Sierra Health Foundation

Evaluation and Learning

Sierra Health Foundation and The Center at Sierra Health Foundation pursue the use of equity-focused, culturally responsive, community-centered evaluation for learning, actionable knowledge and accountability.

Learning

We support organizational learning about program implementation and other internal processes to increase the effectiveness of our work.

Examples:

San Joaquin Valley Health Fund Participatory Evaluation Technical Assistance Final Reflections and Learnings (.pdf)
San Joaquin Valley Health Fund Participatory Evaluation Technical Assistance Final Reflections and Learnings (.pdf)
The Center’s first use of participatory action was an important learning opportunity. It confirmed our commitment to inclusive approaches to evaluation and increased our sensitivity to the challenges and opportunities participatory action creates for funded partners. As foundations increasingly embrace a vision of an equitable society, this report — prepared by Learning for Action — provides insight into one way to incorporate that vision in their evaluation practices.

Actionable Knowledge

We ask questions and gather information about processes, programs and systems, and share that knowledge to support movement-building and advocacy for health and racial equity by our partners and other stakeholders.

Examples:

Positive Youth Justice Initiative: A Blueprint for Transforming the Juvenile Justice System (.pdf)
San Joaquin Valley Health Fund Network Mapping Project: Learning From Our Partners (.pdf)
This report looks at the San Joaquin Valley Health Fund’s role in creating and strengthening the regional advocacy network in the San Joaquin Valley. The study focused on connections among the members of the San Joaquin Valley Health Fund Policy Committee to inform how The Center can further support the regional movement-building network and help Policy Committee members plan their work going forward. Engage R+D conducted this evaluation with funding from Blue Shield of California Foundation.
Social Network Analysis brief: San Joaquin Valley Health Fund: A Catalyst for a Regional Advocacy Network (.pdf)
Guide to Community-First Funder Collaboratives (.pdf)
Guide to Community-First Funder Collaboratives (.pdf)
The San Joaquin Valley Health Fund provides a model for funders who want to support the expansion and deepening of community-led movements to advance equity through policy and systems changes. This guide is intended to help foundations and other funders understand the value of community-led funder collaboratives and take the steps needed to build and implement them. It was written by Harder+Company Community Research and funded by Sierra Health Foundation and W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

Accountability

As the steward of funding from public and private sources, we provide information needed to assure funders that community partners and The Center are carrying out the work consistent with the intent of the investment.

Examples:

Asthma Mitigation Project Year 1 Evaluation Report (.pdf)
City of Sacramento Youth PopUp Program Snapshot January-June 2022 (.pdf)

This report from LPC Consulting looks at activities and evaluation findings for a six-month period of Youth PopUp events, from January to June 2022. Findings in the report are based on monthly data submissions from partner organizations, quarterly progress reports, and surveys of PopUp attendees, youth staff and adult staff.

Elevate Youth California 2020 Annual Report (.pdf)
Elevate Youth California 2022 Annual Report (.pdf)
The statewide Elevate Youth California program prioritizes youth leadership in under-resourced communities harmed by the War on Drugs. The program’s annual report highlights grantee partner accomplishments; total funding awarded; local movement building; youth empowerment, leadership and development; demographics of youth who are engaged; and capacity building activities.

Community and Economic Development Publications

Black Child Legacy Campaign

Healing The Hood

Health Access and Equity Publications

Asthma Mitigation Project

Healthy Youth Development Publications

California Funders for Boys and Men of Color

Elevate Youth California

My Brother’s Keeper Sacramento

Positive Youth Justice Initiative

San Joaquin Valley Health Fund Publications

Evaluation and Learning Department

Department staff have different cultural identities, professional backgrounds and life experiences. The rich diversity of their perspectives and their shared vision of equity-focused, culturally responsive, community-centered evaluation informs the practice of the department.

