Data Matters: Assessment for Social Good

We begin this series by talking about the basics of tracking and assessing engagement and collective impact. Starting with the end in mind, we will discuss the goals of community engagement and some of the outcomes and indicators being used nationally in higher education, NPOs, and other social impact organizations. We will offer practical tips and recommendations, as well as highlight GivePulse features that can support high-quality tracking and assessment.

This is the first webinar in our 4-part series, Ins and Outs of Assessment for Social Good. Participants will be given the opportunity to ask questions prior to each webinar, and auto-captioning will be turned on. Opportunities will be provided for participants to submit questions prior to the webinar.

Speakers

Valerie Holton, PhD, LCSW

Valerie Holton serves as the Director of Success and Research with GivePulse. Valerie has worked with higher education institutions, associations, and non-profit organizations across the United States and globally to enhance, assess, and demonstrate their impact. She was the inaugural director of community-engaged research (CEnR) at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), one of the largest public, urban research institutions in the United States, where she helped VCU enhance its CEnR activity and infrastructure. An experienced and committed educator, she has taught at the undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral levels.

Valerie has over twenty years of experience in the non-profit community as a service provider, administrator, and board member. She has provided technical assistance to human service organizations and state agencies in the areas of strategic planning, board development, and program design and evaluation. She is passionate about helping universities and organizations tackle the major challenges facing our communities.

Valerie was a Senior Fulbright Scholar in the Department of Social Work at National Taiwan University in 2018, and later held faculty positions in Taiwan. Dr. Holton is the executive editor of Metropolitan Universities journal (MUJ), a quarterly, peer-reviewed outlet for scholarship on cutting-edge issues in higher education produced by the Coalition for Urban and Metropolitan Universities.

Brian C. Halderman, LMSW

Brian Halderman serves as the Director of Community Engagement and Success with GivePulse. Over the past four years, Brian has led the growth of higher education adoption of GivePulse to support institutional community engagement and assessment. Working closely with campuses and their partners, Brian has gained insights on engagement methodology and assessment needs across a variety of contexts. Previously he served as Director of the Center for Civic Engagement at The University of Texas at San Antonio and as the University Minister for Social Justice at St. Mary’s University. Brian is also an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Sociology at St. Mary’s, where he implements service-learning pedagogy.