Driving Force Group

Driving Force Group

Korwin Consulting provided evaluation support to Driving Force Group’s philanthropic initiatives, which are dedicated to social justice, racial equity, and making deep community impact. Korwin Consulting evaluated the Huddle Up initiative, which seeks to improve the quality and responsiveness of the ecosystem – schools, families, and communities — that influence the educational and life outcomes of Black boys. The evaluation used interviews, surveys, and focus groups to collect input and feedback from key staff, community stakeholders, parents/guardians, and students to provide recommendations and highlight outcomes to program staff.

We also developed an evaluation plan and theory of change for the Yetunde Price Resource Center (YPRC), which was created to honor its namesake — the sister of Venus and Serena Williams who was tragically killed by an act of senseless violence in 2003. The YPRC addresses the needs of those who have experienced violence through trauma-informed programming.

William and Flora Hewlett Foundation

The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation established its Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative in order to support two regional foundations — the Central Valley Community Foundation, based in Fresno and working in communities in California’s Central Valley, and the Latino Community Foundation, based in San Francisco, supporting organizations led by and working with Latino communities in the Central Valley and San Francisco Bay Area.

After eight years of funding an array of teen pregnancy prevention efforts in the Bay Area and Central Valley, the Foundation contracted with Korwin Consulting: (1) to conduct a retrospective analysis at the community and program level to identify what, if anything, has changed in the teen pregnancy prevention landscape in the geographies served, and (2) informed by that analysis, to develop a set of questions that sub-grantees can use to measure knowledge, attitude, and practice outcomes of their programs going forward.

California Youth Connection

California Youth Connection (CYC) is an advocacy organization guided by—and largely led by—current and former foster youth. CYC focuses on youth development and promoting the participation of foster youth in policy development and legislative change to improve the child welfare system. Between 2002 and 2007, Korwin Consulting worked with CYC to evaluate its impact on the personal capacity and development of its members, its chapters’ capacity to engage in local and statewide policy efforts, and its broader impact on statewide policy related to the child welfare system throughout California.

In 2012 and 2013, our team led a series of trainings for CYC staff and youth leaders. These “Think Like an Evaluator” trainings covered how to develop and understand logic models, how to use evaluation questions to help guide program development, how to decide what evaluation tools to use, and how to analyze and use data to increase effectiveness. In 2014, Korwin Consulting supported CYC in the analysis and reporting of the impact of its positive youth development model on foster youth in California and in other states where it has been replicated.

Y.O.U.T.H. Training Project

The Y.O.U.T.H. Training Project (YTP), a project of the California Youth Connection, uses an innovative youth developed and delivered curriculum providing child welfare staff with the instruction and tools they need to assist foster youth in making a successful transition to independence and self-sufficiency. Between 2006 and 2009, Korwin consulting partnered with YTP to evaluate its impact on foster youth and the child welfare professionals they train. Evaluation strategies included the administration and evaluation of retrospective pre-tests, online follow-up surveys, focus groups, interviews, and journals to evaluate youth leadership and improved social worker outcomes. In 2012, when California’s new law supporting foster youths’ transition to independence, Fostering Connections to Success Act (AB 12), went into effect, YTP developed a training curriculum to bring to child welfare workers who are charged with implementing AB 12. Korwin Consulting conducted a mixed methods evaluation in July 2012 to capture insights about the development process and analyze early outcomes of this training.

Zellerbach Family Foundation

The mission of the Zellerbach Family Foundation is to be a catalyst for constructive social change by initiating and investing in efforts that strengthen families and communities. Through its Improving Human Service Systems funding area, Zellerbach supports efforts to improve the management, practice, and accountability of public systems serving vulnerable children and families. One funding strategy used is to support organizations that include youth leadership in efforts to improve public policies and practices that affect their lives. Korwin Consulting partnered with Zellerbach and its grantees to shed light on the different roles that individual organizations and associated youth are playing in change efforts, as well as the outcomes resulting from their work. The evaluation process included interviews with youth-centered organizations and external key stakeholders, a review of several participating organizations’ internal documents, and research on the youth voice strategy.

YWCA of Silicon Valley

New Options is the YWCA of Silicon Valley’s multilingual, school-based after-school program. Its goal is to empower youth by building developmental assets, promoting healthy lifestyles, explaining positive life options, and creating a sense of hope for young people. Korwin Consulting facilitated a 6-month participatory process with New Options staff to jointly develop New Options’ logic model and evaluation design to guide future program evaluation efforts.

Youth In Mind

Youth In Mind (YIM) is a statewide, constituent-run organization made up of young people impacted by the mental healthcare system and seeking to promote positive change through leadership and advocacy within the field. YIM envisions a mental healthcare system that provides all youth ages 12-28 with developmentally appropriate psycho-education, empowerment, alternative health care, and peer support services in which youth will be involved in decision making on individual, local, and policy levels. YIM members participate in member leadership summits, mental health conferences, and local advocacy opportunities.

In 2010/2011, YIM built its organizational capacity by inviting members to participate in two capacity building convenings where they could strengthen leadership and advocacy skills. Korwin Consulting worked closely with YIM staff to develop and disseminate post-conference surveys tracking convening participants’ experience and learnings. We analyzed survey results to assess whether and how participation in these convenings changed youth members’ knowledge, well-being, and capacity to more actively engage in changing mental health practices and policies.

Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District

The Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District (FSUSD) contracted with Korwin Consulting to assess the community’s pre-kindergarten service needs and to develop a strategic plan aimed at addressing those needs. Through key informant interviews, surveys, research of best practices, and facilitation of community planning meetings, this planning process provided the district with the information and community buy-in necessary to begin ensuring that all children are “ready to learn” when they enter kindergarten.

New Conservatory Theatre

The New Conservatory Theatre’s YouthAware Educational Theatre program was designed to increase young people’s sensitivity and tolerance toward those who may be different from them—addressing issues of homophobia, self-esteem, discrimination, peer pressure, youth violence, and identity. Through post-performance surveys, performance observation, post-performance correspondence, and summary performance attendance data, this evaluation focused on the immediate impact that the performance had on its young viewers. The central questions revolved around how audience members interpret the play’s messages. Do they relate to any of the characters in the play? Have they experienced or observed similar situations as those depicted in the play? And finally, has seeing this play in any way influenced their tolerance levels toward LGBTQ community members?

Ally Action

Ally Action engaged Korwin Consulting in evaluating its RESPECT and PRYDE programs to learn whether and how they are strengthening the capacity of schools to reduce the behavioral risks that threaten the health and well-being of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning youth. Results of this two-year study show that more than 600 teachers and staff are taking the knowledge gained in RESPECT training workshops and applying it in their schools through advocacy, anti-gay harassment intervention, and education of students.  Equally impressive, the more than 2,000 young people participating in PRYDE classroom-based sensitivity trainings indicate a greater willingness to support LGBTQ youth and, in some cases, change their own harassing behavior toward these youth, as a result of the training.