Data+Soul: Explained
At Data+Soul, we pride ourselves on being transparent and genuine with our clients and partners.
So, if we can be completely honest…
One of our biggest challenges has been articulating what our tagline #dataplussoul means, why this concept is so important, and what it contributes to evaluation.
To be clear, while we know the answers to these questions, it took us a while to define and agree upon the terminology that we would use to describe Data+Soul. In the process of sifting through intersections of 1) what already exists in evaluation, 2) what is needed, and 3) how we do evaluation, it became ever clear what Data+Soul is not.
It is not another framework. It is not a method or an approach.
Data+Soul is the journey, commitment, and practice of holding ourselves (evaluators) accountable for continuous self-reflection and learning when implementing culturally responsive and equitable evaluation (CREE)—all within the context of systemic challenges.
By and large, our field is in an age of exciting shifts in approaches, methods, and frameworks in service of transformation toward cultural responsiveness and equity.
Yet, resource constraints, stakeholder expectation management, and rigid timelines are just a few of the practical challenges that evaluators face when attempting to apply equity-embedded approaches to real-world scenarios. Confronting these challenges can be so intense that they shake our confidence, leading us to doubt our ability to engage in it, even when we recognize its necessity. Unless you are on a team steeped in CREE, the difficulties in executing equity-embedded approaches can also leave practitioner teams and individuals feeling isolated or exhausted.
Our team searched for existing resources within the field that would offer insights on ways to overcome these practical challenges. However, the critical void of resources, ultimately, led us to turn our focus inward—individually and collectively.
Together, we worked to strengthen our reflexivity practice by developing a system of micropractices designed to anchor us in continuous self-awareness and foster stronger connections for collaborative problem-solving.
These micropractices have been transformative by:
Shining a light on how our positionalities, biases, strengths, and blind spots shape our perceptions of problems, people, tools, and solutions
Launching our creativity, flexibility, and adeptness in navigating complex barriers to implementing equity-embedded approaches in real-world scenarios
Birthing necessary soulful, person-first mindset shifts that transgress the bounds of our worldviews
Creating a sacred space for our imaginations to play and innovate towards an outgrowth of culturally-responsive creativity
What started as a tagline has grown into the heartbeat of how we actually do equity—beyond the texts and in the midst of real-word challenges and scenarios.
So, we are excited to share the joy and success that Data+Soul has brought to our journey with the rest of the world through our Studio.
This week, we are launching the Data+Soul Studio—a workshop series for applied researchers and evaluators.
Creating the Data Equity Deck was the first step. The Studio will be a hub for learning and journeying together: part training, part makerspace.
We invite you to consider whether our studio is right for you. It may be if:
JOURNEY.
You’ve never embarked on a journey of reflexivity
You understand that self-examination is vital to CREE, but don’t know where to start
You’ve already engaged in reflexivity, but struggle with how to implement continuous self-reflection and learning across projects
You regularly engage in reflexivity, but are challenged with understanding to inspire a culture of reflection, bias-checking, unlearning, & learning within your team
You want to transition toward equity-embedded approaches, but are feeling disoriented & isolated from the principles that are guiding your journey
COMMITMENT.
You are committed to recognizing your biases, drawing on your lived experiences, expertise, and observations of the world to fine-tune your approach for applying equity-centered evaluation
You’re not afraid of moving beyond yourself and stretching your boundaries in service of equity
You’re dedicated to examining the distance between how you’re showing up compared to how you want to in your individual and collective reflective practice
PRACTICE.
You want to make actionable changes toward equity-centered evaluations
You want to deepen your relationships with colleagues & stakeholder by being more transparent, authentic, and effective
You’re challenged with establishing a safe and productive space with your team engage in reflexive and creative thinking
You want to improve your ability to overcome equity-centered evaluation implementation challenges in partnership with your teams through small yet impactful and routine actions
Learn more about the Studio.
This post was authored by Dr. Miranda Hill in partnership with the Data+Soul team. Miranda joined our team this summer as a part of Expanding the Bench’s Leaders in Equitable Evaluation and Diversity (LEEAD) Scholar program practicum. The purpose of the LEEAD Scholar program is to develop a pathway for diverse leaders in culturally responsive and equitable evaluation who will advance the field of evaluation. Throughout the year, Miranda joined team discussions and Studio design sessions to support the team in articulating what Data+Soul is, and to draw explicit ties to culturally responsive and equitable evaluation (CREE).
Miranda Hill is a social and behavioral scientist with an MPH and PhD from the College of Public Health at the University of Georgia and a public health career spanning over 10 years. With a genuine passion for community health, Dr. Hill thrives on networking and collaborating with multidisciplinary teams to prioritize the needs and lived realities of underserved and socially disadvantaged communities in health service reform, policy development, health education, and capacity-building. Driven by the principle of “Nothing About Us, Without Us,” she has established enduring partnerships with researchers, health practitioners, and community-based organizations. Together, they strive to promote equitable health service access and utilization. Recently, Dr. Hill’s work in health policy, focusing on informing federal “Ending the HIV Epidemic” initiatives in Atlanta, Georgia, earned her the distinguished title of Emerging Health Equity Scholar by the Multiethnic Health Equity Research Center at the University of California, San Francisco.