A few weekends ago I had the pleasure of volunteering at the ARC Ecumenical Retreat Center just outside of Cambridge, Minnesota. ARC stands for Action Reflection and Celebration. I have had the joy of being a guest at ARC before but this was my first time as a volunteer. My experience was great with a nice balance of work and relaxation time. They are very careful to ensure that their volunteers also have enough free time to use however they like. Volunteers are given their choice of activities to help with, so I decided upon kitchen/ meal duties, which meant lots of washing dishes among other things. ARC currently has a commercial dishwasher on their wish list and let me just say that I strongly would encourage donations in this direction. J

Food is a specialty at ARC and every meal is prepared from scratch, including freshly baked bread with every meal. The majority of the meals are vegetarian, so that all the scraps can be composted, and they will arrange for special diets if you have needs. The weekend I was at ARC there were two women staying there who had a long list of dietary restrictions, and the folks at ARC went above and beyond to ensure that either the whole meal fit their needs or that they had delicious substitutes.

Danielle is pictured with Jan Wiersma the Director of ARC Ecumenical Retreat Center.

The grounds at ARC are very calming and the woods in the area are original. The founders of ARC wanted a place where people could go and be restored so that they could continue in the work they do. There are plenty of walking paths, and there is a small stream that runs through the ground. There is also a lake nearby, but I have yet to figure out how to get there.

The greatest thing about being a volunteer is you spend time working with and getting to know the ARC community members who work hard to ensure that people have someplace wonderful to spend their retreat. Plus you get to eat and sleep for free, so it is a great way to take a low-budget retreat! I would highly recommend it!

ARC is located 8 Miles Northwest of Cambridge, MN. More information click here.

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Earlier this month, I was elected Treasurer of the Minnesota Public Health Association (MPHA) and last Thursday, I officially assumed my new duties at the MPHA annual meeting. The theme of the meeting was “Public Health Leadership in Challenging Times” and we had a fascinating presentation and panel discussion on this topic from leaders in the field, including Dr. Cheryl Easley, President of the American Public Health Association and Dr. Sanne Magnan, Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Health.

I’ve already met so many wonderful public health colleagues through MPHA; in the next two years, I look forward to collaborating with public health leaders across the state to work together as “Minnesota’s voice for public health.”

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At the Improve Group we feel that the arts and a strong education go hand in hand. It is very personal for co-worker Samantha Hagel and me. We are both 5-year veteran volunteers of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts’ Art Adventure program. This unique, fun and highly effective program exposes children in K-6 classrooms all over the State of Minnesota to the great variety of art presented at the Institute.

Susan Murphy & Samantha Hagel with Art Adventures training booklet

To become a school docent you will attend a Picture Person training that gives you tips on how to present the works of art to the students. After learning how to teach the art, you get a marvelous education in the pieces you will be presenting by a very knowledgeable MIA docent. After doing this for a few years it feel like you are getting your own art appreciation degree. Picture People are led around the museum to hear about the artists, their lives, the genres and to questioning the instructor in the same way you may be questioned when you reach the classroom.

The final step is to take eight, large, beautiful poster reproductions of the art theme your school selected and bring them into the classrooms. The students have an amazing ability to see a myriad of things going on in each piece. With so many themed sets of art available each year the experience stays fresh. Picture People also have a great web resource on the MIA site allowing them to look for activities they can do with the students.

Lucky classes will follow up with a field trip to the MIA to see the artwork in all its glory. To learn more about this great volunteer opportunity please click here, and watch for a follow-up from our 2009 classroom visits here on the IG blog.

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The Improve Group actually has an Improve You Committee. Staff members Danielle Assy, Samantha Hagel and Liz Radel Freeman are charged with helping to keep the Improve Group staff healthy and happy. This small group of adventurous co-workers plans our yearly retreat, suggests healthy lifestyle ideas and arranges staff events like our recent birthday and potluck Irish-themed luncheon on Saint Patrick’s Day (see plate of yummy food above). We also recently held a lunchtime Wii bowling tournament. Liz serves as our own personal lifestyle coach using her public health background to assist us in making healthy choices. Now that the good weather is returning our “Footnotes” walking group will be starting up again too. IG not only performs top rate evaluation services but it is a great place to work as well.