Noemi Avalos

Noemi Avalos

Noemi Avalos (she/her/ella) manages external evaluations and supports with internal evaluation of diverse programs, including programs focused on health equity and healthy youth development. Previously, she served four years as an Evaluation Fellow with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Her areas of interest include evaluation capacity building, contribution analysis/outcome harvesting, qualitative methods, data visualization and culturally responsive evaluation. She has a Bachelor of Science in Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior from UC Davis, and a Master of Public Health from Loma Linda University. Outside of work, she enjoys hiking, taking care of house plants and spending time with loved ones.
Erin Hassett

Erin Hassett

Erin Hassett (she/her) provides evaluation and administrative support to the Evaluation and Learning Department. In 2021, Erin received her Master of Public Health in Community and Public Health Practice from the School of Nursing and Health Professions at the University of San Francisco (USF). As a graduate student intern with the Leo T. McCarthy Center at USF, she contributed to an interview project on how community-engaged learning courses at USF adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic through conducting interviews and providing qualitative analysis. She also worked as a teaching assistant for the MPH program’s Biostatistics and Epidemiology courses. Her areas of interest include community engagement and empowerment, data visualization and systems thinking. In her free time, Erin enjoys hiking and playing board games with friends and family.
Avante-Danae Lamarche

Avante-Danae Lamarche

Danae serves as the Senior Administrative Assistant to the Interim Communications Director and the Managing Director of Evaluation and Learning. She holds an Apostolic Foundations Certificate from Wilson University and an Associate Degree in General Studies from Tarrant County College. She is currently studying for a Bachelor of Arts in Communication with a minor in creative writing from California State University at Sacramento. Prior to joining The Center at Sierra Health Foundation, she worked as an intelligence analyst and private investigator providing non-financial due diligence background investigations for hedge fund, private equity, and venture capital firms as well as individual subjects. She was awarded the Trenton Bass Hope Corps Scholarship and the Tarrant County College Foundations Scholarship for her writing and has published a short story and two poems in Roots and Reflections Magazine. Danae loves spending time near the ocean, singing in her church’s choir, and spending time with her friends and family.

Elaine Lander

Elaine Lander

Elaine Lander (she/they) serves as Evaluation & Learning Officer with Sierra Health Foundation and The Center, supporting program teams and contributing to the development and implementation of evaluation and learning activities. Previously, Elaine worked at The California Endowment where she managed contracts and grants, supported organizational learning, facilitated internal and external communications for shared learning and field building, and co-led the Asian American & Pacific Islander workgroup for strategic grantmaking. With a strong commitment to interdisciplinary collaboration, Elaine strives to apply an equity lens to all dimensions of her work. In her spare time, Elaine can be found gardening, knitting, hiking or cooking over a campfire.
Antony Maikuri

Antony Maikuri

Antony serves as an Evaluation Officer and his work focuses on providing actionable information to support strategic decision-making. With prior experience at the Education Commission of the States, he is adept at designing and implementing measurement tools and frameworks. Antony is dedicated to driving social change through data and evaluation, emphasizing the importance of continuous learning and equity. His diverse background includes professional experience in banking and academic credentials, including a Ph.D. in Evaluation Studies and a Master’s in International Development from the University of Minnesota.

Breanna Mattis

Breanna Mattis

Breanna Mattis (she/her) provides evaluation and administrative support to the Evaluation and Learning Department. In 2020, Breanna received her Master of Public Health in Behavioral, Social, and Health Education Sciences from Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University. Before joining Sierra Health Foundation, she worked as a Graduate Research Assistant contributing to evaluation projects in the Greater Atlanta area in a variety of capacities, including data collection and analysis. Her areas of interest include process evaluation, youth participatory evaluation, and the social determinants of health. Breanna identifies as a first generation Black Jamaican-American female.
Maurice Samuels

Maurice Samuels

Maurice Samuels, PhD, (he/him) is responsible for ensuring that all work of the Evaluation and Learning Department is carried out in alignment with the mission, vision and core values of Sierra Health Foundation and The Center. Prior to joining Sierra Health Foundation, Maurice was a Senior Evaluation Officer at the MacArthur Foundation, where he contributed to the use of measurement, evaluation and learning to support informed decision making by the foundation’s staff and board of directors. He currently serves on the American Evaluation Association Board of Directors. Maurice earned his PhD from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with an emphasis on research and evaluation methods. He attended Xavier University of Louisiana, where he earned a Bachelor’s of Science and a Masters of Art. In his spare time, he enjoys hiking and competing in triathlons.
E-mail our Evaluation and Learning Department for more information.

Resources

The Evaluation Department is guided by professional standards and guidelines, including: