RVC 2015 Formative Evaluation Report - final · Rainier Valley Corps Formative Evaluation Mini-Report TrueBearing Consulting October 2015 2 Evaluation team. The evaluation team included

Rainier Valley Corps FORMATIVE EVALUATION MINI-‐REPORT

Presented by

Jessica Aurelia Carr, J.D.

Nathan Brown, Ph.D.

October 2015

Rainier Valley Corps Formative Evaluation Mini-Report

TrueBearing Consulting October 2015

Table of Contents

Executive Summary ...................................................................................................... 1 About Rainier Valley Corps ........................................................................................... 5

Formation and timeline. ............................................................................................ 5 RVC partners and funders. ........................................................................................ 6 Mission, vision, goals, and values. ............................................................................ 7

Evaluation Overview ..................................................................................................... 8 Evaluation team.. ....................................................................................................... 8

Formative Evaluation Design and Measurement .......................................................... 9 Key evaluation questions. ......................................................................................... 9 Methods. ................................................................................................................... 9 Multimethod strategy… ............................................................................................. 9

Formative Evaluation Results ..................................................................................... 10 Performance of evaluation instruments .................................................................. 11 What has gone well so far? . ................................................................................... 14 What could have gone better? ................................................................................ 18 What lessons have been learned? .......................................................................... 22 What did you observe related to RVC’s values? ..................................................... 24 What would you suggest as future RVC goals and priorities?. ............................... 29

Summary. .................................................................................................................... 31



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Executive Summary

About Rainier Valley Corps. Rainier Valley Corps (RVC) is an organization in its pilot program year that seeks to cultivate leaders of color by placing them in nonprofit organizations led by communities of color, providing training, mentoring, and support to the leaders and the organizations, and building the capacities of communities-of-color-led nonprofits. RVC also strives to create space for collaboration among communities of color with a goal of systemic change.

RVC, under the fiscal sponsorship of the Vietnamese Friendship Association (VFA), has a Steering Committee that serves as its highest governing body. The Steering Committee comprises ten members, half of whom are Executive Directors of communities-of-color-led nonprofits located in Rainier Valley. The staff includes an Executive Director and an Associate Director, with a Program Director and Volunteer Systems Director coming on near the beginning of program launch. Five active committees support the work:

• Communication handles branding, including the website and all other marketing materials;

• Community Engagement creates systems and tools around selecting host sites and fellows as well as conducting outreach;

• Curriculum determines training content and schedule for fellows and host sites; • Evaluation supports the work of the external evaluation consultants and

conducts supplementary internal evaluation as needed; and • Fundraising develops and implements the organization's development plans,

including specifically around individual donors and the annual gala. Each committee has a chair or co-chairs, a staff lead, and an additional 3 to 20

volunteers.

During its start-up year, numerous initial tasks faced RVC, including legal creation and pursuit of its tax-exempt status, fundraising, staff recruitment and hiring, and establishment of essential organizational functions, in addition to program development, recruitment of community-based organization (CBO) Partners and Fellows, and the delivery of its program.

Evaluation overview. During this initial phase of RVC’s organizational life, RVC identified two primary evaluation needs: 1) a formative evaluation intended not only to document the initial processes that gave rise to RVC but also to reflect on the formative process informing subsequent decisions, and 2) a summative/program-level evaluation of the first program year. This report comprises the formative evaluation of Rainier Valley Corps, based on interviews and surveys conducted in 2015.



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Evaluation team. The evaluation team included RVC staff, the external evaluators with TrueBearing Consulting, and RVC Evaluation Committee members.

Five key evaluation questions. Questions addressing five areas were designed to elicit information that would support organizational learning as RVC prepared to launch its first Fellows cohort – a significant stage in RVC’s development. The five key formative evaluation questions are:

• What has gone well? • What could have gone better? • What lessons have been learned or observed? • What did you observe related to RVC values? • What would you suggest as RVC future goals and priorities?

Methods. The evaluation employed a multi-method strategy to gather reflections and feedback from those involved in RVC’s formation process. This design involved three primary sources: documentation related to RVC’s formation; in-person interviews with key stakeholders as available; and a broad Community Survey to gather reflections and feedback from as many of those involved with RVC as possible.

Formative evaluation results. The following are highlights of results from participant observations found in the interviews and Community Survey, organized around the five key evaluation questions.

1. What has gone well so far? • Building intentional relationships both within and external to RVC with individuals

in a diverse range of backgrounds, roles, and areas of expertise. Quarterly gatherings and events effectively built community among RVC supporters.

• Leveraging community support, excitement, and energy through creating engagement opportunities for volunteers. This significantly amplified the work that was accomplished with minimal initial staffing.

• Creating a vision and mission that resonate with funders and the broader Rainier Valley community, keeping in mind the goals of a replicable model and creating systemic change.

2. What could have gone better?

• Internal communication and information flow within and among staff, committees, and leadership. Room for improvement regarding follow through communications for individual donors and potential non-committee volunteers.

• Need for a strong onboarding plan for volunteers. A lack of clarity around the roles of staff and volunteers, accountability/ownership, time demand, and decision flow led to some confusion, tension and/or conflict.



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• Systems and organizational infrastructure needed to support and streamline work going forward. This had an impact on accountability, decision making processes, and efficient use of time and resources.

3. What lessons have been learned or observed?

• Engaging with communities-of-color-led nonprofits early increased a sense of ownership and provided valuable information shaping the project.

• Similarly, fostering multiple levels of stakeholders and supporters early and throughout the process was important both to enable RVC to accomplish its tasks and to ensure all voices/perspectives are heard and valued. Soliciting input from supporters leads to new ideas and authentic relationship building.

• The need to be open, adaptable, and vulnerable as situations change. • Using the mission, vision, and values to guide both major and day-to-day

decisions – which sometimes meant making mid-course adjustments (such as the shift in focus from immigrant and refugee communities to all communities of color). An associated lesson was the challenge to implement the shift in ways that truly encompass all communities of color (e.g., some saw African American and Latino communities as being left out of this new commitment).

• The broader goal of developing a replicable model framed and focused the learning and reflection process. Lessons learned have potential to impact the field, the sector, and change people’s minds about how they engage with and invest in communities of color.

• What did you observe related to RVC’s values?

• Equity: Thought and intention (both observed and still needed) around equity in planning, making decisions, and setting goals and standards. In particular, challenges emerged around how to balance engaging supporters with existing capacity for pro bono work, while acknowledging those without that capacity and finding ways to support and engage them as well.

