Toward Racial Equity: Navigating Diverse Conceptualizations and Perspectives in Social Justice-Oriented Evaluation Practice

Abstract

The effects of race can manifest in various ways in evaluation contexts, making it critical for evaluators to unpack how race and racism are “complex and destructive forces” for racially minoritized and Indigenous communities. The clarion calls by evaluators on the need for greater attention to issues of race and racism in evaluation underscore the profound urgency to investigate the topic now, given that evaluation can be an important driver in creating societal change, both with and as part of racially minoritized and Indigenous communities. Our purpose in this article is to share findings from 29 semi-structured interviews that address racial equity conceptualizations advanced by programs or evaluators and how evaluators navigated differing conceptualizations or viewpoints of racial equity when working with community members, program leaders or staff, and funders or commissioners.