Impact pipeline, stage one evaluation & recommendations

Role: Consultant
Dates: December 2021 — April 2022
Scope: Program evaluation; Program development; Strategy development
Focus areas: Systems Design

Overview
I was hired by the Innovation Team at the Vera Institute of Justice to conduct an evaluation of the pilot year of the Impact Pipeline, an internal idea incubator that focused on nurturing the ideas that staff from the Vera Institute of Justice conjure through their portfolio of work in the organization. The Innovation Team and the Executive Team at Vera wanted to gain an assessment of the quality, function, and potential impact of the program from the perspective of Vera’s staff. The evaluation would inform the next phase of the Impact Pipeline as well as its direction as an idea development model.

I focused on developing a case study of the pilot year, creating a set of bespoke tools for the Innovation Team, and outlining a set of recommendations for the next phase of the Impact Pipeline.

Process
The project was segmented into three phases: 1) reflection, 2) assessment, and 3) envision(ing). Each phase accounted for the origin and evolution of the Impact Pipeline with the Innovation Team's concerns as primary lines of inquiry and their aspirations as discrete guiding questions.

I drew from critical design, speculative design, and transition design to create a set of processes that worked best for the project.

Outcome
Recommendations were included in a final report and presentation to the full Innovation Team at the Vera Institute of Justice. Tools, frameworks, and recommendations laid a firm foundation for the team to move forward with stage two of the Impact Pipeline, in addition to new initiatives that they aim to implement across the organization.