• Integrity: Making changes to RVC’s focus to better match RVC’s mission and values (e.g., changing from immigrant/refugee focus to all communities of color).

• Community: Welcoming input from others structured as a dialogue, along with inclusion, building trust. This developed a sense of ownership among community members and volunteers. RVC is both rooted in and committed to the Rainier Valley. Aspiration for RVC to take on a role as facilitator of shared space for community discussion and reflection, aside from its program-related activity.

• Action: Nimble, fast-moving organization; more action desired around outreach to the larger community.

• Transformation: Although largely perceived as yet to happen, creating awareness, coalition-building, and developing the model were perceived as the beginnings of transformation. Transformation aspired to on multiple levels – not



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only in the context of the Fellows and CBO Partners, but also transformation in the Rainier Valley and in a variety of systemic contexts.

• What would you suggest as future RVC goals and priorities?

• More visibility and outreach to larger community and to particular identified sectors (e.g., members of the Black community in the Rainier Valley, business partners), along with continuing to build intentional relationships external to RVC with a wider swath of local leaders, communities of color, and allies.

• Further development/integration of internal communication flow, establish transparent systems and processes.

• Fuller onboarding process and clarification of roles of volunteers, staff, and leadership to support and streamline work, as well as increasing interaction among all RVC committees and leadership.

• Work to fulfill RVC’s mission through the first cohort year and those to come; consider expanding the scope and reach of the program. Recognize that RVC’s committees represent an opportunity to live into the mission.

• Spend more time capturing the lessons learned that could inform the field, particularly regarding developing leaders and capacity in communities of color.

Summary. The foregoing highlighted results depict a snapshot of RVC as an

organization at a crucial developmental stage – moving from the planning and building stages towards launch of the first program year. Significant successes included building a substantial network of community supporters around a mission in dialogue with the goals, concerns, and needs of those it seeks to reach. Difficulties emerged around communication, unclear roles and expectations, and low organizational structure in place. Lessons emerged regarding the need for multilayered, early, and ongoing engagement with stakeholders and supporters; the commitment to upholding RVC’s values; and the challenge of accomplishing tasks with limited capacity.

Community was perceived as the most prominent value in RVC’s work, with significant effort towards equity. Integrity, though subtler, was observed in RVC’s commitment to its values in decision making. Finally, these results reflected a sense that the stage is set to facilitate ongoing Action and Transformation. Suggested future goals and priorities were external-facing (e.g. more visibility, outreach to specific communities and sectors, and developing relationships outside Rainier Valley) as well as internal (e.g., improving communication, roles, and structures to support and enhance workflow).

These results are wide-ranging and provide a rich depth of texture to understanding RVC’s formation to date. Additional exploration of the results within areas of particular interest in the full report and appendices will likely yield further insight to guide future planning and decision making.



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About Rainier Valley Corps

Rainier Valley Corps (RVC) is an organization in its pilot program year that seeks to cultivate leaders of color by placing them in nonprofit organizations led by communities of color, providing training, mentoring, and support to the leaders and the organizations, and building capacity in communities-of-color-led nonprofits. RVC also strives to create space for collaboration among communities of color with a goal of systemic change.

Formation and timeline. Rainier Valley Corps embraced a community-driven approach from its inception. As RVC describes on its website, “Over a dozen refugee and immigrant CBOs serving the Rainier Valley, local funders, non-profit capacity builders and other partners have worked together since September 2012 to form Rainier Valley Corps (RVC). The work included an initial feasibility study and initial fundraising to begin implementing the project.”1 A condensed timeline of RVC’s primary stages follows.

Brief RVC Timeline

2012 • Conversations begin with interested community members, CBO leaders, and funders, initiated by Vu Le

September 2012 – March 2013

Feasibility Study Phase • A 17-member Steering Committee including funders,

capacity building intermediaries, and refugee and immigrant organizations convenes

• Research conducted (including review of secondary sources, Rainier Valley CBO Organizational Needs Survey, 20 interviews with key information sources and potential partners)

• Two larger gatherings of refugee and immigrant CBOs in the Rainier Valley

2013 • RVC Program Case Statement (September 2013)2 2014 • RVC Mission/Vision and Theory of Change developed3

• Executive Director hired, followed by Research and Development Associate and Associate Director

• Open House (July 2014)

1 See Rainier Valley Corps website, http://rainiervalleycorps.org/about/ 2 See Appendix C for RVC Program Case Statement. 3 See Appendix C for RVC Mission/Theory of Change Infographic.



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• Curriculum development begins, committee formed (September 2014)

• Communications and Fundraising Committees formed (September 2014)

• First Quarterly Gathering (October 2014) • Community Engagement Committee formed

2015 • 501(c)(3) application process initiated • Evaluation development process begins, committee

formed (January 2015) • Professor john a. powell event (February 2015) • CBO Partner and Fellow applications developed and

selection criteria identified • Outreach and Communications Associate, interim

Program Director, permanent Program Director, and Volunteer Systems Director hired

• First cohort of 10 CBO Partners and Fellows selected • Program launch, Welcoming Reception (September 2015) • 501(c)(3) status achieved (October 2015)

RVC partners and funders. RVC benefited from financial and organizational

support from a variety of organizations, beginning with the initial group of Rainier Valley immigrant- and refugee-led CBOs. RVC formed as an organization under the fiscal sponsorship umbrella of Vietnamese Friendship Association (VFA), a Rainier Valley 501(c)(3) organization. Program implementation was co-led by VFA and United Way of King County. Additional collaborating organizations include 501 Commons, the Nonprofit Assistance Center, Home Sight, the Seattle Foundation, Social Venture Partners, the City of Seattle, OneAmerica, the Loom Foundation, Social Justice Fund Northwest and others.

RVC’s major funding supporters include the Gates Foundation, United Way of King County, the City of Seattle, the Loom Foundation, Social Venture Partners, the Seattle Foundation Neighbor to Neighbor Fund, the Statewide Capacity Collaborative, and individual donors.

RVC structure. At present, RVC has a Steering Committee that serves as its highest governing body. The Steering Committee comprises ten members, half of whom are Executive Directors of communities-of-color-led nonprofits located in Rainier Valley. The staff includes an Executive Director and an Associate Director, with a Program Director and Volunteer Systems Director coming on near the beginning of program launch. Five active committees support the work:



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• Communication handles branding, including the website and all other marketing materials;

• Community Engagement creates systems and tools around selecting host sites and fellows as well as conducting outreach;

• Curriculum determines training content and schedule for fellows and host sites; • Evaluation supports the work of the external evaluation consultants and

conducts supplementary internal evaluation as needed; and • Fundraising develops and implements the organization's development plans,

including specifically around individual donors and the annual gala. Each committee has a chair or co-chairs, a staff lead, and an additional 3 to 20

volunteer members.