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You may have noticed a familiar face on the 10:00 news this Monday! Our very own business manager, Samantha Hagel, was interviewed about the growth of crafty businesses in the troubled economy. It’s a little known fact that when she’s not at the Improve Group, Samantha can be found running her business Truly… in White Bear Lake. Click here to learn more about the growth of the craft industry and see Samantha at her shop!

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Elections always come with a rush of excitement. For me, last Tuesday was the first time I’ve been able to vote in person for a presidential candidate. In the past, I’ve voted by absentee ballot while living in Washington, DC and Brussels, Belgium. It was so nice to experience the excitement of a national election while at home. I felt such camaraderie with my neighbors as we waited in line to cast our ballots before the polls opened at 6:30 am. I decided to get involved by volunteering for a candidate on Election Day. I spent my time encouraging my fellow Minnesotans to get to the polls, crossing paths with first-time voters and people who have been voting for over 50 years. Participating in the election process reminds me of how blessed I am to be able to voice my opinion at the polls.

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Livana Bree Mattila was born to Improve Group staff member Deborah Mattila and her husband Andy on August 15th, 2008 coming in at 9 lbs, 8 oz; 21 inches. She made her first visit to our office last week and slept peacefully through it all. We wish the new parents the best with their beautiful new daughter.

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On August 27th our conference room was buzzing with good food, good conversation and much-missed colleagues and friends. Past staff members and interns of the Improve Group gathered to catch up and reminisce. Alumni in attendance were: Kari Schuch, Brooke Ahlquist, Nathan Paine, Nathan Salzl and Collin Cunningham along with Steve Mayne who was on his last day of his internship. Staff members Leah Goldstein Moses, Marian Kimball-Eichinger, Rebecca Stewart, Susan Murphy, Samantha Hagel and Danielle Assy were also part of the luncheon.

It was a pleasure to hear about the alums’ current work at great organizations like the Minnesota Department of Health, Greater Twin Cities United Way and the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. Another one of our recent co-workers took the Barr Exam this summer. There was no surprise to any of us that the prospects were so bright for our former co-workers.

The afternoon ended with a lot of laughs and containers of Thai Food to take home. For those interns and alumni that couldn’t make it to the lunch, we hope you will stop by and see us soon.

Above – Standing left to right: Collin Cunningham, Leah Goldstein Moses, Kari Schuch,
Brooke Ahlquist and Nathan Paine. Kneeling left to right: Steve Mayne and
Nathan Salzl

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During the month of February, I took some time off from the Improve Group to work at my parents’ restaurant, The Golden Inn, in Superior, WI. I’ve been working at the restaurant every weekend over the past year and a half. The opportunity to assist my parents in running a small business while also participating in the fascinating projects at The Improve Group has been a unique experience.

During the month of February, I was able to spend every day working on the day-to-day operations of running a restaurant. I assisted in the financial matters of the restaurant (especially payroll administration) and working as a delivery man when business demanded it. During my childhood, I learned many parts of the restaurant trade working for my father’s restaurant in Duluth, MN. My month work at The Golden Inn re-emphasized many of same challenges I learned to address during my childhood: the long hours, the stressful environment, the budgetary challenges, etc. The ability to address these challenges allows me to gain unique experiences that are beneficial in both my personal and professional life.

However, I also had the chance to meet and work with great individuals each day. Whether it is old friends that regularly patronize The Golden Inn or hearing stories from the staff, I enjoyed their friendship and learning about their lives. Additionally, these relationships allow me to learn about the difficulties that many of these blue-collar individuals are facing in their lives, providing me a perspective of possible areas of evaluation that The Improve Group may want to pursue in the future. For example, this experience will be helpful in creating survey instruments that relate more closely to the experiences of low-income single mothers and in turn with provide data that will directly address their challenges.

In short, I appreciate the Improve Group granting me the opportunity to spend a month working at The Golden Inn. The experience will truly be beneficial in my approach in my work with the Improve Group. Which brings up an interesting question, how have your experiences outside your professional work influenced your professional work?

