Knowledge and Evaluation Committee Meeting

1. Knowledge and Evaluation Committee Meeting February 2, 2012 Living Cities

2. Agenda Overview • Welcome, Introductions, and Setting the Stage ` 10:00 • Remarks from Ben (Slides 1-5)Update on Knowledge Strategy • Update on Environmental Scan • Organizational Importance of Evaluation • Update on Design and Progress of Developmental Evaluation 10:45 • Approach (Slides 6-11) • Outcomes (Slides 12-14) • Overarching outcomes • Data collection methods • Member value (Slides 15-16) • Data collection methods • Break • Alignment with TII evaluation (Slides 17-18)12:00 • Next Steps/Action Items

3. Turning Information into Knowledge  Knowledge into Influence Goal:Develop a deliberate and systematic knowledge strategy, which ensures that Living Cities’ key “knowledge assets” – knowledge we are uniquely positioned to contribute – are being strategically mined and harnessed to maximize influence and, therefore, impact. Principles that Guide our Work: • Knowledge is the cornerstone of Living Cities’ leadership and influence work; • Living Cities is part of a broader problem-solving network, within which the timely dissemination of a range of knowledge content is critical; • New, innovative methods for creating and sharing content at all stages of the knowledge lifecycle- from emergent thought to tested approaches and best practices – are needed; and • Knowledge creation and sharing must be embedded within existing structures and routines of the organization to have maximum impact.

4. Research and Development The Integration Initiative Turning Information into Knowledge  Knowledge into Influence External Environment Knowledge Information Influence • Scanning • Digesting & Synthesizing • Does this contribute to LC leadership on target issues? • Will this provoke thought/advance thinking? • Creating Content • Who would be interested in this knowledge? • How would it best be absorbed? • Disseminating & Deploying • What are the best ways (content products and channels) to share this knowledge with target audiences?

5. Leadership and Influence Continuum Audiences: Dissemination (low touch)Deployment (high touch) Tweet/Brief insight Blog Post PPT White Paper Suite of Materials Framework • Federal and state policy makers • Philanthropists • Potential social investors • Intermediaries,nonprofits • Business • Media Content: Other external • Actors engaged in TII cities • R&D Grantees and borrowers • PMI participants • Civic Leaders • LC active members • LC member organizations • LC staff External actively engaged Channel: Internal PMI/ State Opportunity Network Social Media (e.g. Twitter, Facebook, Portals) Boot Camp

6. How the Developmental Evaluation supports the Board’s Decision-Making Process Oct 2012 • Thinking about the next round: • Ultimately, what will it take to ensure that LC accelerates its ability to achieve its mission in the next round? • How will LC produce value for its members? Given these changes, how does LC need to change its focus and strategies in the next round? EC / BOARD MEETINGS • Evaluating past and current work: In what ways are LC’s investments, strategies and tools achieving visible progress towards its outcomes? In what ways is LC providing value to its members? May 2012 How are conditions changing? DEVELOPMENTAL EVALUATION ENVIRONMENTAL SCAN Oct 2011

7. Agenda Overview: Approach • Welcome, Introductions, and Setting the Stage ` 10:00 • Remarks from Ben (Slides 1-5)Update on Knowledge Strategy • Update on Environmental Scan • Organizational Importance of Evaluation • Update on Design and Progress of Developmental Evaluation 10:45 • Approach (Slides 6-11) • Outcomes and Member Value (Slides 12-17) • Overarching outcomes • Data collection methods • Member value • Data collection methods • Break • Alignment with TII evaluation (Slides 18-19)12:00 • Next Steps/Action Items

8. Developmental Evaluation Overview • Timeframe: • Underway as of September 2011 • Mid-term report to inform decision making about next round—August 2012 • Goals: • LC staff, members, field learn from results: • --On-the-Ground, Leverage and Influence (Outcomes component) • Members recognize and increase their differential impact (Member Value component) • LC creates a culture of learning and innovation internally and in its network • Approach: • Developmental-- Embedding evaluative inquiry into day-to-day work so we learn and DEVELOP program and strategy in real-time.