Mission, vision, goals, and values. RVC worked to establish guiding organizational principles during its formative process in 2014, including its mission, vision, goals, and values.4

Mission Cultivate leaders of color to strengthen the capacity of community-of-color-led

nonprofits and foster collaboration between diverse communities to effect systemic change.

Vision

We envision a world in which communities of color have the power to fulfill the dreams for our communities.

Goals

Communities of color are better served through direct services because of stronger organizations within the communities;

Communities of color are equally represented, engaged and influential in broader shared efforts such as those to address systems change in education

equity and economic development;

4 Further information about Rainier Valley Corps may be found in Appendix C, or on the organization’s website, http://www.rainiervalleycorps.org.



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There is stronger and more sustainable leadership in communities of color-led organizations;

An effective model of capacity building exists that can be replicated in other regions.

Values Equity | Integrity | Community | Action | Transformation

Evaluation Overview

During this initial phase of RVC’s organizational life, RVC identified two primary evaluation needs: 1) a formative evaluation conducted part way into the first year intended not only to document the initial processes that gave rise to the RVC effort but also to reflect on the formative process and inform subsequent decisions, and 2) a summative/program-level evaluation of the first year of programming. This formative evaluation report captures RVC’s formation process from its inception in 2012 through September 2015 (the beginning of the first program year).

Evaluation team. The evaluation team included RVC staff, the external evaluators with TrueBearing Consulting, and RVC evaluation committee members.

RVC staff. The primary staff members involved with the formative evaluation included Tara Sloane, Research and Development Associate, Vu Le, Executive Director, Mytoan Nguyen-Akbar, former Interim Program Director, Abesha Shiferaw, current Program Director, and Raul Alicdan, Associate Director.

External evaluator - TrueBearing Consulting. RVC selected TrueBearing Consulting, a Seattle-based research and evaluation firm, to conduct this evaluation. The TrueBearing team comprised staff experienced in research and evaluation for nonprofit and public agencies, drawing on training and experience in psychology, policy and the law, as well as evaluation design and statistics. For more information about the TrueBearing team, see Appendix A.

Evaluation committee. RVC formed a volunteer evaluation committee in early 2015. The purpose of the committee was to supplement and carry out portions of the data collection process under TrueBearing’s supervision, as well as to support delivery of elements of the Fellows curriculum related to evaluation. Members of the evaluation



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committee conducted the formative interviews and assisted with transcription.5 For more information about the Evaluation Committee, see Appendix A.

Formative Evaluation Design and Measurement

As a community-driven organization, many individuals participated in the formation of Rainier Valley Corps in several types of roles. The evaluation was designed to gather observations and feedback from those involved in RVC’s formation process to support future organizational reflection, decision making, and planning.

Key evaluation questions. In addition to documenting RVC’s formation process, five broad areas for exploration were identified. Questions centered on these five areas were designed to facilitate organizational learning as RVC prepared to launch its first Fellows cohort – a significant stage in RVC’s development. The five key formative evaluation questions are:

• What has gone well? • What could have gone better? • What lessons have been learned/observed? • What did you observe related to RVC values? • What would you suggest as RVC future goals and priorities?

Methods. In collaboration with RVC staff, the external evaluators selected evaluation methods for the formative evaluation that aligned with organizational priorities and identified needs, with consideration of the scope and feasibility.

Multimethod strategy. This evaluation drew upon three complementary sources of information: 1) documentation of RVC’s formative stages, 2) in-depth interviews with selected individuals who have been involved in RVC’s development, and 3) an online survey distributed broadly across RVC’s community stakeholders.

Documentation. Several types of documentation related to RVC’s formation were reviewed for the evaluation. First, summary level documents such as the RVC Program Case Statement, the mission, vision, goals and values, and the summary infographic provided a high level view of the organization. Second were selected process-related documents such as steering committee minutes and notes from key stages in the formative process. The external evaluators’ observations, email communication from RVC, and records were also used to supplement documentation.

5 TrueBearing Consulting would like to thank the Evaluation Committee members for their work conducting interviews and assistance with transcription for this evaluation effort.



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The items in the interview questionnaire and in the Community Survey largely tracked the same broad topics, reflecting the five key evaluation questions. This parallel structure was designed to allow for comparison between interview and survey responses, while leaving space for additional texture and depth to emerge from the more fluid interview format.

Interviews. In order to obtain a broad perspective from across the RVC community, all RVC staff, committee chairs, and executive officers were invited to participate in interviews for the formative evaluation in the summer of 2015. The actual interviews took place during August and September 2015. Interviews were conducted by members of the evaluation committee, also providing some transcription assistance. To review the Interview Questionnaire and Interviewer Guide, see Appendix B.

RVC Community Survey. The RVC Community Survey was aimed at many individuals who have been involved with RVC since its inception in some way (volunteers, staff, funders, etc.) who were not interviewed. The Community Survey was offered through an online survey platform, open from August 26 – September 15, 2015. Email invitations and reminders were sent to 701 individuals from RVC’s primary mailing list (comprising donors, volunteers, individuals from the community, steering committee members, committee members, funders, subscribers to Executive Director Vu Le’s blog, quarterly gathering attendees, and staff). The Community Survey was also publicized via RVC’s social media and website. To review the Community Survey instrument, see Appendix B.

Coding Method. The evaluators implemented a method for coding the raw interview transcripts and qualitative survey data to enable a variety of analysis such as theme frequency, co-occurrence, and word clouds. First, two coders independently read two transcripts several times, identifying themes that emerged from the content. These theme sets were compared and harmonized with the goal of a parsimonious balance between comprehensiveness and minimal numbers of themes – that is, the minimum number of themes that will represent the maximum amount of relevant text. From this process, the evaluators developed a codebook that used a hierarchical structure containing both broad and specific themes, allowing for positive, neutral or negative valancing where appropriate. Codes were applied to all transcripts and open-ended survey data. New themes were added as needed throughout the coding process. To review the Interpretive Codebook, see Appendix B.

Formative Evaluation Results

This section describes the performance of the evaluation instruments, as well as the participants and the populations from which they were drawn. Following this, results of the five key evaluation questions are presented.



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Performance of evaluation instruments. The evaluation instruments included live structured interviews and the RVC Community Survey.