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Last week, Marian and I attended the American Evaluation Association’s annual conference in Baltimore. The theme of the conference was “learning to evaluate…evaluating to learn.” Throughout the four-day conference, we were charged to learn new skills and reflect on the many ways that evaluators learn from our clients in the course of our work together. Looking back, I’m amazed at all that I had gained in a few short days.

With over 500 sessions to choose from throughout the four-day conference, we were certainly spoiled for choice. I really enjoyed attending skill building and demonstration sessions where I learned practical applications in the field. I was trained on an alternative to the traditional literature review, how to succinctly tell a program’s story and how to meet the diverse needs of multiple stakeholders. Watch my monthly blog column, research tidbits, in the coming months for brief overviews of these topics.

A definite highlight of my trip was spending time with our client, Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) staff. Dr. James Riedel from GSUSA (with some assistance from Marian) presented retrospective pre-test data from the PAVE project in a multi-paper session on alternatives to randomized control trials. It was so exciting to see how the work we had done together in the PAVE project will benefit other evaluators in the field.

Of course, no American Evaluation Association conference would be complete without an opportunity for attendees to evaluate the conference. Attendees were asked to report “key insights” we gained throughout the week. For me, my key insight occurred in a session about evaluation theory. The presenters discussed how evaluators have as much to learn from clients’ expertise as they do from ours. This is precisely why I enjoy evaluation so much; we’re always learning from our clients. I look forward to reflecting on a year’s worth of learning in the field at the 2008 American Evaluation Association conference in Denver!

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Yesterday night, I had the pleasure of attending the centennial celebration of the Minnesota Public Health Association. It was wonderful to catch up with many public health colleagues while we celebrated the organization’s first 100 years. Our keynote address was delivered by Will Steger on his travels in the Arctic and Antarctic. Mr. Steger has witnessed firsthand the effects global warming and reminded us of the enormity of this issue. It was interesting to see how similar strategies aimed to change behavior must be used to combat global warming and to address public health epidemics such as obesity. Attendees also had a chance to reflect on public health advances in the past hundred years, ranging from vaccinations to improved sanitation practices. The evening ended with an ode to MPHA led by Minnesota Public Health personality, Dr. Ed Ehlinger, Director of the University of Minnesota’s Boynton Health Services and host of the Metro Cable Channel 6 television program “A Public Health Journal.” Yesterday evening was a wonderful celebration of the work that public health professionals have done for Minnesota and a call to act on the challenges that lie ahead.

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Over the past year we have worked with Girl Scouts USA to evaluate the Uniquely ME! program, a program designed in 2002 to address low self-esteem, which is increasingly recognized as a problem facing young girls.

In our evaluation, we are focusing on the key components of girls' ability to "Discover, Connect, Take Action". Using a retrospective pre-test/post test model, we learned that the program has helped girls to take risks and try new things, confidently find their talents and find ways to make their lives better.

This initiative has been funded in large part by the Dove Self-esteem Fund, which recently prepared a short video called Onslaught demonstrating why this work is so necessary.

On a personal note, the importance of this work was made startlingly relevant to me a week ago when my five-year-old daughter informed me that I could buy a cream that would make my skin look as beautiful as hers. Needless to say, I was a little taken aback by the statement and her preoccupation with physical appearance! The troops in our area don't start until age 6, but we'll be looking forward to some of the lessons available from Girl Scouts.

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Over the last week, the Improve Group has shared information at the request of the Minnesota Council of Foundations and the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits.

Last Wednesday (Aug. 1), Leah spent three hours talking with local foundations about evaluation at the August session of the Effective Grantmaking series. Interestingly, she had just met with a program officer from a local foundation and had a lively debate about the ethics of grantmakers evaluating programs -- how much do agendas and priorities change when a major funder evaluates their efforts? There was also an article in the New York Times (registration required) talking about what happens when major philanthropic initiatives are evaluated to lukewarm (or strikingly negative) results.

The participants in the workshop seemed equally concerned with the practical aspects of evaluation - how do you get people to give you data, how do you ask questions that get at the information you need, and how do you target some funds for evaluation work when the foundation has a mandate to invest in direct-service organizations. We talked through some pragmatic tools (such as using an on-line survey to supplement or replace grantee annual reports) and the formality of evaluation required at different funding and investment levels.