9. Scope of the Living Cities Developmental Evaluation Learning Organization Creation • How do we use the evaluation to embed evaluative inquiry into our work? Overall Progress Toward Outcomes: On-the-Ground, Influence, Leverage • How are the strategies and tools Living Cities employs supporting accomplishment of these outcomes? • How is who Living Cities is (its gravitas, the space and funding it creates for innovation) affecting what it is able to accomplish?? • What will it take to ensure that Living Cities maximizes its contribution to integrating people, place and opportunity between now and June 2013? In the next round of funding? • In what ways are Living Cities’ investments achieving progress toward our outcomes? • In what ways are Living Cities’ investments achieving progress toward these outcomes? Evaluation Focus Member Value Received • How is Living Cities producing value for its members? • How can Living Cities maximize the value it produces for members in the next round of funding?

10. Key Drivers: People , Place, and Opportunity People Place Mutually reinforcing drivers that must be simultaneously addressed to achieve opportunity for low-income people & places Opportunity

11. How We Measure Impact On-the-ground (OTG) Results:Changes in people’s lives at the individual or population level Influence:Changes in practice, policy, partnerships and issue visibility Leverage:Changes in funding flows resulting from philanthropic, governmental, and private sector investment strategies

12. Priorities Integration Initiative R&D Leadership & Influence Members Leaders PEOPLE Low-Income people are prepared to enter jobs and achieve economic stability Education Pipeline Newark Income & Assets Twin Cities PLACE Living environment enables low-income people to enter jobs and achieve economic stability Knowledge/ Outcomes Capture & Dissemination Transit-Oriented Development Detroit Policy Makers OPPORTUNITY Jobs and business opportunities exist for low-income people to achieve economic stability Baltimore Green Economy Cleveland

13. Agenda Overview: Outcomes and Member Value • Welcome, Introductions, and Setting the Stage ` 10:00 • Remarks from Ben (Slides 1-5)Update on Knowledge Strategy • Update on Environmental Scan • Organizational Importance of Evaluation • Update on Design and Progress of Developmental Evaluation 10:45 • Approach (Slides 6-11) • Outcomes and Member Value (Slides 12-17) • Overarching outcomes • Data collection methods • Member value • Data collection methods • Break • Alignment with TII evaluation (Slides 18-19)12:00 • Next Steps/Action Items

14. Outcomes for Living Cities’ Organizational Evaluation Long-Term Outcomes Short and Intermediate Outcomes to Evaluate Evaluation Questions 1. Low income people enjoy greater economic opportunity because of the rewiring of large scale systems.  2. Low income people have expanded access to mainstream resources, products, and services. Increased acknowledgement and understanding of the failures of existing siloed systems by cross-sector stakeholders (local, state and national levels). • In what ways are Living Cities’ investments achieving progress toward these outcomes? • How are the strategies and tools Living Cities employs supporting accomplishment of these outcomes? • How is who Living Cities is (its gravitas, the space and funding it creates for innovation) affecting what it is able to accomplish? Mutual responsibility for finding better solutions is taken by cross-sector stakeholders -- including new and unlikely partners. Innovative, integrated approaches to fixing systems failures are identified and tested. Accelerated adoption (by philanthropy, private sector and government) of successful solutions. Increased support by government policy and public and private funding for integrated approaches to improving the lives of low-income people. Decreased policy support and funding for siloed approaches. Increased innovation and adaptation of mainstream products and services to benefit low income people and communities. Increased number of low-income people enjoy greater economic opportunity and access to mainstream resources, products and services as a result of Living Cities’ programs.