Live structured interviews. Of the 22 individuals invited to interview, a total of nine staff, committee chairs, external consultants, and executive officers agreed to participate. Interviews were conducted in person or telephonically by members of the evaluation committee.

RVC Community Survey. Drawing upon RVC contact lists, 701 individuals were invited by email to participate in the survey. In addition, RVC stakeholders were invited to participate online via RVC’s website and social media outlets. This strategy maximized participation, while also limiting the evaluators’ ability to determine an overall response rate. Sixty-one people completed the survey in its entirety, along with an additional 44 who partially completed the instrument.

Year joined RVC. As depicted in Figure 1, most survey respondents reported being new to RVC (83 percent reported joining in 2014 or 2015). However, given the newness of RVC itself, this finding is not unexpected.

Figure 1.

Interviewees’ initial engagement with RVC varied widely, ranging from its initial

exploratory stage in 2012 through those who joined in 2015.

2011/20126%

201311%

201449%

201534%

Distribution By Year Joining RVC

2011/2012

2013

2014

2015



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Roles represented. Figure 2 below depicts the distribution of self-reported roles among survey respondents (19.7 percent of respondents indicated they were “not involved with RVC” and these responses were excluded from the response set for reporting). The most common role among respondents was “community supporter” at 38.8 percent, followed by “committee member” (20.4 percent) and “committee chair/co-chair” (12.2 percent).

Distribution of Primary Roles

Figure 2.



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How respondents learned about RVC. As depicted in Figure 3, personal connections were the most commonly cited way that people found out about RVC – in fact, 41.7 percent heard about RVC directly from an RVC staff member or volunteer. Another 35 percent found out from a friend or colleague. Nonprofits and other community based organizations led 11.7 percent of respondents to find out about RVC, and another 1.7 percent through social media. The “other” sources cited (ten percent) included Executive Director Vu Le, his blog (Nonprofit With Balls), and having been contacted during the feasibility study.

How Respondents Learned About RVC

Figure 3.

Among interviewees, personal connections (RVC volunteers or the Executive Director) were also the most common route to learning about RVC. Other initial links to RVC were made through the individual’s professional setting and job opportunities.

Key Evaluation Questions

Both interviewees and survey respondents were presented with similar questions in each area of inquiry. In the sections to follow, first quantitative results are reported (as available), followed by representative open-ended responses from both survey and interview formats. For additional interview and survey data, redacted for confidentiality, see Appendix D.



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1. What has gone well so far?6

In response to inquiry about what has gone well with the RVC development process to date, comments ranged from general remarks about positive relationship building and opportunities for engagement, to others related to the onboarding experience, to still others that focused on the workgroup experience.

What went well in general. Responding to an open-ended question, survey participants reported that the development of relationships, both within and external to RVC, was a key positive aspect of RVC’s work that has gone well. Related to this theme was RVC’s remarkable effectiveness in engaging new community supporters, funders, and volunteers. Of 158 total tags applied to all open-ended survey responses, the most common themes emerging were:

THEME NUMBER OF

MENTIONS

REPRESENTATIVE QUOTES

BUILDING INTENTIONAL RELATIONSHIPS (EXTERNAL TO RVC)

19 “Engaging a wide range of stakeholders. Building momentum in the community. Creating enthusiasm and building passion for the mission.”

ENGAGEMENT OPPORTUNITIES

17 “RVC is very good at recruiting volunteers and engaging them in the work. They have worked with the community and volunteers to sculpt a strong plan and take action.”

“It seems clear you have done an amazing job engaging a cross-section of community, and tapping into skills and talents from many amazing people. The whole committee system is unbelievable! You've also brought together a great group of non-profits to take part. You've done all this while being very clear about your purpose: capacity building in communities of color.”

RVC’S VALUE OF COMMUNITY

15 “Strengths in the RVC include community collaborations and serving great food at evening events.”

“Lots of community excitement and involvement.”

BUILDING INTENTIONAL RELATIONSHIPS (WITHIN RVC)

15 “Events are superb (usually the right balance of content delivery, content solicitation from audience, inspiration, community building, and meaning making... there's always "fun" included. Every staff person has been such a delight to meet and totally skilled and "delivers" in

6 RVC Community Survey and Interviews: “When you think about how RVC has progressed since the day you first became involved, what has gone well?”



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showing up to people in welcoming/curious/eager/ knowledgeable ways and then making things happen.”

VOLUNTEER ROLES 10 “With very few staffing they've managed to capture a lot of excitement from volunteers and the community and really keep it going into the program launch.”

“I would love to see more hands on the staff team to share the load, but really I think volunteers have stepped up to help with that. To be a bit self-reflective here, sometimes as a volunteer I see in myself and others that this really isn't our ‘main job,’ so things can get sidelined for a while. But most important things really seem to get done when they should.”

“I feel as though I am learning more than I am giving, which is both a strange and wonderful experience as a volunteer. I feel like I am being pushed to learn and grow while sharing the skills and talents I have. This is extremely validating, and I want to keep contributing as a result of this experience.”

RVC MISSION 9 “A great group of community members coming together to create a vision for the nonprofit sector. The group's leadership showing the rest of us how to make big ideas happen.”

“RVC has brought together a group of people who care deeply about Rainier Valley and/or investing in the next generation of leaders of color.”

Table 1.

Other comments. Additional survey responses that did not fit within the themes above but are notable include the following:

“I do not think RVC would have the support it has or the potential to pull in national support had Vu not been so visible, respected and well-loved. Most people see that he is an inspirational leader but they should also notice the intellectual depth he brings and his talents at making people feel heard and honored. In many ways he and the people he is gathering around him represent the great promise of RVC to nurture leaders who can change the sector and benefit all aspects of our communities.”

“This is a wonderful organization with a brilliant ED and lots of wrinkles to work out, but a positive force for social change.”



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In their comments, interviewees echoed the prominent themes discussed above, particularly the quality of the relationships within and external to RVC. One interviewee put it succinctly: “What goes well in all these things is the relationships and kindness and welcoming.”

“What I love about RVC is it tries to be a really big tent. It’s one of the most welcoming places that I’ve ever encountered. … There is a role for anyone who wants to participate. On the flip side of it, it can be a little bit of chaos, but I think in some ways it reflects the community

we’re trying to build and one that leverages people’s strength and the value we see in everybody.”

“I think internally it’s gone really well, what really is amazing about RVC is there is a lot of heart and passion in each of the team members. Vu’s philosophy really is in trusting and relationship building with those that you’re working with, that is really the most important thing. Like you can have millions of projects but for him you just have to trust people and put their whole heart into the work and see how projects flourish from there. And things aren’t always on time, but you really just have to trust everyone with their talents and skills and you’ll see the results

of the project. You can be nimble, you can challenge them, you’re comfortable with each other.”

