The Importance of Investing in Ourselves: Reflections from the IDEA pilot
Last week was a busy one – packed with daily meetings, a major project deadline, and the added challenge of caring for a sick child at home. On weeks like this, there’s hardly enough time to pause for lunch, let alone time to truly slow down and focus on myself.
How about you? When was the last time you took a break to intentionally invest in yourself? What happened when you did?
This spring, more than 20 Charlotte nonprofit leaders and students set aside three days to learn essential nonprofit program evaluation skills through the Charlotte Urban Institute’s Impact, Data and Evaluation Academy’s (IDEA) pilot course – Evaluation Explorations.
What did participants take away from this experience?:
“Meaningful conversations! I love hearing from people.”
- The in-person and cohort-style nature of Evaluation Explorations provided learners not only an opportunity to learn from instructors, but also from each other. Throughout the course, participants had open, honest conversations about their past experiences with evaluation, often sharing tips and resources with one another. Participants built connections and identified realistic opportunities for future collaboration.
A “changing mindset when it comes to data.”
- Meaningful learning takes time and intention. IDEA participants learned new ways to think about traditionally academic concepts through the use of group activities, compelling visuals and metaphors. For example, did you know that cooking a meal is a lot like building a logic model?
“Getting the opportunity to practice with our own data.”
- IDEA strives to balance instruction, group learning, and direct application. Participants drafted their organization’s evaluation plan and, in the final session, had the chance to apply lessons on interpreting qualitative—or story—data using their own survey results.
Taking time to invest in ourselves—especially through shared learning—can feel like a luxury during a packed week. However, as the Evaluation Explorations participants showed, it’s also where growth and connection happen.
And it doesn’t stop with the individual. When leaders strengthen their ability to ask good questions, interpret data, and reflect on impact, it builds the capacity of their entire organization—and, ultimately, serves the broader community. This kind of investment pays dividends far beyond the classroom.
We’re excited to keep building spaces like this. This summer, the IDEA team will be building on the insights gained from our pilot, and will launch Evaluation Explorations version 2.0 this fall. We’re also planning a new slate of workshops and webinars to further support your learning journey.
If you are interested in learning more about IDEA, I encourage you to check out our website and sign up for our Quarterly Newsletter.