An antidote to white dominant, linear thinking in evaluation

Objective: CORE Mental Health is a regional coalition in Massachusetts that works to dismantle racial inequities in mental health. When we began partnering with the coalition in 2017, it was in the early stages of defining its work in this space and auditing its own internal practices using Jones & Okun’s White Supremacy Culture document as a guide (1999). As a part of this process, we considered ways in which white supremacy culture showed up in the coalition’s evaluation framework and practices and identified ways to loosen its grip.

Approach: We adopted Outcome Harvesting as a core method in the coalition’s evaluation framework and have used it for the past three years to monitor longer-term effects of the coalition’s work. We use this method to systematically gather evidence on changes to individual practices and organizational policies, and then work backwards to determine whether and how the coalition has contributed to these changes.

Result: Outcome Harvesting has enabled the coalition to collect data in more inclusive ways, create space for “different ways of knowing,” and map progress in a non-linear way. For the coalition, Outcome Harvesting serves as an antidote to a number of white supremacy culture characteristics:

• Quantity over quality (things that can be measured are more highly valued than the things that cannot)

• Progress is Bigger, More (observed in systems of accountability and ways we determine success)

• Objectivity (Requiring people to think in a linear fashion and ignoring or invalidating those who think in other ways) (Jones and Okun, 1999)

We have used its results to adjust our theory of change and determine which coalition activities are the most potent. Along the way, we have also uncovered unexpected outcomes and traced institutional changes that have taken years to emerge.

Read more:

• CORE Mental Health’s White Dominant Culture case study

• Tema Okun’s white supremacy culture website and list of characteristics

• About the Outcome Harvesting method

• About CORE Mental Health

• A previous case study on how we used social network analysis to evaluate coalition building

Last updated: August 2023 to reflect CORE Mental Health’s name change. The coalition was previously known as CHNA 17 (Community Health Network Area 17).