“The program is hitting its milestones to get up and running and that is of course, completely expected but also completely a miracle.”

“I think one of the great things about RVC is that it has always been a "we" project, even from its very inception.”

Some specific aspects of RVC’s work were called out in interviews as going particularly well. The collaboration with consultants was well received: “Yeah, the consultants. They are so professional. Oh my gosh. They’re so great. They do a lot of pro bono compared to what they get paid to do.”

What went well in the joining/onboarding process. Interviewees, who in their roles as staff, committee chairs, steering committee members, and consultants, represent a cross section of the groups most highly engaged in work of RVC, were



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asked to reflect in depth upon their orientation to RVC and preparation to engage their duties.7

Interviewees described similar stories around joining and onboarding – that there was not a well-defined orientation or process, but rather they had to jump in and engage. This was described as difficult in some ways (see discussion in Question 2 on page 20), but also certain benefits arose from informal onboarding:

“As far as onboarding was concerned, I just had to be shovel ready and take on different roles and tasks, whatever gap was needed to be filled I would just take it on. And what was really cool about that was

Vu trusted my instincts and experience… creating my own [role].”

“Because of the absence of [onboarding and orientation] … there was a lot of leeway and latitude to take things on and jump into work. I think I was able to make a meaningful contribution… much more rapidly than I would have if we had done an interview of your skills and what do you want to do as opposed to picking up work. There’s a balance between

structured and unstructured.”

What went well within workgroups (staff team, committees, etc.). Interviewees, whose duties included staffing or leading workgroups, were also asked to reflect in depth upon the effectiveness of their RVC workgroup as well as their degree of satisfaction with their own contribution.8

Several interviewees reflected that staff were able to accomplish a tremendous amount of work over the last year, in part through rallying so much volunteer energy and support. Across workgroups, having colleagues that were flexible, eager, and understanding of the overarching mission enabled significant work to get done.

7 Interviews: “What went well with respect to your becoming oriented to RVC and ready to fulfill your assignments?” 8 Interviews: “What has gone well in your RVC workgroup? How effective has your workgroup been in accomplishing its goals? How satisfied are you with your personal contribution to your workgroup?”



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“Great volunteers. I just can’t speak enough about all the phenomenal folks who just started stepping up and taking pieces and making it

much more of a doable thing.”

Taking the time to build trust, get to know each other, and familiarize with others’ perspectives was perceived to help with “crunch time” work later on. Several committees also took initiative to build more structure, for example through breaking into subgroups for particular tasks or creating conventions to facilitate collaboration.

2. What could have gone better?9 Both interviewees and survey participants were asked to reflect on what might not have gone as well as desired, or could have gone better.

Coding for the survey responses to this item drew from a broader range of topics than the previous broad item about what has gone well generally. From 99 total tags applied, the top six themes mentioned were:

THEME NUMBER

OF MENTIONS


COMMUNICATION AND INFORMATION MANAGEMENT

9 “I would have appreciated clearly communication about the purpose and progress of the committee I joined. I have not received any updates about what the committee is doing, and how I can help.”

VOLUNTEER ROLES 8 “Distinguishing roles and an accountability structure for committees has been a challenge.”

“I'd like to see more systems developed to alleviate the staff and make the experience better for volunteers.”

“There seems to be a missed opportunity with developing leaders of color within committees as well, but it's not too late to adopt this focus as well.”

TIME DEMAND 7 “Organizational development as the RVC progressed. The staffing is bare bones and reliance on volunteers is stressful and hard to sustain.”


6 “I tried to join a committee and realized I was too busy. I said I could help on occasion but missed one meeting and never heard any follow up from the committee

9 RVC Community Survey and Interviews: “When you think about how RVC has progressed since the day you first became involved, what has not gone well?”



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leader. I also signed up at one of the community meeting to help in certain areas and never heard anything Would have been happy to give some time.”

FUNDRAISING/FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY

6 “The persons I approached to join the RVC Fellows program could not make participating financially feasible. So, while the plan is excellent, the funding is limited.”

“System to cultivate donors at grassroots level.”

LAYING THE GROUNDWORK FOR THE FUTURE

6 “There will be lots of little things that need attention in building the organization of RVC. Doing it right in the beginning will help sustain it later. There has not been as much attention to some of the infrastructure details, but they are only now becoming important.”

Table 2.

Other selected comments. Two notable comments from the Community Survey did not fall within the top themes, but may bear some consideration:

“It was tough as an individual donor to get involved. There was a long delay in my initial inquiry about giving. I haven't gotten much content (just emails would be great!) from RVC since donating. My impression

is that there are very few individual donors, so there is not a communications pipeline for us... but I think you COULD have a lot of

individual donors and might want to consider it.”

“There doesn't seem to be a formal process for onboarding volunteers - It's ironic that a non-profit focused on increasing capacity in CBOs is

itself lacking in its own capacity.”

In the interviews, challenges were mentioned related to low organizational structure, a lack of clarity regarding roles, and time demand.

Low structure. Comments related to low structure surfaced in a variety of contexts, from decision making about what standards were acceptable for RVC products, to uncertainty around the process for developing a public facing marketing tool, to internal conflict resolution.



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“What doesn’t go well is the lack of structure and lack of thinking things through in advance.”

This low structure led to confusion and frustration among staff and committees, as well as a concern that traction was lost as a result. Increasing structure and systems was perceived as a way RVC might further maximize limited resources and volunteer time.

“Because there wasn’t a lot of structure or systems to get things done, it felt a little scattered at times and hard to know if we are prioritizing

and using our limited resources in the smartest way.”

Lack of clarity regarding roles. Related to low structure was a sense across multiple workgroups that unclear roles, accountability, and ownership over specific deliverables led to confusion, “spinning wheels,” and sometimes conflict.

“The biggest thing is having a clear definition of staff versus volunteer roles. So this is not a negative thing. This is part of growing pains… But I can see how, if it’s not clearly defined in the future, not all volunteers will be as flexible. It’s just really important for staff to understand what

is most important for them to be doing.”

Time demand. As one interviewee observed, “There’s been a mismatch between the committee leadership and the membership’s time and the size of the job at hand.” As a largely volunteer-powered organization preparing for its initial program launch, time demand became acute for both staff and volunteers.