Yesterday (Aug. 6), Susan and Leah presented at the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits Network Leadership Conference about community engagement. Key among their messages was that engagement shouldn't be too difficult, but does take time and yes, money. The results of community engagement should be better programs, more support for new or changing initiatives, and a better sense of community needs. Despite having the dreaded after-lunch time slot, over 70 people attended the session and had great insights to share with their colleagues, including: (1) don't assume that because you are interested in something, others will be too; (2) you will continue to see the rewards of engagement years later when your community sees you as a leader on a specific issue; and (3) tap into youth or local experts to help you with something that feels intimidating (such as blogging!)

We are considering expanding the community engagement presentation into a larger workshop as part of the Improve Group's workshop series. Is this a topic that interests your organization? Let us know!

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We are so appreciative of the enthusiasm our clients have when working with us -- and particularly when they pass on a good word about us to other organizations. We know how important it is to show the same support when we find a vendor or product that provides us with high-quality service. Both Susan and Leah had the chance to "pass it on" recently--in ways that were great fun!

Susan: My experience started when I called in to tell my “Cub Foods Story” in response to TV ad a couple months ago. I shop at Cub and was happy to tell them about my good experiences and shopping preferences for their grocery store; particularly as a single mom I like the great assortment of fresh fruit that is easy to give to my sons when we’re on the run to our next adventure. This month I received a call from an advertising agency asking my family to take part in a photo shoot about the Cub Stories. I took my two boys along with some clothing choices to a studio in Minneapolis. The boys got a kick out of seeing a makeup artist work on me, and they had fun posing for the photographers as part of a professional advertising shoot. You will see us Murphy’s in one of the upcoming coupon papers in your Sunday newspaper.

Leah: Like Susan, I was contacted to help market a company. We use Administaff as an external HR department, and love that we can offer our employees some of the same benefits they would get at a larger organization. We use their payroll services, and our staff also get a choice of health plans, 401K options, and access to training. We have been really impressed with Administaff, particularly because we can spend more of our time focusing on our core business (while not cheap, we calculated that the service actually saves us money based on reduced staff time needed for HR and the negotiated costs they have for insurance). Administaff's marketing department asked if I would record a radio ad for them. It was a lot of fun! I got to go to a recording studio, wear the big headphones, and read a script related to our experiences with their services. I also got to support a company that has really been a great vendor. Listen for the ad on AM radio stations starting in September.

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Improve Group staff are devoted to using evaluation to improve outcomes, so conducting a test presentation of our new workshop series seemed natural. On June 14th, 2007 we gave a pilot run of How Do I Know That: Creating tools to understand program outcomes and Inside Knowledge, Outside Perspective: Evaluating your organization form within. The series is aimed at those who want to begin or expand their evaluation knowledge and feel empowered to use it in their organization.

Presenter Leah Goldstein Moses taught participants how to develop evaluations that fit smoothly with program activities while maintaining validity and accuracy. Presenter Marian Kimball Eichinger gave insight into how to improve the evaluation work within organizations and how to select the right tools to get legitimate results.

Attending the pilot was Cassaundra Adler - Financial Educator with Lutheran Social Services, Trisha Lee Cook – Member Services Associate for the Minnesota Council on Foundations and Nathan Salzl – Evaluation Specialist for the Greater Twin Cities United Way 211 Call Center. Also attending was Improve Group consultant Jules Goldstein (who is a member of the Board of United Jewish Fund and Council) and staff member Susan Murphy.

Our thanks to Cassaundra, Trisha Lee and Nathan who were a perfect blend of non-profit experience, foundation background and small and large organization perspectives. The attendees gave honest and valuable feedback on what were the most useful aspects of the training, what could be added or deleted to better serve the needs of the target audience and how to enhance specific exercises and teaching materials.

