Using a Systems-based Culturally responsive Evaluation (SysCRE) Framework

Join the Northeastern University Public Evaluation Lab (NU-PEL) and GBEN for its 5th event in our Culturally-Responsive Evaluation (CRE) series. 

We are excited to have Dr. Wanda Casillas, PhD, leading this workshop. 

Culturally Responsive Evaluation (CRE) is an evaluation approach often used in service of promoting equitable outcomes across many sectors such as education, health, social services, etc. However, large-scale social problems require evaluation and applied research strategies that can further our thinking about complex issues and equip us to engage with the complex and layered contextual factors that impact equity.

In this workshop, we will discuss expanding a practitioner’s toolkit to address evaluation of large-scale systems change efforts that emphasize equity; and how CRE married with relevant and overlapping systems principles leads to a robust evaluation and applied research practice. In this workshop, we will explore a core set of CRE and systems principles to anchor evaluation practice in an approach that identifies and addresses important cultural and contextual systems in which evaluations and their stakeholders are embedded.

You must register for the event to receive the online meeting information. 

Wanda Casillas, PhD

Wanda Casillas is an associate research professor with Claremont Graduate University in the Division of Behavioral & Organizational Sciences (DBOS). She is also the director of the MS in Evaluation & Applied Research online degree program and teaches courses on topics relating to culturally responsive evaluation, systems thinking, and quantitative methods in evaluation and applied research.

As an evaluator, Casillas uses an evaluation approach through a systems-based culturally responsive evaluation (SysCRE) framework that centers culture and context in all aspects of an evaluation ecocycle. Casillas employs SysCRE in service of an equitable and socially just society by conducting large scale health, education, and social sector evaluation projects that focus on disrupting existing inequitable social structures. Among her professional experiences, Casillas led a multi-state outcome evaluation of the National Science Foundation-funded Alliance for Graduate Education and the professoriate initiative. She also designed and implemented evaluations of several 4H programs for the State of New York. Additionally, she has worked on organizational evaluation, assessment, and quality improvement projects for large-scale national hospital systems. Most recently, Casillas worked in the philanthropic sector providing evaluation and strategic planning support to national foundations in the implementation of equity-focused initiatives.