15. Scope of the Living Cities Developmental Evaluation Evaluation Goals LC staff, members, field learn from results – On-the-Ground, Influence, Leverage (Outcomes Component) Members recognize and increase their differential impact (Member Value Component) LC creates a culture of learning and innovation internally and in its network Overall Progress Toward Outcomes: On-the-Ground, Influence, Leverage Member Value Received Results, Impact, Knowledge Gained Evaluation Focus Living Cities Core Tools/Strategies: • Catalyst Fund • Grantmaking • Convening Methodology • Board/Committee Meetings • Knowledge Strategy Living Cities Core Investments: • TII • PMI • Education • Boot Camps • Working Groups • Capital Absorption • Anchor Institution Design Labs • Trends In Focus

16. Data Collection Methods to Evaluate Living Cities’ Outcomes • Validate outcomes and develop indicators • Cross-Cutting Stakeholder Interviews (Feb/Mar): • Conduct 10-15 interviews with members, member staff and key stakeholders to identify: • In which investments LC has made the greatest/least measurable progress against its outcomes; • The most/least valuable LC “technologies” (grantmaking, convenings, research, Catalyst Fund, etc.) vis their ability to create action toward LC’s outcomes • Ways in which who LC is has affected its accomplishments; was in which LC could use who we are create greater leverage. • Leverage and coordinate existing/planned grant evaluations (as launched): • TII, Income & Assets, Green Economy, TOD • 4. Leverage Real -Time Evaluation findings and link directly to outcomes (ongoing): • Capital Absorption, Anchor Institution Design Lab, Trends in Focus, PMI, Working Groups • 5. Conduct deep dive evaluations on key investments in this round: • Education, Boot Camps, PMI, Working Groups, TII • Methods, sequence and timing: • Lead assigned to each area and detailed plan (Feb) • Document review (Feb) • Conduct surveys (March) • In-depth interviews with select members/stakeholders based on cross-cutting interviews, document reviews and survey responses (May/June) • 6. Preliminary headline report from stakeholder interviews (April)

17. How Living Cities Strives to Create Value for Members • Provide cross-sector senior level forum • Identify/create opportunity to better align work to accelerate impact • Create venues that allow members to share knowledge from their own portfolios • Create venues to develop and deploy emerging approaches • Identify opportunities that allow members to craft shared response to crisis/emergent trends • Identify opportunities that allow members to nimbly invest in crises/emergent trends • Ensure that R &D investment inform member practice • Learn from LC investments, activities, and LC members • Support innovation in use of capital by philanthropy and financial institutions • Create engagement opportunities for local, state, and federal officials and agencies • Develop direct working relationships with national institutions and federal agencies

18. Data Collection Methods to Evaluate Member Value • Complete material review and analysis (Feb) • Member descriptions of value produced by Living Cities from document review have been captured • Descriptions from commentary from 20th Anniversary celebration have been captured • Analyze descriptions in relation to types of value expected (previous slide) • Use analysis to develop member survey and interview protocol • Conduct member surveys (Mar) • Two surveys: Executive level and program staff level • Conduct member interviews (May/June) • Identify subset of executives and program staff to interview based on survey responses and comments captured from 20th Anniversary celebration and Annual Report • Will coordinate/combine these interviews with interviews planned for the outcomes evaluation • Interviews will be conducted by Fourth Quadrant Partners team • Track investment and participation data (ongoing) • For example: • Member participation in Living Cities meetings and convenings • Level of member financial investment in Living Cities work • Include results and analysis in mid-term Developmental Evaluation Report (Aug)

19. Agenda Overview: Alignment with TII • Welcome, Introductions, and Setting the Stage ` 10:00 • Remarks from Ben (Slides 1-5)Update on Knowledge Strategy • Update on Environmental Scan • Organizational Importance of Evaluation • Update on Design and Progress of Developmental Evaluation 10:45 • Approach (Slides 6-11) • Outcomes and Member Value (Slides 12-17) • Overarching outcomes • Data collection methods • Member value • Data collection methods • Break • Alignment with TII evaluation (Slides 18-19)12:00 • Next Steps/Action Items

20. Evaluation Roll –up: Flow and Timing