The pilot group gave a unanimous thumbs-up to the new series, saying:

• The workshops helped me figure out where to start with my organization's evaluation. I felt overwhelmed before and unsure whether I was representing my own opinions or had solid facts; now I know how to collect, analyze and present accurate data.
• I gained a great vocabulary for talking with funders, program managers and staff; the tools provided during the workshop can easily be adapted for our programs.
• I am excited to use the information for my program; I like learning and continually improving my program and was never sure how to ask questions to get honest and fair responses. I am going to review our surveys to make sure they are gathering the information I need.
• The workshops were very fun, very informative and I feel lucky to be invited.

Space in the July 19th sessions is available; to download a registration form click here.

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As members of the American Evaluation Association we were recently asked to submit nominations for annual awards, including the Marcia Guttentag award for evaluators in their first five years in the profession. After reviewing the criteria, we knew Becky exemplified the criteria:

* Promise will have been demonstrated in early notable and substantial accomplishments.
* Contributions may include evidence of early involvement in professional activities and successful leadership.
* Contributions should have extended beyond the accomplishment of one or two evaluations of quality.

As part of our nomination of Becky, we got to ask some of our clients for recommendations. It was a delight to read their kind words:

Though Ms. Stewart began evaluating our project in January, her impact on our
evaluation processes has been profound. She helped us clarify our project objectives and improve the
alignment of our evaluation instruments with the newly refined objectives... Becky’s commitment to developing shared understandings of our project goals and measures has meant that each facilitator’s point of view and understanding has been engaged - Byron Richard, Perpich Center for Arts Education

Rebecca's biggest strength is reflecting the principle of responsibilties for the general and public welfare. Not only does she take into account the diversity of interests and values related to the general and public welfare in Northwestern Minnesota, she very much leads by example. She continually focuses on sound evaluation methods, a solid partnership approach and providing information and results that help us inform our partnership and improve our overall service delivery. - Colleen MacRae, Project Director, Stephen-Argyle Safe Schools Initiative

We are all rooting for you, Becky!

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Last week, I was asked to write a blog entry before I left the Improve Group. After three years, this is not an easy thing to do. During my time here, I have learned a tremendous amount about the importance of planning, research and evaluation. On a more personal note, I have also learned so much from my colleagues at the Improve Group. Each and every one has made an impact in my life in some way. They have supported me through challenging times and shared in the joy of my successes. I will most definitely carry the strength and experience I have gained from working at the Improve Group with me into my work with the Department of Health and the next stages of my career. I look forward to working in obesity prevention as this is the field that I love, but I am also sad to leave this great firm. I want to thank my colleagues for a great three years and wish the Improve Group the very best! I will miss everyone!

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There was a lively and varied attendance at the Improve Group celebration lunch last week:

President Leah Goldstein Moses and staff members Deborah Mattila and Jules Goldstein were celebrating their recent birthdays.

Brooke Ahlquist was getting best wishes from the staff on her new intern position with the Minnesota Department of Health's Center for Health Promotion. Brooke has been with the Improve Group for 3 years as a Research Analyst and she will be dearly missed.

Our mystery guest was a small girl called “Flat Mia.” Actually it was a paper cut out (table center) of Maria Jordan, niece of staff member Susan Murphy. Maria’s likeness is visiting for a class project for Somers Elementary School in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

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In March, the Improve Group took the occasion to send a small care package to our troops serving overseas. The US post office at the Mall of America offered a wonderful opportunity where they supplied a fixed rate mailing box, a list of needed items and they attached the address for a unit serving in Iraq. Our staff had fun gathering a wide variety of goodies to send which included DVD’s, Sodoku books, snacks and small toys for children. We were delighted to get a letter back from US Army Lieutenant Colonel Larry Herke serving with the 1st Brigade 3rd Infantry (Red Bull) Division. Thank you for your kind letter, Colonel.

The Improve Group would like to wish all those enlisted and serving a safe tour of duty and a speedy return home.

Letter from Lt. Col. Herke

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Most of our staff spent Monday evening celebrating Becky's birthday. Chevy's is a quick block away from our office so we enjoyed some margarita's, chips and quacamole. We try not to spend too much time talking about work during social occasions, so instead "evaluated" the current TV season and "planned" some additional social events. Once again, the Office was considered a success by the measures of entertainment, humour and commitment to the characters :-)

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I had the chance to spend Friday with the Board and Staff of the National Youth Leadership Council. The full-day retreat helped prepare the organization for a new strategic plan; we had a lively discussion about the mission and vision of the organization. Those present expressed hearfelt commitment to the shared values of serving youth and building just, socially conscious communities through youth action and leadership.

