Using Data to Make Decisions

We have data, but now what? Program managers often collect data, but struggle to use it to make their programs better. In this workshop, we will learn to use data to drive important decisions about program design and management.

In this hands-on session, you will learn to use data in decision-making for your program. We will review multiple frameworks and approaches from rapid cycle process improvement to strategic planning with an emphasis on using data that your program is already collecting.

At the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:
– Structure program challenges into problems that can be addressed using data
– Understand and apply frameworks for using data in strategic planning and process improvement
– Integrate data and measures into program logic models
– Describe and plan a data dictionary for a program

This workshop is ideal for program managers or organizational leaders. The workshop will be very hands-on, and participants should come prepared to discuss a specific program. You will leave with a plan to integrate one piece of data (a data point or a trend) into a planning or improvement process.

In order to get the most out of this workshop, you should:
– Have a logic model for your program
– Be collecting at least one piece of data on a regular basis

About the Presenter
Pieta Blakely, PhD is the Principal of Blakely Consulting, LLC, a Boston based, certified minority- and woman-owned business enterprise. She is a researcher and evaluator of programs and policy, specializing in local economic development, anti-poverty, and workforce development programs. She has over ten years’ experience in program evaluation and performance management in non-profit programs.

Prior to founding Blakely Consulting, Pieta led the implementation of the Results Based Accountability framework and Results Scorecard software in inter-agency settings, the Boston Promise Initiative where she collaborated across 10 to 15 organizations and the Clinical and Translational Science hubs, where she worked across 54 organizations.

Pieta works with non-profit and government organizations to conduct research and program evaluations and to integrate performance management into their planning and operations. She specializes in designing systems that support quality programming, creating organizational accountability plans, and using knowledge to improve program performance. Her current work focuses on helping not-for-profit organizations to build evaluation capacity, integrate evaluation into their program logic models, and use learning for strategic planning. Her clients include a range of anti-poverty and social justice organizations.

Pieta received her PhD in Social Policy from Brandeis University. She holds a BA from Brown University, a Masters in Administrative Science from Boston University, and an Masters in Education from Harvard University.

Cost: $40 Partners/ $80 Non-partners

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