Evaluation Learning Lab

CSC served as a core participant in a groundbreaking consortium convened by The Nathan Cummings Foundation, Animating Democracy, and the Arts, Culture, and Social Justice Network to advance the field of evaluation in arts and social change work.

The Evaluation Learning Lab was created to reimagine assessment practices so they reflect the values, cultural logics, and justice commitments embedded in creative social change efforts.

Rather than applying conventional metrics to complex cultural work, the Lab sought to develop evaluation approaches capable of capturing aesthetic integrity, community-defined impact, and systems transformation.

CSC contributed strategy guidance, facilitation support, and evaluation expertise to help shape the Lab’s direction and outputs. Collective efforts focused on:

• Developing a framework for ethical evaluation adaptable across diverse arts and justice contexts
• Articulating criteria for assessing aesthetic excellence alongside social efficacy
• Advancing methodologies and indicators capable of measuring systems change and organizational development over time

This work challenged extractive and reductive evaluation models, positioning assessment as a reflective and relational practice aligned with the lived realities of artists and communities engaged in justice work.

The Evaluation Learning Lab contributed to a growing field-wide shift — recognizing that meaningful impact in arts and social justice requires tools that honor cultural autonomy, complexity, and long-term transformation.

This engagement reflects CSC’s broader commitment to aligning evaluation, strategy, and cultural wisdom — ensuring that learning practices strengthen rather than constrain regenerative social change.