“We weren’t always good at keeping to deadlines, and that was hard. Partly because [almost] everybody’s a volunteer … and so it’s based on

their availability and we have to honor that. Sometimes deadlines weren’t always met in terms of a task or product.”



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What did not go well in the joining/onboarding process. Interviewees, who represent the groups most engaged in work of RVC, were asked to reflect in depth upon their orientation to RVC and preparation to engage their duties.10

Those interviewees newer to RVC (joined in 2014 or 2015) were more likely to mention the lack of onboarding when they joined RVC. This may be ascribed to different expectations when joining an established, functioning organization compared to a newly formed smaller group with the goal of starting an organization (as RVC was in 2012 and 2013). One said, “Coming on in the beginning there wasn't really an orientation process. It was me sort of jumping in to something new, learning what RVC is about, … [asking] a million and one questions about everything that is going on, instead of a streamlined orientation process… integrated with all the elements. That never really happened and I understand that because that capacity just wasn't there.”

“I think for the new folks coming on, a bit felt lost at first and then after a couple meetings they felt like, okay, they’re getting it. So the

onboarding for them probably wasn’t totally clear. We didn’t really ‘hire.’”

Interviewees also discussed the challenge of balancing the need to move forward with tasks at hand with the need to orient others, particularly new volunteers, as they joined RVC: “I think it’s important to onboard people as they come and give them context. Otherwise, it’s like… a horrible experience. That said, you can’t have onboard people every single meeting and so… there’s got to be some kind of agreement. ‘Well, we onboard people twice a year’ or whatever it is.”

What did not go well within workgroups (staff team, committees, etc.). Interviewees, whose duties included staffing or leading workgroups, were also asked to reflect in depth upon the effectiveness of their RVC workgroup in learning from mistakes and improving on past work.11

One interviewee shared that insufficient attention by leadership on growing tension or conflict may have had negative ripple effects in workgroups. “[Senior leadership] being more high level at such an early stage of RVC’s development caused a lot of lack of expectations, roles and confusion and frustration with committee

10 Interviews: “How could the orientation and onboarding process have been improved? Were RVC’s expectations related to your role clear to you?” 11 Interviews: “What has not gone well? How effective has your workgroup been in learning from mistakes/improving on past work?”



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members and internal staff.… A lot of conflicts in each committee as a result.… [One] started out with 10-12 people and then all of a sudden people dropped off like flies because… there was a lot of conflict and we didn’t know how to step in. The hesitancy around conflict resolution… again, things that didn’t go well- lack of infrastructure, lack of conflict resolution.”

Another concern raised was related to tensions in work being done within and across committees and staff teams. “I think there’s been a collaboration and sort of co-work tension. I would say across committees, between staff and committees, and within staff, and there’s a bit of… a divide between the full-time staff and the volunteer staff. [Senior leadership sets] policies on who gets to define what work there is to be done and who creates the work environment and who sets deadlines, etc. And that the fluidity in roles and fluidity in accountability makes each of those tensions slightly harder to manage.”

“People have been open to learning from mistakes. We move forward once we make a mistake. I think process is a frustration for all of us. The moving pieces, the timelines, communication within the group.”

Along with the benefits of engaging volunteers in committee roles came concerns around relying significantly on volunteers for substantive program deliverables. This dynamic raised issues around differences in workstyle, in standards for deliverable work product, and substantial time demands placed on volunteers. One interviewee described it this way: “[When volunteers are asked to deliver key program elements] it’ll look like what it looks like and whatever they feel like, because they’re volunteers. And so… they don’t feel the same level of ownership about quality. I worry over that. It’s been a source of stress. So, just having more reality about the level of 5-day a week kind of role this was… has been a downfall. And the lack of reality with what could be done with the committee has been a challenge for us.”

3. What lessons have been learned?12 All participants were asked to reflect upon what lessons have emerged for RVC and the way the way it does its work.

12 RVC Community Survey and Interviews: “When you think about how RVC has progressed since the day you first became involved, what lessons have you learned or observed?”



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THEME NUMBER OF MENTIONS


LAYING THE GROUNDWORK FOR THE FUTURE

13 “The importance of building a network to buoy up a new initiative.”

“The work has paid off. Engaging refugee and immigrant organizations early on was critical as they are so busy, it would have been easy to pass them by... also contracting with key organizations to compensate for their time was helpful.”


8 “Having a broad range of support and ways to regularly bring that support together is vital to the success of this type of start up. Hearing updates from other committees and staff has helped keep me inspired and has brought new faces to the table to support RVC.”

RVC’S VALUE OF COMMUNITY

6 “Importance of including community in sharing the information. Importance of engaging event attendees in activities to solicit their input - results in ideas and relationship building.”

CLARITY AND CONSENSUS REGARDING GOALS

6 “Perseverance and the importance of keeping a strong hold on the shared vision and focus.”

RVC MISSION 6 “I loved the way RVC was adaptive and changed their initial mission to embrace a broader context!”

“That it feels like the commitment to people of color is very specifically not focusing on African Americans and Latinos.”

VOLUNTEER ROLES 4 “Depending on volunteers to launch an organization puts added stress on the staff members to manage people as well as fulfill their own duties.”

“Importance of volunteer engagement and appreciation; RVC could definitely not be successful without the help of volunteers.”

STAFF ROLES 4 “Staff is very adaptable. Learning as they go and making process improvements as needed.”

Table 3.



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Interviewees commented on a variety of lessons learned or observed, both in their individual roles or workgroups and in RVC broadly. Some talked about the dynamics of RVC’s intercultural work and the need to thoughtfully consider what the roles of white community supporters should look like.

One mentioned that since so many new challenges arise in light of the wide variety of work being done, a lesson was to be nimble, open, and vulnerable with others. Yet another discussed the importance particularly for those in leadership roles to set an example of transparency, consistency, and clear, open communication for others.

“Shifting to serving communities of color was a huge shift for us and we learned a lot about it. We also learned about the importance of

values and we spent some time developing our organizational values and vision and mission. So I think that was really important to get

everyone aligned on that because there are just so many perspectives and histories and at the very least we can align on the values of equity

and community.”

More broadly, lessons were learned about the value of having leadership, both at the Steering Committee and Executive Director level, that “get it” as nonprofit professionals: investing in staff, focusing on building sustainability, and effectively communicating the mission such that people want to support it. Another learned to never underestimate where you might meet people who want to get involved with RVC.

Keeping the big picture goals in mind was another lesson reflected in the interviews: “We look forward to creating a really strong pilot model. And there are certain things we have no choice but to do like fundraising constantly. But it is all thinking about replicating the model. Taking the lessons we have learned and seeing how it may impact the field, the sector and if we do a good job, maybe this will change people’s minds about how they engage with communities of color, whether they could invest more than what they are currently investing by projects lead by people of color.”