NYLC is integrating traditional and new tacticts to build a movement for youth service, including broadcasting their annual conference on Second Life for the first time. I recently blogged about Second Life and its potential for evaluation and planning; I am anxious to hear how the format worked for both users and conveners.

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Three Improve Group staff members completed degrees in the last week. Becky Stewart completed her Masters in Public Health from the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at UMN; Deborah Mattila completed her Bachelors of Arts in Geography from the University of Minnesota; and Brooke Ahlquist completed her Masters of Arts in Geography from the University of Minnesota. Congratulations ladies! All of us at the Improve Group are very proud of our accomplished staff!

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Although it has been a busy time around the Improve Group office (our staff have been all over Minnesota and the country these past few weeks) we did take a moment to celebrate some birthdays, including Marian, Sarah Shannon, Eric and Nathan. We ate at the very good restaurant called Natural Escape in Richfield - delicious Latin American food.

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Whew! It has been a whirlwind of travel for me this month at the Improve Group! The first week of November I had the fabulous opportunity to attend and present at Evaluation 2006, 20th Annual Conference of the American Evaluation Association in Portland, Oregon. It was three days packed with sessions presented by evaluation gurus, mavens and colleagues on their experiences, perceptions and philosophical musings about the future of evaluation at home and abroad. I was surprised by the amount and enlightened by the descriptions of international participatory evaluation studies in Brazil, Spain, India and Kenya presented at the conference. Other highlights were listening to Michael Quinn Patton talk about his newly coined method “Developmental Evaluation” to evaluate programs that in this day and age of fast change, are in a constant state of flux; and Ernest House expound on the ever-increasing bias in drug testing as drug companies perform their own research and use this scenario as an analogy for the future of evaluation if we as evaluators lose our moral and ethical codes of conduct and succumb to client bias. With all these ideas swirling in my head, I was also able to discuss these issues at length with fellow researchers and evaluators from the Twin Cities, as we all gathered for a dinner of Thai food in downtown Portland. My own presentation was on overcoming the challenges of cross-site evaluations, using our evaluation of Girl Scouting in Detention Centers in 2005 as a model of success.

The week following the trip to Portland, I headed south to Missouri for a PAVE site visit. Nice to have a bit of warmer weather for a day or so! Leah and I had the opportunity to observe anti-violence programs for middle school girls and talk at length with the dedicated staff that put the programs together. But that’s not the end of my November travels, for the week after that I flew to Washington state and then to South Dakota for more PAVE site visits! An emergency landing in Spokane, WA was the only delay through all that flying about. In addition to meeting and talking with more wonderfully dedicated people during these visits, and I got to see the Washington Sound (close enough to the Pacific Ocean for me!) and after Brooke joined me in South Dakota, take a slight detour to view those awesome South Dakota Band Lands.

It was very nice to see the Minneapolis skyline during our descent on that last trip from South Dakota! I arrived home but not for long as my family and I then drove to Wisconsin for Thanksgiving. It was a relaxing and filling long weekend of good food and family! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

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Hi everyone! I served as an Election Judge in my precinct for the first time this November 7th. I worked the polls from 2pm until about 9pm and my duties included trading receipts for ballots, handing out the I Voted stickers, helping voters insert their ballots into the counter and answering a lot of general questions from voters. I had a lot of fun throughout the afternoon and enjoyed meeting my neighbors. All the voters were really excited to be there and the patriotic spirit was definitely high! I particularly liked the end of day activities. It was neat to see how the booths and the new AutoMark machine pack up nice and tight and that most of the supplies just get stored in the ballot counter. There were a lot of counts and forms for me and my fellow judges to sign, which made me feel very official and important. My favorite part was adding up the voter totals and seeing how many people we registered throughout the day. We registered a whopping 114 new voters, which is incredible for a midterm election and had a total of 1014 votes counted (over 65%)! Thank you Precinct 4 - 7!

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