by 5 p.m. ET on Friday, October 27, 2017. Applications will be reviewed by a selection committee of Casey staff and external reviewers. Applicants will be notified of acceptance by February 1, 2018.
Casey is working with Keecha Harris and Associates, Inc. (KHA, Inc.) to facilitate the 2017 Call for Qualifications process. For more information or questions, please contact Sara Padilla.