4. What did you observe related to RVC’s values?13 All participants were asked to reflect upon their experiences and/or observations of RVC’s values as an organization. Most experiences and observations shared in the Community Survey

13 RVC Community Survey and Interviews: “RVC’s values as an organization are: Equity, Integrity, Community, Action, and Transformation. What has your experience at RVC been like in respect to these five values? What have you observed at RVC related to these five values?”



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related to values were positive. For some, there was a sense that the stage is being set but RVC is “not there yet” – this was most common for Transformation, followed by Action.

Community Survey Response Patterns EQUITY INTEGRITY COMMUNITY ACTION TRANSFORMATION

POSITIVE

13 9 18 6 3

NEGATIVE/ IMPROVEMENT

SUGGESTED

2 0 1 1 0

“NOT THERE YET”

1 2 1 4 9

Table 4.

Equity. Comments centered around thought and intention (both observed and needed) around equity in planning, making decisions, and setting goals and standards.

“Could have probably used a little more on-the-ground outreach to be truly equitable, but the hiring process for Fellows in particular really

highlighted the concern with equity for me.”

“[T]here is a lot of thinking about equity and community, especially when those values are potentially in conflict with raising lots of money from individuals. Lots of great conversations about how to stay true to

values while still seeking individual contributions and providing a positive donor experience at events.”

Comments ranged from observations (“High priority of RVC. Honoring cultures/races and providing access”), to considering how equity should be defined (“I think equity should apply to all, not just an identified group or class of people”). Some comments were more analytic, such as this observation about the multiple levels of capacity that RVC confronts—and is confronted by:

“It was tricky… it’s a delicate balance in that part of RVC is also people engaging because it’s part of their interests and passion. And there are lots of people in the community who want to be involved and donate their time and do things pro bono. We have a well of folks who want to do that and it’s a huge resource. But we’re also wanting to be mindful of folks who want to do that but might not have the means, and can we support them and bring them on. [Due to limited resources] it’s more like we need to draw more towards folks who have the means to engage with



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us. We’re more limited in [those who don’t have the means]… Particularly in that dynamic, we’re also trying to engage communities of color to be part of this, to build capacity, in that engagement people are giving their time. They have to take away from work, things like that. How can we support equity by being able to compensate them fairly? … [If we aren’t able to offer compensation,] are we still being fair, just, particularly to communities of color, trying to engage trainers of color, facilitators of color, leaders of color?”

Integrity. Participants remarked on individuals, particularly staff and leadership, exhibiting integrity, as well as noting the decision to change RVC’s focus to better match its mission and other values, such as this observation of a specific value-driven decision:

“Midway through their planning process RVC reexamined who should benefit from their work. Initially, they focused on immigrants and refugees but on reflection determined that black and brown people also needed support and the opportunities that RVC was providing.”

“I see the values of Integrity and Community expressed in the way RVC has opened themselves to community participation and been

committed to truly listening to what people have to say.”

Community. Participants experienced a sense of RVC’s welcoming input from others structured as a dialogue, along with inclusion, a sense of ownership, and building trust. Several observed that RVC is both rooted in and committed to the Rainier Valley. A noted aspiration was for RVC to take on a role to facilitate shared space for community discussion and reflection, aside from its program-related activity.

“Equity and community stand out as ones that have shown thru in the beginning. The other three will be more apparent as they show up once the first cohort is hired.”

“I'd love to see RVC host the whole wider community at an event that is purely for the community and not for RVC. Also - more potlucks.”

“The Community value stands out, because all of the communications I have received have been really well structured to make me feel a part of the community and that my input is welcome, if I choose to give it.”



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“We have a lot of amazing volunteers who work with the project. We have people who are feeling like this is their project too and that is very important. Otherwise we might end up with a project that feels like it is being done to community … I think we’ve done a pretty good job with the community feeling like this is their project and I think that is a very

important lesson for us to learn.”

Action. Comments described RVC as an adaptable, fast-moving organization; on the other hand, more action was desired particularly around outreach.

“Action! The organization is nimble and can move quickly. I like that the ship can turn on a dime.”

“I feel like they are very strong at using ACTION to build EQUITY. The model makes sense and is compelling and exciting.”

“I would like to see more action as far as outreach to the larger community, which could lend itself to greater transformation of the mission.”

“The speed and thoroughness of the entire marketing and branding effort was incredible. What startup nonprofit makes that happen so quickly and produces such a professional product?”

Transformation. Although largely perceived as yet to happen, creating awareness and developing a new model was perceived as the beginning of transformation.

“Much of the transformation has yet to happen. That being said, RVC has already begun to transform current practices by the awareness they have created.”

“The big outcome [is] around how do we strengthen the Rainier Valley? Have we built a coalition that has more power in Seattle? Those are the things that I’m looking towards, and… I think there’s huge potential for

that. I think people’s willingness to work together is there. … I don’t want the individual work of each CBO to get sort of internally focused. I



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want to make sure the goals of why we are trying to bring this together makes sense.”

“Transformation is happening - at the same time, a year in, I can start to see some people not showing up any more.”

“I recall being at the meeting about these values... I left hoping that the word "transformation" isn't a word that people associate as just applying to the corps members. I was wishing that the word could be more transparent as talking about "transforming the system.” ... I also don't like how "transform" can often mean total change - implying that something needs to improve. I acknowledge that this is true for the system - but I get concerned that funders etc will perceive corps members as the ones transformed and changed and improved, and ideally it is truly the system that is transformed and improved.”

“I see transformation as the destination which they are reaching for.”

“The first four are strongly evidenced in all interactions. The fifth [transformation] is the promise that has drawn people to the program.”

All values. Some participants reflected on all five values as a whole.

“I have seen RVC's shared values at every interaction and meeting I have participated in. People are living these values and it shows.”

“These values were not presented to me in any way. I didn't know about them until a few weeks ago.”

“Not there yet.” Some values were generally described as more prominent than other emerging values, which may reflect the developmental stage RVC is currently in.

“It is still early in the process. These are clearly the values that drive RVC but they are not all clearly evident and are still emerging. I see

Community as the one that is most clearly evident at this point.”



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5. What would you suggest as future RVC goals and priorities?14 All participants were asked to identify specific things they would like to see take place in RVC going forward. These were framed as organization-level goals; in addition, interviewees were asked about workgroup-level goals.

