Empowering People
Knowledge and Skills
Implementation
+
Empowerment
Stages of Measurement
2: Assessment
INITIAL
• Knowledge transfer
• Understanding
INTERMEDIATE
• Implementation
• Behavior
LONG-TERM
• Result of
Implementation
• Outcomes
Project Evaluation
Inputs
Outputs
Outcomes
Financial Literacy
• Outcomes are particularly difficult to measure
when it comes to a youth population
• Requires some type of follow-up step that
allows you to observe long-term
implementation
• Pre and post tests only indicate a short-term
increase in knowledge
Typical Project Cycle
Implementation:
Knowledge transferred:
workshops and financial
literacy lessons
Students create and run
school store. Profits are
collected and measured.
Contribution goes to
education.
Needs group
identified:
rd
3 through 8th grade
Outcomes
Outputs:
Initial measurement
of impact. what
lessons were taught
and to how many
children? What is
the level of
understanding?
So How Can This Improve?
• Implementation is key
• It will be much easier to quantify a long-term impact if you
can empower the target audience to use the knowledge
they have gained
• Finally, the outcomes will be what happens as a result of
implementation
Assessing the Livelihood Assets
SOCIAL
Assessing the Livelihood Assets
SOCIAL
HUMAN
Assessing the Livelihood Assets
SOCIAL
HUMAN
PHYSICAL
Ideas For Implementation
• Have students start a school store or small
entrepreneurial venture
• Profits can be measured and saved and/or put back
into the education
• In this case, the institution is the target audience
• May require a more detailed needs assessment
• Primary and secondary beneficiaries
• Have the students put your lessons into action
• Think outside the box!
Complete Project Cycle
Implementation:
Knowledge transferred:
workshops and financial
literacy lessons
Needs group
identified:
rd
3 through 8th grade
Students create and run
school store. Profits are
collected and measured.
Contribution goes to
education.
Outcomes
Profits earned,
educational
programs
sustained
Outputs:
Initial measurement
of impact. what
lessons were taught
and to how many
children? What is
the level of
understanding?
Examples of Livelihood Outcomes
FINANCIAL
Examples of Livelihood Outcomes
FINANCIAL
SOCIAL
Examples of Livelihood Outcomes
FINANCIAL
SOCIAL
HUMAN
Examples of Livelihood Outcomes
FINANCIAL
SOCIAL
HUMAN
PHYSICAL
Popular Initiatives &
Why they don’t meet the criterion
Food Drives
• Worthwhile cause, but no sustainability or
empowerment
Nutrition Seminars
• Knowledge and skills, but no implementation
• Results in a lack of empowerment
• hard to measure outcomes
Project: P.A.T.H.
Bennett College
NEEDS ASSESSMENT
• Currently there are 19 food desert communities in
Greensboro, NC
• More than 60% of citizens living in food deserts
are obese
• Another 47% have been diagnosed with a medical
condition associated with not eating healthy
Project: P.A.T.H.
Bennett College
What: A community garden that provides health education
and locally grown fruits and vegetables to multiple food
desert areas.
Mission: To provide food desert communities with access to
nutrients they would not usually have.
Assessing the Livelihood Assets
• Access to a plot of land and the tools necessary to
plant a garden
NATURAL
Assessing the Livelihood Assets
• Access to a plot of land and the tools necessary to
plant a garden
• Ability to teach gardening and health education
NATURAL
HUMAN
Assessing the Livelihood Assets
• Access to a plot of land and the tools necessary to
plant a garden
• Ability to teach gardening and health education
• Access to community members willing to participate
NATURAL
HUMAN
SOCIAL
Project: P.A.T.H.
Bennett College
Livelihood OUTCOMES
• Produced more than 40 types of vegetables
NATURAL
Project: P.A.T.H.
Bennett College
Livelihood OUTCOMES
• Produced more than 40 types of vegetables
• It’s the only winter garden in the food desert community
NATURAL
SOCIAL
Project: P.A.T.H.
Bennett College
Livelihood OUTCOMES
• Produced more than 40 types of vegetables
• It’s the only winter garden in the food desert community
• Over 172 families have received food/produce from the garden
NATURAL
SOCIAL
HUMAN
Employment Seminars &
Why they’re difficult to measure.
• Difficult to achieve high attendance of people in need
• Only result in a knowledge an skill transfer, but lack
implementation
• Difficulty in Communicating with attendees after the
seminar
• Creating a follow-up plan to ensure that attendees
implement the knowledge they have gained and
what the result of that implementation is
So, how can this improve?
• Implementation is key
• It will be much easier to quantify a long-term impact if
you can empower the target audience to use the
knowledge they have gained
• Finally, the outcomes will be what happens as a
result of implementation
Assessing the Livelihood Assets
SOCIAL
Assessing the Livelihood Assets
SOCIAL
HUMAN
Assessing the Livelihood Assets
SOCIAL
HUMAN
Financial
Ideas for Implementation
• Identify skill(s) to teach to target audience
• Have students participate in mock Interviews to
practice
• Invite HR managers to participate as instructors
during the lessons
• Create follow-up steps that connect to employers in
the community currently interviewing for open
positions
• Follow up with attendees to find out how many
received interviews and jobs
Complete Project Cycle
Implementation:
Knowledge
transferred:
workshops and financial
literacy lessons
Students in an interactive
employment seminar,
team follows up with
Students after the
seminar for outcomes
Needs group
identified:
Unemployed Adults
Outcomes
Number of
Interviews/Jobs
Received
Outputs:
Initial measurement
of impact. what
lessons were taught
and to how many
children? What is
the level of
understanding?
Examples of Livelihood Outcomes
FINANCIAL
Examples of Livelihood Outcomes
FINANCIAL
SOCIAL
Examples of Livelihood Outcomes
FINANCIAL
SOCIAL
HUMAN
Examples of Livelihood Outcomes
FINANCIAL
SOCIAL
HUMAN
PHYSICAL
Recycling/Environmental
Sustainability Projects
& Why they are difficult to measure
• These projects require that you create sustainable
solutions for your target audience to improve livelihoods
by empowering others AND the environment (not just the
environment)
• In order to improve livelihoods, the direct target audience
should be human
• It can be difficult to create sustainable projects through
entrepreneurial action while incorporating environmental
efforts
Art Inspired
Drury University
• What: A local, sustainable business in partnership with
Abilities First, a non-profit organization that serves
individuals with special needs
– Art inspired provides secure document destruction
services to area business and it converts the paper to
pulp which is used to make the products sold at the
store
• Mission: To provide meaningful employment for
individuals with developmental disabilities
Assessing the Livelihood Assets
SOCIAL
Assessing the Livelihood Assets
SOCIAL
NATURAL
Assessing the Livelihood Assets
SOCIAL
NATURAL
PHYSICAL
Assessing the Livelihood Assets
SOCIAL
NATURAL
PHYSICAL
FINANCIAL
Outcomes
Individuals with special needs have meaningful
employment; these individuals improved their own skills,
and mentored younger individuals, all while using recycled
material to make art.
Examples of Livelihood Outcomes
FINANCIAL
Examples of Livelihood Outcomes
FINANCIAL
SOCIAL
Examples of Livelihood Outcomes
FINANCIAL
SOCIAL
NATURAL
Project Charter