Visibility and outreach and RVC mission-related goals were the top two identified in the Community Survey respectively. The mission-related goals often described what successful outcomes would look like after one or more full program years are completed. Next were specific goals and priorities around process, program deliverables, and program development. Fundraising and financial sustainability were also among the commonly cited aspirations.

THEME NUMBER OF MENTIONS


VISIBILITY AND OUTREACH 18 “Clear brand (program) identity in the larger Seattle community.” “Increase intentional outreach to members of the Black community in the Rainier Valley.” “More direct outreach to partners/ businesses in the area (going to them).”

RVC MISSION-RELATED 15 “Recognize that committees represent an opportunity to live into the mission.”

“Strong leaders, strong organizations, Increased collaboration with other POC led coalitions and capacity building organizations in the community.”

GOALS/PRIORITIES – DELIVERABLES

10 “Ongoing promotion about the good work fellows and CBOs are doing.” “Successful first and second cohorts; model updated and proven practice; replication.”

PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT 10 “Opening the trainings/seminars to any nonprofit leaders in Rainier Valley such as Board Governance, Fundraising, strategic planning, etc! During the summer add internships for college students!”

BUILDING INTENTIONAL RELATIONSHIPS- EXTERNAL TO RVC

9 “Elevate other leaders & their voices in evangelizing RVC.”

14 RVC Community Survey and Interviews: “Looking ahead, if you could identify 1-3 things that you would like to see happen in RVC as a whole, what would they be?”



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“Linkages to communities of color across the city; embrace of non-communities of color members to support their work.”

GOALS/PRIORITIES – PROCESS-RELATED

9 “Increase communication and collaboration between staff, volunteers, CBOs, and Fellows.” “Have systems and processes laid out and transparent.” “Better communication.”

FUNDRAISING AND FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY

8 “Funders make at least a three year commitment so that the program can operate and learn and not be ‘under the gun.’”

CLARITY AND CONSENSUS REGARDING GOALS

7 “More realistic goals.” “Focus to form a strong coalition of all the members, a group that can last the long term [and] support its community.”

Table 5.

Several goals/priorities mentioned in the interviews were process-oriented in nature: things that were identified to help and support RVC carry out its work. Specific comments included the following:

Develop an onboarding process. Interviewees generally agreed that a more structured onboarding process would be a significant benefit to those new to RVC: “Now, maybe [with more staff] coming on this is something we can be working on – okay, the the first day, the first week it is clear what RVC is about, and the process that they are walking into regardless of if they are a staff or a volunteer, it is clear what their role is the first day, the first week.”

Interviewees had many ideas about how an onboarding process could be developed and what it might look like. One suggested, “An overview of organizational structure and committee structure with roles for each different committee. An orientation on program timeline and where we were on that program timeline. Rules of the road for volunteers and what volunteers should interact. Maybe little capsule introductions to staff or key volunteers. Maybe an interview or survey of interest on what they want to accomplish while they were there. Expectations around time commitment and volunteer compliance.”

Clarify roles. For those interviewees who joined RVC when it was a small group, challenges have arisen around roles as the organization has grown. “The biggest thing is having a clear definition of staff versus volunteer roles. So this is not a negative thing. This is part of growing pains.… But I can see how, if it’s not clearly defined in the future, not all volunteers will be as flexible. It’s just really important for staff to understand what is most important for them to be doing.”



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“I feel like the larger [RVC] has gotten the more challenging it’s gotten, especially around communication styles and transparency like with each other and what are your projects, what are you working on, what is your committee up to and just that cohesiveness.” As observed by at least three interviewees, this clarity may also help to resolve some observed tensions and help with conflict resolution.

Increase communication and interaction among committees, leadership. Several interviewees specifically identified a desire for more opportunity for interaction and potentially partnership among the various committees as well as with the steering committee. One noted, “The board and the committees, they are both fantastic but they are not as intertwined and as familiar with each other. The board is here, the committees are here, and they are both equal but they are not integrated together. … That is definitely something that I’d say that I’ve observed. I’d like to see more of everyone more connecting with each other. There are so many people doing great work and they are not all aware of each other.”

This may also be particularly crucial due to RVC’s growth as an organization, as one interviewee observed: “Early on, I thought I had a really good sense of what was happening, because it was small… [as] it grew, each committee has gone through iterations of different chairs and has really taken on really really big bodies of work in the absence of staff leading it. It’s been tremendous… but in terms of connection, it’s hard to really know what’s been happening and how certain decisions [were] made.”

Program-related deliverables. Some specific deliverable priorities were mentioned by interviewees, such as meeting fundraising goals, or completing key program work product such as the syllabus for the full year of curriculum. Others related to the second part of RVC’s mission to convene collaborative space where RVC can help the community find its voice and work on advocacy.

Long term outcomes. Longer term goals and priorities were also mentioned. Some were anticipated ripple effects of the program, such as CBO partners organically sharing information, leveraging each other’s services, or partnering on an issue. An interviewee described it this way: “I think I have a dream or ambition for RVC [where]… the fellowship program is a sort of centerpiece but the organization is also a highly developed trust relationship and standing with the community.” Creating a fully-developed replicable model was identified as another important long term outcome.

Summary

The foregoing results depict a snapshot of RVC as an organization at a crucial developmental stage – moving from the planning and building stages towards launch of the first program year.



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The significant successes include building a substantial network of community supporters gathered around a mission in dialogue with the goals, concerns, and needs of those it seeks to reach. Difficulties emerged around communication, unclear roles and expectations, and low organizational structure in place. Lessons emerged regarding the need for multilayered engagement with stakeholders and supporters; the commitment to upholding RVC’s values; and the challenge of accomplishing tasks with limited capacity.

Community was perceived as the most prominent value in RVC’s work, with significant effort towards equity. Integrity, though subtler, was observed in RVC’s commitment to its values in decision making. Finally, these results reflected a sense that the stage is set to facilitate ongoing Action and Transformation.

Suggested future goals and priorities were external-facing (e.g. more visibility, outreach and developing relationships outside Rainier Valley) as well as internal (e.g., improving communication, roles, and structures to support and enhance workflow).

As with many qualitative, process-oriented evaluations, these results are wide-ranging and provide a rich depth of texture to understanding RVC’s formation to date. Additional exploration of the results within areas of particular interest will likely yield further insight to guide future planning and decision making.

Documents

RVC 2015 Formative Evaluation Report - final · Rainier Valley Corps Formative Evaluation Mini-Report TrueBearing Consulting October 2015 2 Evaluation team. The evaluation team included